teach. pray. - Make America Love Again
On November 8th before I went to bed, I prayed for peace in the hearts of Americans and closed my eyes without knowing who America's next President would be.
On November 9th, I woke up and grabbed my phone. My heart skipped several beats when I read the election results. My eyes swelled with tears. "Donald Trump is our new President, Matt. Did you know that?" His reply, "You didn't have to tell me that this morning." My response, "I think I'm going to cry." He scooted closer, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me on the cheek. After a few minutes of sulking, I got out of bed and carried on with my day.
On my drive to work, my brain didn't stop churning. I started thinking about the movie Idiocracy and comparing American society. In my mind, this satirical comedy had become America's reality. Then, I thought about walking into a southern, rural elementary school the day after Mr. Trump won the election. And, I had a flashback to an event that happened the prior week. The second grade class I push into for inclusion had read the book Grace for President. The teacher mentioned election day was coming up and a class of about 16 second graders began sharing their "political" opinions and all my ears heard were, "Go Trump!" My heart broke during that moment, and it broke again in my car as I reminisced. How was I going to handle the questions or the conversations that were going to inevitably happen?
As I put my car in park and walked into the school building, I gave myself a pep talk and decided I would handle the questions and conversations with a calm heart, a listening ear, and love. And, so I did. I survived.
When I got home that afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the day had went. Then, I made the biggest mistake. I logged into Facebook. I've never viewed Facebook as a place for me to express my religious and political views, because for me, my religious and political views are very personal. Facebook is not a place for me to air my personal life. Facebook has been a way for me to keep up with family that I never get to see. Facebook has been a way for me to virtually reunite with old friends and to keep updated on group runs and training events. Facebook has been a way for me to spread positivity to a large mass of people, because we all need a ray of sunshine on those gray days. Deep down, I knew logging into Facebook was a mistake. But, I had faith in the human race and hoped to find a piece of positivity on my gray day. Instead, I felt anger, disappointment, shame, and embarrassment - for all party affiliates.
The memes, the propaganda, and the self-centered and disrespectful comments bewildered me. I thought we were better Americans than that. What hurt the most was family and friends who posted things that were generalized and stereotypical and hateful and directed toward an entire group of people with differing views than themselves. I have a sense of humor. I get jokes. I even laugh at terrible things I shouldn't laugh at. But, in such divisive times, I feel such behavior is inappropriate and disgusting.
I respect those who express different views as mine. I respect them enough to not generalize them as a handful of ignorant racists. I respect their views, because I know they are genuine, hard working, intelligent people. My ears are open to listen to their points of view, but they are not open to listen to hateful blanket statements. I'm willing to educate myself about the issues I know little about and analyze them and discuss them in a respectful manner. Who knows, I may even change my mind on some issues. I'm willing to listen, to disagree, to compromise, and to respect others.
Here's the thing, our belief systems and values are etched into our minds and hearts based on life experiences and the outcome of those experiences. What's so beautiful about that is, we all have a story, or two, or a hundred, that have shaped each of us into the human beings we are. And, believe it or not, life issues are not always black and white. The gray area is vast and most of us hover in the gray area on most issues. Consider that one way we're all alike rather than ten different reasons we're divided.
I'm not out protesting the election. I'm not making accusations about a rigged Presidential election. I'm not grouping all Trump supporters as hateful bigots. I'm not grouping all Clinton supporters as hippy dippy liberals who don't work for a living and who want everything given to them. I'm not playing that game, and I'm not giving into the divide. What I will do is group every single one of us as a human capable of giving and receiving love.
I have had five days to process all of this. In the height of my emotions, I was guilty of hateful thoughts. However, the special education teacher inside reminded me of all those self-regulation strategies I've learned and taught to young humans. The teacher inside reminded me to control those emotions because speaking in such emotional times isn't a strong choice. The teacher inside reminded me once words are spoken they cannot be retracted and forgotten, and if you can't say anything nice, you shouldn't say anything at all. The teacher inside reminded me our differences are what make us beautiful and unique, and we should embrace our differences. The teacher inside reminded me to love even when I'm screaming on the inside. I haven't been the best model of this lately. For that, I apologize to all of the people who have met my negativity.
I pray Mr. Donald Trump makes the strong choices. I pray he uses his intellect and talents for what is humane and just for the American population. I pray the lovers inside each us decide to stand up and speak and act. I pray though we won't all agree, we will agree to respect one another. I pray Americans educate themselves on the issues and develop awareness based on fact rather than raw emotion and false accusations fed to us by the media. I pray Americans step away from social media and step into society to participate, to give back, and to love thy neighbor. I pray we all work together as a country united and close the divide which is separating us. I pray we can all be a little more like Dave Chappelle and make each other laugh and give our new elected official a chance. I pray Mr. Donald Trump gives all of us a chance as well.
On November 9th, I woke up and grabbed my phone. My heart skipped several beats when I read the election results. My eyes swelled with tears. "Donald Trump is our new President, Matt. Did you know that?" His reply, "You didn't have to tell me that this morning." My response, "I think I'm going to cry." He scooted closer, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me on the cheek. After a few minutes of sulking, I got out of bed and carried on with my day.
On my drive to work, my brain didn't stop churning. I started thinking about the movie Idiocracy and comparing American society. In my mind, this satirical comedy had become America's reality. Then, I thought about walking into a southern, rural elementary school the day after Mr. Trump won the election. And, I had a flashback to an event that happened the prior week. The second grade class I push into for inclusion had read the book Grace for President. The teacher mentioned election day was coming up and a class of about 16 second graders began sharing their "political" opinions and all my ears heard were, "Go Trump!" My heart broke during that moment, and it broke again in my car as I reminisced. How was I going to handle the questions or the conversations that were going to inevitably happen?
As I put my car in park and walked into the school building, I gave myself a pep talk and decided I would handle the questions and conversations with a calm heart, a listening ear, and love. And, so I did. I survived.
When I got home that afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the day had went. Then, I made the biggest mistake. I logged into Facebook. I've never viewed Facebook as a place for me to express my religious and political views, because for me, my religious and political views are very personal. Facebook is not a place for me to air my personal life. Facebook has been a way for me to keep up with family that I never get to see. Facebook has been a way for me to virtually reunite with old friends and to keep updated on group runs and training events. Facebook has been a way for me to spread positivity to a large mass of people, because we all need a ray of sunshine on those gray days. Deep down, I knew logging into Facebook was a mistake. But, I had faith in the human race and hoped to find a piece of positivity on my gray day. Instead, I felt anger, disappointment, shame, and embarrassment - for all party affiliates.
The memes, the propaganda, and the self-centered and disrespectful comments bewildered me. I thought we were better Americans than that. What hurt the most was family and friends who posted things that were generalized and stereotypical and hateful and directed toward an entire group of people with differing views than themselves. I have a sense of humor. I get jokes. I even laugh at terrible things I shouldn't laugh at. But, in such divisive times, I feel such behavior is inappropriate and disgusting.
I respect those who express different views as mine. I respect them enough to not generalize them as a handful of ignorant racists. I respect their views, because I know they are genuine, hard working, intelligent people. My ears are open to listen to their points of view, but they are not open to listen to hateful blanket statements. I'm willing to educate myself about the issues I know little about and analyze them and discuss them in a respectful manner. Who knows, I may even change my mind on some issues. I'm willing to listen, to disagree, to compromise, and to respect others.
Here's the thing, our belief systems and values are etched into our minds and hearts based on life experiences and the outcome of those experiences. What's so beautiful about that is, we all have a story, or two, or a hundred, that have shaped each of us into the human beings we are. And, believe it or not, life issues are not always black and white. The gray area is vast and most of us hover in the gray area on most issues. Consider that one way we're all alike rather than ten different reasons we're divided.
I'm not out protesting the election. I'm not making accusations about a rigged Presidential election. I'm not grouping all Trump supporters as hateful bigots. I'm not grouping all Clinton supporters as hippy dippy liberals who don't work for a living and who want everything given to them. I'm not playing that game, and I'm not giving into the divide. What I will do is group every single one of us as a human capable of giving and receiving love.
I have had five days to process all of this. In the height of my emotions, I was guilty of hateful thoughts. However, the special education teacher inside reminded me of all those self-regulation strategies I've learned and taught to young humans. The teacher inside reminded me to control those emotions because speaking in such emotional times isn't a strong choice. The teacher inside reminded me once words are spoken they cannot be retracted and forgotten, and if you can't say anything nice, you shouldn't say anything at all. The teacher inside reminded me our differences are what make us beautiful and unique, and we should embrace our differences. The teacher inside reminded me to love even when I'm screaming on the inside. I haven't been the best model of this lately. For that, I apologize to all of the people who have met my negativity.
I pray Mr. Donald Trump makes the strong choices. I pray he uses his intellect and talents for what is humane and just for the American population. I pray the lovers inside each us decide to stand up and speak and act. I pray though we won't all agree, we will agree to respect one another. I pray Americans educate themselves on the issues and develop awareness based on fact rather than raw emotion and false accusations fed to us by the media. I pray Americans step away from social media and step into society to participate, to give back, and to love thy neighbor. I pray we all work together as a country united and close the divide which is separating us. I pray we can all be a little more like Dave Chappelle and make each other laugh and give our new elected official a chance. I pray Mr. Donald Trump gives all of us a chance as well.
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