Growing Pains
I cried when I learned Donald Trump had won the presidency. I almost wish it had been raining that day because I could have made some joke about how the sky was crying for me. But it wasn't. It was a gorgeous day and my life was gorgeous and I was about to embark on a two week road-trip through Oregon and California with my boyfriend. Life was good. But I cried.
The church is divided, my best friend says. The church is divided and God is grieving. So am I, I think. I am grieving everything we should be but are not. What does it mean to be Christian anymore?
Read an article today about the alternative facts and the arrest of journalists covering the Washington protests. Read another article equating those same events to the book 1984 by George Orville where if Big Brother says 2 + 2 = 5 then that is the truth. Like the size of the crowd at the inauguration. Biggest ever. Even if stats say the opposite. Numbers don't matter. 2 + 2 = 5. And I think of "post-truth" and its meaning as our Oxford Dictionary word of the year and TV commentators citing the Merriam-Webster's word chosen for 2016 as "surreal."
Trump has called for a gag order on all federal agencies. The government can't talk with itself or with the public. I wish this surprised me.
Trump signed an executive order suspending US Refugee program for 120 days. I think of how many lives can be lost in half a year. I wonder if America's insensitivity will ignite the goodwill of Europe and the countries surrounding Syria. I wonder if that's the kind of good that can come of this presidency. Other countries, other people, rising up against a common bully. Against American pride and patriotism that would reject helping foreigners. I'm scared to hope.
State Park twitter feeds go rogue against Trump and his administration's claims that global warming and climate change is a myth. Seattle, New York, Los Angeles and other sanctuary cities promise to continue to be a safe haven even as Trump promises to cut their funding. Boyfriend sends me an imgur post with the twitter feed of a guy who in one breath is praising Trump, the other cursing him out because his job is now in jeopardy. This is the human spirit at work, I think. This is what hope looks like.
Former President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, flips off the camera with a smirk while he says Mexico will not pay for the construction of a wall between the two countries. Articles and Facebook posts go around saying that the 20 billion dollars will come from taxpayers, next from taxing Mexican imports (still from the American taxpayer). Some articles say the wall will disrupt animal migratory patterns. Others that this is too simple of a solution to a bigger problem. Who's to stop people from bringing ladders, ropes, digging under? Inside my heart is crying. The US is my homeland but Mexico is my home. I can't agree with people coming illegally, but I have also seen the Mexicans' hope in a better tomorrow. I have seen their children, walked their streets, been welcomed into their homes, offered the best of what they have. I have experienced more hospitality in the foreign than in my own country. Cold culture. Warm culture.
We, America, are making history. Signing orders banning refugees on Holocaust remembrance day. Repeating history, remembering our fear of Nazi's and communists disguised in the form of Jewish escapees. Fearing the Syrian people because terrorists will sneak in under the garb of a war-torn refugee. I told my friend I would rather be a true Christian and take in the stranger than live in the grip of fear. Perfect love casts out all fear. Funny how the Christians who are calling me to pray for and support Trump are shocked when I call them to pray for the terrorists. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. What does pro-life mean when it only thinks of babies to come and does not look a hurting people in the eye?
The other day I set one of my pre-selected radio stations to a news broadcast. I'm listening to the world crumble instead of the Top 40 or the new Christian single that has actually been out for months now.
I wonder if this is what it means to grow up.
Sources:
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| Yosemite Park |
♢
The church is divided, my best friend says. The church is divided and God is grieving. So am I, I think. I am grieving everything we should be but are not. What does it mean to be Christian anymore?
♢
Read an article today about the alternative facts and the arrest of journalists covering the Washington protests. Read another article equating those same events to the book 1984 by George Orville where if Big Brother says 2 + 2 = 5 then that is the truth. Like the size of the crowd at the inauguration. Biggest ever. Even if stats say the opposite. Numbers don't matter. 2 + 2 = 5. And I think of "post-truth" and its meaning as our Oxford Dictionary word of the year and TV commentators citing the Merriam-Webster's word chosen for 2016 as "surreal."
♢
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| Photo Credit: Imgur |
Argued with a friend about the need to speak out. To fight against the lies. He says it doesn't affect him. He says he can't understand worrying about people when he would rather help those in his immediate vicinity. He says, you can't change how people think. He says, I don't make their problems my problems. He makes me feel hopeless. I want to be impactful here, of course! But why must I limit myself to the people around me when the world is in pain? How can you not identify with those that are hurting and struggling?
♢
Trump has called for a gag order on all federal agencies. The government can't talk with itself or with the public. I wish this surprised me.
♢
Trump signed an executive order suspending US Refugee program for 120 days. I think of how many lives can be lost in half a year. I wonder if America's insensitivity will ignite the goodwill of Europe and the countries surrounding Syria. I wonder if that's the kind of good that can come of this presidency. Other countries, other people, rising up against a common bully. Against American pride and patriotism that would reject helping foreigners. I'm scared to hope.
♢
State Park twitter feeds go rogue against Trump and his administration's claims that global warming and climate change is a myth. Seattle, New York, Los Angeles and other sanctuary cities promise to continue to be a safe haven even as Trump promises to cut their funding. Boyfriend sends me an imgur post with the twitter feed of a guy who in one breath is praising Trump, the other cursing him out because his job is now in jeopardy. This is the human spirit at work, I think. This is what hope looks like.
♢
post-truth: (adjective)Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief
♢
Former President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, flips off the camera with a smirk while he says Mexico will not pay for the construction of a wall between the two countries. Articles and Facebook posts go around saying that the 20 billion dollars will come from taxpayers, next from taxing Mexican imports (still from the American taxpayer). Some articles say the wall will disrupt animal migratory patterns. Others that this is too simple of a solution to a bigger problem. Who's to stop people from bringing ladders, ropes, digging under? Inside my heart is crying. The US is my homeland but Mexico is my home. I can't agree with people coming illegally, but I have also seen the Mexicans' hope in a better tomorrow. I have seen their children, walked their streets, been welcomed into their homes, offered the best of what they have. I have experienced more hospitality in the foreign than in my own country. Cold culture. Warm culture.
♢
We, America, are making history. Signing orders banning refugees on Holocaust remembrance day. Repeating history, remembering our fear of Nazi's and communists disguised in the form of Jewish escapees. Fearing the Syrian people because terrorists will sneak in under the garb of a war-torn refugee. I told my friend I would rather be a true Christian and take in the stranger than live in the grip of fear. Perfect love casts out all fear. Funny how the Christians who are calling me to pray for and support Trump are shocked when I call them to pray for the terrorists. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. What does pro-life mean when it only thinks of babies to come and does not look a hurting people in the eye?
♢
The other day I set one of my pre-selected radio stations to a news broadcast. I'm listening to the world crumble instead of the Top 40 or the new Christian single that has actually been out for months now.
I wonder if this is what it means to grow up.
♢
Sources:
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/business/media/journalists-arrested-trump-inauguration.html
- http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/24/fact-check-inauguration-crowd-size/96984496/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/books/why-1984-is-a-2017-must-read.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront&mtrref=undefined
- http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/Archives/2016/12/19/2016-word-reference-12-19-16.aspx
- http://www.bainbridgereview.
com/news/cantwell-joins- fellow-senators-in-call-on- trump-to-pull-back-gag-order/ - http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/27/politics/trump-plans-to-sign-executive-action-on-refugees-extreme-vetting/
- http://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-science-goes-rogue-on-twitter-resist/
- http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-will-remain-sanctuary-city-for-immigrants-despite-trump-presidency-mayor-says/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/18/opinion/proud-to-be-a-sanctuary-city.html
- http://fortune.com/2016/11/11/new-york-los-angeles-sanctuary-cities-donald-trump/
- http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/sanctuary-city-immigration-federal-deportation-trump-threats-budget
- https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t35.0-0/p480x480/16326781_10207757298029639_1252130108_o.jpg?oh=a29862a8af402aa1f8e17caa72b07a5d&oe=588FB4E2
- https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/post-truth
- http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/news/vicente-fox-trump-mexico-wont-pay-wall
- https://www.outsideonline.com/2075761/trumps-wall-threatens-111-endangered-species
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/28/us/refugees-detained-at-us-airports-prompting-legal-challenges-to-trumps-immigration-order.html?_r=0
- https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/opinion/anne-frank-today-is-a-syrian-girl.html
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