Choosing Hope in the Midst of Shock and Anger

“Mother, may I take three giant steps forward?” Asked Hillary.

“NO WAY! But your bigoted bully of a step-brother can take one ridiculous step forward…for the win.”

We’ve been playing ‘Mother May I?’ with the mothers of all the characters from Deliverance and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. With bizarro Norma Bates from Psycho. With the cast of Bad Moms. With June Cleaver on crack. Mom is out to lunch.

Apparently we do have a third party in this country because he is not Republican in any real way. We have an I party. I stands for “I am fed up with the establishment.” I as in “I don’t think the President of the United States of America needs to respect other people.” The I party is all about ego and change. I’m usually a proponent of change, but this change seems like a step backwards.

The I in this third party doesn’t stand for Independent. What do we call ill-prepared people who lack common sense? That seems to be what he represents. It may rhyme with schmidiot. Yes, I’m angry. I’m angry mostly that many people didn’t vote. They had the opportunity, the right, the responsibility and they let others decide. I’m upset that so many women chose not to support Hillary Clinton. I can’t understand how they couldn’t see she was the best candidate and that it was time to have a woman lead us. I’m not saying she was the perfect candidate, only the better choice.

Here’s a look at the demographics of who voted for which candidate (somehow they produced this video only hours after the polls closed).

In the midst of my anger, however, I know that President Obama is correct in saying that we are Americans first (not Democrats or Republicans){Click here to hear his speech; I heard it live and was impressed that he gave it without notes/teleprompter}. He also exuded confidence that the new president will do what he thinks is best for America. I’m sure it was hard for him to give that speech, but he doesn’t disappoint; he was the epitome of class and respect — an inspiration to and model for us all.

The reality is that many people are fearful of this upcoming presidency. Van Jones called it a “nightmare” for many minorities and the whole outcome a “whitelash” against President Obama’s presidency. Judy, my wife, even said “This is worse than getting cancer (as a breast cancer survivor herself). When you get cancer it just affects you and the people around you. This (cancer/election) affects the whole world in a devastating way.” These are real concerns for about half the country. My hope is that our new president will work at mending and uniting…and that Clinton supporters will meet him halfway.

Over the past couple months, the Men’s group I’m in has been reading and discussing a sermon a week from Dr. Martin Luther King’s book Strength to Love. On Tuesday, we were talking about a sermon entitled “Shattered Dreams” that he wrote in a Georgia jail in the early 1960’s. He offered insights into how we can have hope and faith in the midst of dark times. It was yet another of his sermons that resonates 50 years after he wrote and shared it. He said that…

“the answer lies in our willing acceptance of unwanted and unfortunate circumstances even as we still cling to radiant hope, our acceptance of finite disappointment even as we adhere to infinite hope. This is not the grim, bitter acceptance of the fatalist but the achievement found in Jeremiah’s words, ‘This is a grief, and I must bear it.’…Ask yourself, ‘How may I transform this liability into an asset?’…Our most fruitful course is to stand firm with courageous determination, move forward nonviolently amid obstacles and setbacks, accept disappointments, and cling to hope. Our determined refusal not to be stopped will eventually open the door to fulfillment.”

As hard as it will be to come together, we must work toward that goal. We survived George W and though this may seem 10 times worse, let’s have faith, let’s be our best selves, let’s hope against hope that this is not the end…just an unexpected, challenging stage that we can overcome together.

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