Starting my Next Life Adventure.

We worked the polls yesterday. Ours are open 6 AM to 6 PM and we live in a red state. I was a blue person this year due to several factors but woke to news that made me sad for the first time in years after an election. We are all spoon fed such hype and information, some true and some embellished at best, lies at worst. We are aware that other nations want us to be in pain and suffer as we fight among ourselves and bicker about the little things.

We learned that we are better at protecting from having elections hacked but not bomb threats from Russia? Please….

I live in a large midwestern city with people from all nations and lands who try to get along and care for each other. My neighbors in the smaller rural communities do not always understand our thinking here. We worked together worried that some might carry a gun into the polling sight and what to do about this. I have family members that would not leave home without one for protection. I have hunters of all types in my family. I love them all but do not own or carry a gun for protection.

What I do is pray. Often. Our polling sight was at our church and our pastor held a prayer service when the polls closed last night. I understand my friends of the opposite voting persuasion also prayed the previous night. I did not attend the prayer service as we were counting ballots, but was praying all day for peace in our nation. You see I have loving friends who do not understand my blue lean this year due to my history of being tied to community organization and social work education and compassion for all.

We all claim compassion but one wants to focus on the life of the child, others the life of the mother and women who need safe health care without doctors who are too afraid of losing their licenses to give adequate health care to women. Maybe I’m naive and have listened to too many reports of statistics of women in Texas dying after the laws changed there. I have heard first hand the fear of a pregnant mother of color who worries she will become a statistic. I also have heard of the emotions carried by women who carried their babies to term after a rape. There is no easy answer and no one size fits all law.

I hope we open our hearts and our ears to each other as we sit around the table this year at Thanksgiving or another faith filled holiday. I hope we listen to less media hype on both sides and sit down to a meal, or coffee, with someone we don’t agree with and really listen to their hearts speak and their hopes and fears and faith in God and in humanity. I hope, I pray still for peace.