On politics

Dear Dad,

I would never use my children as an excuse not to do politics. (Aren't they cute? Perhaps one will bless me with a grandchild. Oh, and excuse any typos or misunderstandings we don't have time or the correct location for a Vulcan mind meld.) 

photo courtesy JCPenney Portraits studio
P285 at Lake Forest Mall, photographer Valerie, June 2016

Please stop giving me a get out of jail card. I have never missed an election. I “politik.” I believe myself to be an informed and educated person, who knows how to access even the NYT. I prefer BBC world news to Fox. 

But I’m not going to do it on Facebook (FB from here, out.) I tire of bickering. I tire of people not following through and getting the job done. I tire of hearing people complain and not do anything. There's a lot of money out there that could do wonders, and it is paying for people to talk. People who are not listening to each other or at times even their constituents. I don't have time for hot air, cloak and dagger, and smoke screens. Instead bring the facts, state your case, and please choose your words wisely.

I think America is great and beautiful. No one running currently will make it great again; they are part of an underlying problem. Every time I have exercised my constitutional rights I have been permitted to and not infringed upon. I am comfortable in my own country, not comfortable like kicking back and letting life go by comfy. Instead I am comfortable wherever I am because I have peace.

As a parent I recognize room for growth in me as a parent (the party in charge) and in my children (the party not in charge.) No one has told me how to raise my kids and made me do it his way--not the school where we have been, not the county that we live in, not the state, not the government. The two have never been mutually exclusive. We even opted out of sex ed. We do choose to keep them home because we have that freedom, and we exercise it passionately. We are involved in making sure we can continue doing so. In fact, we have another early enrollment this Fall in kindergarten, bucking the national and state standard but accepted at our county level.

As a citizen, I recognize room for growth in our country, growth in understanding and serving, considering and helping. I realize not everyone thinks like me, shares my preferences, or votes for who I vote for. We exercise our freedom to have our opinions heard. It doesn't mean I win even if I think I am right.

I don't have time for fear mongering and hatred. Say your piece and see how it goes. I'm raising four daughters who may be required to register for a draft. I exercised my right to let my representative hear my opinion. Maryland changed the age of being in school to 18. I took my chance to dissent, but it was voted for anyway. As numbers fall for graduation, I anticipate that changing. Change takes time, wasted time.

 

My children will see me participate in, follow up with, speak about, and consider this great and beautiful country we live in. Tonight we talked about Democratic National Convention speeches. My friend Jordan Ardoin had commented on FB about "Queen Michelle." I couldn't resist saying, "America has no queen; America needs no queen." (Find the literary reference on your own.)

I disagree with both candidates on many things. I lack trust in either of them. One more so than the other as I have been wary of him much longer. Oh, and I know who Tim Kaine is. I thought that in and of itself was pretty spectacular. A political columnist did not know "who" he was.

I also know that, beyond me, God is in control. I don't understand a lot of what God has done or what he is doing. I know I am called to follow his commands and that he empowers me to be able to do so. The first of which is love for God. The second one is to love others as I love myself, considering I forgot deodorant Monday, have issues with some stretch marks and my new scar, and didn't get a shower yesterday that standard may be questionable. I know that not everyone holds to those tenants about love. I am very "aware of the world around [me.]" I believe it is broken and needs a Savior. Jesus is that Savior. Believers still sin and people have to live and recover from those choices. I would offer that believers buy some of the most insidious lies ever told.

Fred Rogers once said, “The real issue in life is not how many blessings we have, but what we do with our blessings.  Some people have many blessings and hoard them.  Some have few and give everything away.” We are far from wealthy like today's candidates. Our children qualify for reduced meals under the national meal program, yet we have more than we need.

So, I will continue to give because I have enough.

I will strive for goodness and may fall on my face.

I will be gentle; it is a luxury I can afford, but not trampled over.

I will help, not "do for," but simply help.

I will be kind.

I will be patient; I'm not so good at this.

I will have joy; this does not indicate happiness, but confidence.

I will ask for help; it does not show weakness. 

I will exercise self-control, and exhaust myself doing it and have to do it again because I didn't do it the first time.

I will be at peace with myself on most days and with others, well, you know, everyday has its trouble;

but most of all I will love and asked to be loved.

I credit my political stance for influencing my vital stats, which are top notch at 112/68 and a 60 BP, with a 98.7 temperature. My stance on politics is no different than my stance on parenting, my health, my marriage, or my relationship with others and with God. I work at it. I face the fact that sometimes I chose poorly. I invest deeply in it. I participate in it. I listen to the rhythms and respond accordingly. I desire to make my surroundings a better place than how I found them.

And now, given that I'm on the NSA radar and facing censorship from FB, bring on pictures of my main squeeze, my kids, the cats, and maybe a selfie of me.