Love One Another

For many of us the election results have been a bitter pill to swallow. Although Donald Trump appears to have lost the popular vote, he won the electoral college. I am happy for those working class whites who have been feeling forgotten by the rest of us. I pray that, against all the evidence so far, he will bring you the economic relief and voice for which you are so desperate.

For others of us, this is a disappointing day. Despite Clinton having won the popular vote, our constitutional system will bring a different choice for president into office. For those of us who do not believe that any promised good will outweigh the history of bad behavior on the part of the winner, it is unsettling and even a bit depressing.

But I think we all have to shake off our natural reactions, to gloat that we have finally been heard or pine that our dreams have been dashed on the electoral college rocks. Because the result of electing a man with a history of racism, misogyny, incitement to violence, mocking the disabled, and religious bigotry and intolerance will bring some of the people around us to a place of fear and insecurity. If you see someone in one of those groups today be sure to share with them a friendly smile or an offer to pay for their coffee. If you know someone in one of those Trump targeted groups, give them a hug and assure them that when faced with inflamed bigotry you will stand with them, that you would die to protect their freedom to be true to their own lights. Remind them that more of us thought him to be in the wrong than in the right. It is also good to remember that many who did vote for him thought his faults were the necessary evil that must be accepted in order to get a conservative supreme court. They were not endorsing his bigotry. All of us today need to unite behind the principles of freedom and tolerance baked into our country’s constitution as well as a love for one another that will carry us through the next four years.

We need to hear and respect the forgotten needs of working class whites but fight the good fight against the elements of bigotry into which Trump’s campaign tapped. This should be a country in which every group is heard, but also where the voices of hate are drowned in a sea of courageous love.

Please join with me in praying for the President elect and for the healing of our country. God bless the USA.