Sooo America has elected a new
president. A candidate who many of us deem unqualified & unworthy of the
responsibility. While I am in total agreement with that opinion, I know God
specializes in using the unqualified to draw people to Him.
Yesterday I made a conscious
choice from the time I woke up, that I was not going to watch the election
coverage. I did my usual, watched PBS throughout the day with Persia, went to
an amazing prayer service, came home and watched King of the Hill with my
husband and then I went to bed. Not because I don’t care about politics or the
fate of our country, but because I know in whom I put my trust and whose
promises will come to pass no matter who's in office.
So this morning when my
husband came into the bedroom looking somewhat solemn, I knew that he was
disappointed because his first time voting as a naturalized citizen had not
yielded the results that he’d hoped, like those who had the opportunity to vote
for Obama in previous elections. I’m not one to pile on the pity when others
are in a funk so I asked him what was wrong, the conversation didn’t go
anywhere. You know men, “Nothing” means I don’t want to talk about it right now.
Which was fine with me since I am absolutely NOT a morning person.
Today was weird because there
is this silent hysteria in the air. Like people don’t know how to react or how
to interact because they’re not sure what political party you are for so they
cautiously hold their breath and make small talk until they feel it’s safe. An
example of this is when I took my daughter and my godkids to the park today. It
was full of Caucasian families. We were the only people of color. The children
immediately made “friends” and began playing tag, screaming their little heads
off, but I could tell the parents were avoiding me. To be honest, I was
avoiding them too, because I wasn’t sure how I’d react if someone were to
disrespect me. Then I had to ask myself, would I have these same thoughts if
the election had a different outcome or different candidates.
There was one particular
gentleman I avoided because he didn’t look too friendly. He had the biker dude
look, long goatee, rugged, very serious demeanor. But when his son began
playing “too rough” with my daughter he came over and said in the calmest
voice, “We don’t hit we give hugs.” Then we had a conversation in
which I found out he’s a wrestler and teaches jiu jitsu. He also shared that he
wanted to have 3 little girls and give them cute names like Minnie Mae, but
they’d be fighters like Rhonda Rousey.
We went to another playground,
against my will, where again there were mostly Caucasian families. Everything
was fine. The kids were playing, parents were avoiding each other by looking at
their phones…a normal day in the park kinda sorta. It was all good until my
daughter decided to go hug a little white baby and exclaim, “Mommy this is my
little sister!!” I was waiting for the child’s mother to make a face so I could
punch her, but that didn’t happen (praise the Lord Saints!). But it turned into
a pleasant conversation in which the woman said that maybe Persia needs a
sibling…maybe I should’ve punched her for that (jk jk lol). The woman proceeded
to leave but Persia wouldn’t stop embracing the child so I had to pry her little
arms from around the pudgy porcelain faced infant.
Why can’t it be that simple?
Why was I so on edge? For me it’s because as a Christian I am not worried about
my provision. I know regardless of who’s in the White House, God is my
provider. But as a mother who has seen the campaign our current president elect
has run, full of hatred & divisive tactics I’m concerned for my child. I
could care less what someone says to me, I went to a college in a town where
there was blatant racism and I had a professor tell me I didn’t belong there.
So I’m no stranger to racism, but it’s different when it’s directed toward my
child or children I know. Jesus be a fence because my fists will fly, no
questions asked (I'm a work in progress, pray for me).
A good friend of mine from
college, who happens to be Somali (get a map) and Muslim, sent an e-mail today
asking friends to encourage her younger siblings because they are fearful of
how they’ll be treated even moreso now that we have an “orange president”, as
Persia calls him. It’s like this election has allowed for all political
correctness and tolerance to be vetoed and ignorance and hatred are the “new”
law of the land. The land of the free and home of the brave has become the land
of the fearful and home of outrage.
As easy as it would be to bash
Trump and the people who support him, I am not willing to sow verbal seeds that
I will reap in the future. I will not criticize a seat I have not sat in, as my
Apostle would say. And I will not dishonor those in authority. Although I am a
citizen of the U.S. I am also a representative of the Most High. I choose to be more
Christian than anything (Black or Democrat). And because of that I will not
allow politics to govern my behavior or my views, because when all is said and
done God isn’t going to pardon my sins because a heathen was in office. He
instructed me to trust Him, love everyone and pray for those in authority (That’s
Bible!, as John Hannah would say).
As I stated in the beginning,
God has a way of using the unqualified to draw people to Him, whether they are
working for or against Him. So Christians (true Christ followers, not church
goers) need to take the proper posture and prepare for the revival that is
coming to America. Beyond the hysteria there is hope and we have the answer. There is opportunity in the catastrophe. That’s why I’m pumped for Trump!
