I have searched and prayed the past few days for words of comfort to share with y’all.
The trouble is, I pound endlessly on my keyboard, then hit the delete/backspace button and say, “No, I probably shouldn’t write that.”
Then I write something and read it to Terry who looks at me and says, “Because I know and love you, I know what you are saying here. But maybe sit on this one for tonight and see if you still want to share it, tomorrow.”
It is hard to admit this, but politics is in my blood. It has been for almost 30 years.
After I worked on my last campaign and told my mentor, “I’m hanging it up. I am leaving politics. I see a career in food and feeding people in my future.” She told me, “You say that, but it’s in your blood. You can take the girl out of politics, but you can never take the politics out of the girl.”
She was right.
The University of Tennessee afforded me with some really brilliant-minded professors. Some were conservative, some were liberal. All of them challenged me to think deeply and dig even deeper for the truth. You see, as much as you might look at me and think I am only 25 years old, I was actually in college before the internet. Before smart phones. Before Twitter and breaking news apps.
I know. It’s terribly hard to believe I could be “that old,” but it’s true. I wish I could tell you my 47 year old age is, “Fake News!” But alas, here I am with a broken hand, carpal tunnel and arthritis to boot. (We will omit the fine lines and wrinkles because the breakouts help throw me off on remembering just how old I really am!)
So even though I am 47, I feel like an old lady in that my heart hurts deeply for what our nation has seen this week. I never dreamed we would see an attack on our nation’s Capitol. Especially not by people from our own country.
I have never made it a secret that I, a (former) Republican conservative did not vote for Donald Trump in 2016 and I did not vote for him in 2020, either. But my feelings about this outgoing president pale in comparison to my feelings for the One who leads me, guides me, loves me and forgives me.
Beth Moore said a beautiful thing. She said, “Jesus doesn’t even have to have the president’s support to remain the head of the church.”
Having grown up in a Southern Baptist church, I can hear someone saying, “Can I get an amen from the choir?”
As upsetting and outrageous as this week’s events have been; as ever-changing as the violent acts and backpedaling and calls to riot have been to charge the Capitol and “take back America” (America has not been kidnapped, by the way) … we need to remind ourselves that Jesus has not vanished. If we are not seeing Jesus and the will of God, then it is because we are not looking for Him. Because Jesus has not left the room. Jesus has not disappeared. Yet I think we need to ask ourselves, “Have I made Jesus my priority every hour of every day, or have I made politics my priority?”
Let us not forget, no one other than Jesus Christ Himself died on the Cross for us. And no one else ever will. How we “defend” candidates, however, needs to be a reflection of Jesus, not the world. Because we will certainly be held accountable for the things we do and say, and if they are not reflections of the love of Jesus, we need to “check ourselves before we wreck ourselves.”
“The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.” - Proverbs 15:3 (NIV)
I do not, for one second, believe any of the Q-Anon conspiracies. And quite frankly, I am clinging to Bob Goff’s wisdom in Love Does, where he reminded us, “I don’t mean to sound callous, because the bad ones need friends too. They just don’t need you. Jesus doesn’t give satan any grace. He just speaks the truth to him and then tells him to go away. If satan had come back saying he was sorry, that would be different, but of course he doesn’t and won’t.”
It is okay to establish healthy boundaries and distance ourselves from those who encourage unhealthy behavior. In fact, it is not only okay, it is imperative. We don’t have to like the people who believe storming the Capitol and defecating in the hallways and spreading their feces on the floors and walls is acceptable behavior. We don’t have to agree with the people who felt justified in this violent act they refer to as, “a revolution.” We can hope for and believe in justice for the criminal acts we saw, but more than anything, we are to love Jesus and love those around us.
What an ugly week of bloodshed, violence and domestic terrorism that will go down in history as a day none of us will ever forget. As history will be shared for the future generations, may the words we write and speak aloud be words that point to Jesus … not political candidates. Every four years we will look to a new leader for our country, and every four to every eight years, that leader will change. But the true leader of our lives as believers is unchanged … unless we make it someone other than Jesus.
Just like my political science professors taught me, “think deeply and dig even deeper for the truth,” let’s make sure where we are digging is scripture. Not shared articles on the internet.
“Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” - John 8:32 (NIV)
My feelings about President Trump pale in comparison to my feelings about Jesus.