courage

Every election is not simply a choice between candidates – it is also a test of American democracy.

2020 has been a tough year for sure. The good news is that we don’t have to close it out with chaos, distrust or disappointment. We are not just Republicans or Democrats, for both parties must support all of the people for they are elected by the people in secret ballot.

We are Americans and Americans are resilient. Let’s take these last few weeks of 2020 and show our resilience by putting our fear in one hand, our faith in the other, and clasp them together in prayer for the courage to be the honorable, caring people that built the United States into a county that is loved and respected.

As we cast our votes, we do well to remember that there is no one perfect candidate. Everyone is flawed; me and you included. Here is my own platform that drove my vote for this election and is neither red nor blue, but perhaps shades of each.

Please consider your own platform, uncritically, with courage that comes from faith, not from enemies or media. Our current political issues today are nothing new. It would do us well to study history. The election of 1968 is worth the study about the danger of not understanding basic human wants and needs. The difference in today’s election is that 2020 is so more than a passage of 52 years. I won’t point out the differences. That is for you, the reader, to determine—check it out.

Instead, I will share precious times of the day, walks with my dog, Teddie, where we experience the glorious mixture of babies in strollers being pushed along by their parents. There are people jogging, talking on their cell phones, and those enjoying the outdoors.

It is a mixture of races, ages, cultures, and beliefs. There is Jan who proudly displays her shaven head. She just finished chemo treatment. There are the two mothers who take turns home schooling their children with hilarious results that they will tell years from now. There is the young media journalist who only wants to escape from the written page and smell the air and watch as the fall leaves swirl around him, inhaling the freedom of this moment. We all smile, say hello, and if we are very lucky, we get to pet their dog. This is the America I believe in.

There are infants that have just opened their eyes to a world that will be of their making, a shining light on the future. There are those who have just closed their eyes, free from earthly worries. But with faith gained from their first awakening, they will preserve the life that they lived in such a way that they left the world a better place for those to come, than they found it.

Let us be in thoughts and prayer today for the courage to humbly accept the will of the vote, and that doesn’t mean ruminating that our vote didn’t count or that it only counts for me. All votes send a message to every political party. It is this: regardless of win or lose, the power lies with the will of all the people they serve. A vote is a powerful reminder of that.

This morning I clasped my hands tightly together and prayed for our county that we all have the courage to do what Americans do best; that we all see each other with an empathetic mind and a loving heart.

I pray there will be no destructive disappointment or destructive celebration. Instead, let’s join hands, virtually or in person, and be the salt of our nation and preserve what we stand for; let us be the light of unity.

Peace be with the United States of America, one nation under God.

“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:13-16 KJV \

“Kernels are seeds we plant as we journey through life, from season to season.”

We leave kernels behind like tracks in the sand that show our past seasons; but, like sand near the ocean, the seasons of wind and water erase them. They become bittersweet memories or just bitter memories, leaving scars. They come in the form of words, actions, behaviors, thoughts, emotions, intentions and often, ‘un-intentions’.

Each Wednesday, here on my blog, Sparklers: Lights of Grace, you will rise and shine, greeted by my ‘something to think about’ Wednesday blog called, Sparklers Garden: Kernels of…. My greatest hope is that by planting our kernels we will reset our view about whatever season we are traveling in.

A Kernel of Faith

A kernel of faith is all you need to get through the ups and downs of life’s many seasons. Right?

Some seasons are crystal clear. The sky is blue, the varying hues of nature crisp and the heart is bursting with the joy of it all – we see it. For this, we give thanks with all our heart and soul.

But, sometimes it can be so bright that all you see is what’s right in front of you. This makes it hard to know where the blessings came from, therefore making it easy to feel invincible.

Meanwhile other seasons can be a mist of pain and darkness where there is no up, no down, and no side to side.

Either of these causes life to lose its luster. Either also makes the world seem flat. Our steps try to go backward to a bright and easy season in our life. But, those footprints are gone and we eventually collide with a big rubber wall that bounces us right back to the present.

Our season may be murky. We run to the right — smack into a hard wall. We try it again with a slightly different direction, ziz-zagging our way to the left, then to the right as if we can fool life into a different season.

There’s no fooling the seasons of life, so again we smack into a wall, this time staggering upright, bruises and all. The only direction left is forward, but the swirling mist hides what waits for us there. Scary, huh?

Perhaps, much like the long ago theory that the earth is flat, our life too has become flat. If we go forward, we might just step off the edge. Then what? Well, when a season in life changes, there’s no way to go back. It’s also impossible to remain still. Stagnation becomes a living death.

Moving into the next season is the only option. But that’s scary. It’s going to take courage and we can’t find it in the fog that surrounds us. Where can this much courage be found?

Listen.

Listen and hear those words in your head – the two words that provide direction. Those words are, “you know”.

You know to raise your hands to heart level – yes both at the same time. In one you speak your fear; in the other you speak your faith; both of the unknown facing you. Then you put them together, clasped in prayer, releasing fears by giving them to God – and don’t even think about taking them back (remember that rubber wall?).

This is when the grace of courage is given. Works every time – in His timing.

************

It’s hard to to see evidence of faith in times like these when the entire world seems flat. Let’s grow this Sparkler Garden!

Please, share your own Kernel of… in the comments section in hopes that your kernel will touch at least one person reading it, and that one person is changed and in the doing, will provide a kernel that will grow in someone else.

Luke 8:11

“Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.”

“You know.“

Sparklers

Lights of Grace

Tag

“Elections are the dance of democracy.” –Dan Rather

Kernels are…