"To despair..."

Good morning. Hey, guess what? The sun is on its way up. Amazing how that works.

This morning I feel profoundly sad. I know that a lot of people are upset by Trump’s win Tuesday. I get that; I really do. Had Clinton won, there would have been a lot of people upset and I get that, too. In that respect, one is not better than the other. Due to how I voted, I would have this sadness, and even disgust, no matter which had won so there is that.

One thing that annoys the heck out of me is that, once again, I am being categorized according to what I say after this election. If I say, “It will get better,” which I have, I am privileged. Because I believe in God and because I believe that, in ways unbeknownst to us mere humans, he has everything under control, I am privileged. I mean, really, you know? Because that is what I believe. My knowledge is infinitesimal. The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. Go ahead and tell me that all these people who are so afraid know more than I do. It’s possible. Tell me they know more than God. No freaking way. So, hey, if my personal beliefs mean that I am privileged, so be it. That isn’t what makes me really sad.

This is.

Many of the people who are bemoaning the sad state of affairs do believe in God. Some of them even attend the same church I do.

Truly, I don’t understand. I mean, I get how people can be angry, frustrated, even frightened. But, as Marilla Cuthbert says in Anne of Green Gables, “To despair is to turn your back on God.” If you are angry or frustrated or frightened, that’s okay. It is. Everyone feels those at some point or another. But don’t despair. Do take constructive action. That is the only way anything good will be accomplished.

And, here’s a thought that might really stir things up: the electoral college doesn’t vote until December. Never in its history has it gone with the popular vote when it is opposite the electoral vote but there’s a first time for everything.

It really is a beautiful day. This is from Saturday afternoon. The muted colors were very pretty.

The sun is out. It is a beautiful day.

And this is from yesterday afternoon. What a beautiful day it was! Much like today.

Nothing to Fear When We Stand Together

Good morning. Yes, as of the time I am writing, it is still morning, even on the east coast. By the time I post, probably not.

First, today is Veteran’s Day. I know a lot of veterans and I am related to a lot of veterans and there are far too many to mention by name but I have to mention my favorite: James M. Lamberger. Aka Papa to me and his children and other grandchildren and great-grandchildren and now his great-great-grandchildren. I am grateful for his service to our country and our family. Without him, I certainly would not be who I am today. I am also grateful for the service of all the other veterans I know, and even those I don’t, and for the service of those who helped them to do what they’ve done.

Second, I have two theme songs right now. There is much more to both than my current take away but I’d like to share them anyway.

The first one is Nothing to Fear by Billy Idol. If you listen all the way to the end the last words are, “There’s nothing to fear/But fear itself.” I believe this to be true. When we give in to fear, what are we doing? When we cower behind closed doors, what are we doing? When we willingly submit to the thing we fear, what are we doing?

Anyone who knows me well knows I’m not a huge Disney fan. That said, I still think there are a few good movies that Disney has done. One of them is Remember the Titans. If you don’t know what it’s about, google it. If you do, great. Anyway, at one point, Coach Boone says, “I don’t scratch my head unless it itches and I don’t dance unless I hear some music. I will not be intimidated. That’s just the way it is.” He didn’t cower in fear. He could have, but he didn’t.

Again, anyone who knows me even a little might know that I share a birthday with Martin Luther King, Jr., and in high school (and beyond) I wrote more reports about him than anything or anyone else. If someone could have cowered in fear, he certainly could have. But he didn’t.

Let me share a couple of quotes by him.

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”

I read something yesterday that someone posted on Facebook. It was written by a Pakistani man who is Muslim and gay who voted for Hillary Clinton. He wanted to find out if it was true that all Trump supporters really are bigoted, privileged, etc., so he and his husband and their daughter went to Alaska. Guess what they found out? That people who voted for Trump aren’t all that way. The people they met work hard to support their families. They were kind and decent. They were not what this man was expecting to find.

Don’t think for a minute that I am stupid and naïve enough to believe that all Trump supporters are decent human beings; I don’t think they are. I don’t think Clinton’s supporters are all decent human beings either, for the record.

Another quote from MLK, Jr., “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moment of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Where do you stand? That brings me to my next song which is When We Stand Together by Nickelback. Listen to the chorus: “We must stand together/There's no getting even/Hand in hand forever/That's when we all win.”

Are we standing together? I don’t think so. This election was pretty evenly divided between the two main candidates. That means there are a lot of people who are disappointed, even if just a little. Personally, if you know me at all, you know I voted for Johnson. Did I think he would win? No, I really didn’t, but I still voted for him because I could not vote for either Trump or Clinton. I may not have agreed with everything he said and did but I agreed with more of his platform than either Trump or Clinton. That said, from everything I saw and read and heard, I fully expected Clinton to win. Did that make me happy? No. But neither did the thought of Trump winning.

Now, I hear and see a lot of fear. “I’m afraid that….” “I fear this….” “I’m worried about…” Honestly, I see and hear many things that cause me to be greatly concerned about our future. I think things could get really ugly really fast. But fear does no one any good. No one.

What happens when you give in to your fear? You become subjected. You empower those you are afraid of. Let’s not. There are plenty of idiots but I think there are a lot more who aren’t. Those of us who are not, well, we need to stand together because I can tell you, “the drumbeat carries on.”

The world is still beautiful if we can just take the time to appreciate it.

No Insomnia Here, Man

Good morning. I went to bed last night at 11:00. That is later than normal and later than I should and I was tired and I slept well all night until after 4:00 when I usually wake up at least enough to use the bathroom and check the time. Do you know why I slept well?

I slept well because no matter who won the election, my worrying about it would have no effect on anything but my own health. Am I happy with the way the election went? No. Would I have been had Clinton won? No. Would I have been had someone else won? Perhaps. Even though I did vote 3^rd party, I don’t know that Johnson or McMullin winning would have solved any of our problems. We’ve been working on our problems for a good many years and no one individual is going to fix them. Well, I take that back. I happen to believe that there will be a second coming and Jesus Christ will come and when he does, he will fix things. I also happen to believe that things are going to get a lot uglier before that happens and this election might just help that along.

So, last night I slept. Will I continue being able to sleep? Only time will tell. Ultimately, unless my being awake will in some way help keep my family alive, I think I will. A human can only stay awake for so many hours before there are negative consequences after all.

And although the future could very well get really ugly, for now I look out the window and see that the sun is rising. In less than an hour, I will have to go out and milk. Amena and Cedric will get on the bus and go to school in about fifteen minutes (unless they miss it, in which case they’ll be home today). Seth and Joseph will do their school work today and a civics lesson is in store as we will be discussing the election and later today when I should be doing something else, I’m probably going to take a look at the numbers because from what I see now, the race was very, very close. I’m sure that there were those who imbibed too much alcohol and they are or will be ruing this morning. I’m sure there were some who went to bed and had sex and perhaps in nine months I will be honored to be a participant in the birth of a baby.

Although the future could get really ugly, there will always be beauty in the world and I can do everything within my power to make sure my family is as safe as possible. When faced with trials and hardships, should we give up? No. We should get to work. My paternal grandma, Mabel Roper, and I used to trade quotes and quips and one of my favorites was and is, “Work will win when wishing won’t.” It might be time to get to work. Well, it was a long time ago, really, but we can’t go back to the past, can we? Since we are where we are, it is time to get to work.

In other news, yesterday was a beautiful day. I voted, I read a lot about problems that can occur during pregnancy, I had a fantastic salad with lettuce and spinach, garbanzos, avocado, broiled chicken, and homemade Italian dressing. I also went to the track at Mount Wachusett Community College and watched Cedric race and beat Dan at the 800. I do love watching Cedric run. Seth didn’t want to race but he did run after they did. We didn’t time Cedric and Dan but I did time Seth. He did the 800 in one minute and 17.97 seconds. I love watching him run, too. Joanna and Joseph were there, as well, and after the running we drove up to Ashburnham intending to climb Mt. Watatic. We got a late start, though, and only made it to the top of Nutting Hill.

Once I got home, I read more, did laundry, and kept looking at election results. Then Amena got home at 8:00. Then the boys got home around 9:00. After the fun of getting everything settled down, we had family prayer and Amena and the boys went to bed. Paul got home after the boys were in bed but before their light was off. And then I went to bed.

Interestingly, when I looked at the numbers an hour ago, Trump had 47.6% of the popular vote to Clinton’s 47.58%. Now they stand at 47.58 and 47.61. Will the final number be different? I don’t know but I’m certainly not going to lose sleep over it.