We are more than how we vote

It saddens me me to note the amount of hate and backlash that has occurred since President Trump’s election. Although I have strong political opinions like many people in this country, I can’t honestly say that I agree with what everyone is doing. It’s a bit ridiculous that protestation now equals shattered glass and vandalism. That’s essentially what all of this is, after all. It’s a good chance to take out some of the ugliness these people hold inwardly and blast it to the outside world for all of us to deal with. 

There is a better way. 

Political opinions, while they can be incredibly strong, are not the only things we’re made up of. In defense of this statement, I always recall to mine the pairing up of various couples who disagreed vehemently with each other in the matters of political discourse yet still managed to have healthy relationships outside the political atmosphere. Numerous couples live this life: Teresa Heinz Kerry was a registered Republican before she met and married John Kerry, former Democratic presidential nominee. This is one example; there are others in addition to this, among them FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt. It’s not incredibly common, the pairing of a leftie and a righty, but it does happen and although it would seem strange to some, it really isn't.

Why not?

Essentially because we are more than political persuasions. I am more than a conservative-Libertarian. I don’t agree with my party on every issue, but that doesn’t matter because my party isn’t my life. There is more to Marissa than a political checkbox - life is the summation of friends, family, faith, and a host of other complexities in-between. ALL of us are more than the way we vote. We’re mothers, daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, fathers, neighbors, workout buddies, office-mates, we go to the same churches, eat at the same restaurants, and we all breathe the same air and see the same moon and stars at night. So why the rage? Americans are so much more than hate and backstabbing. We are blessed. No matter who is in office, we are blessed. 

And so while protests and rioting still continue in some parts of the country, I pray we can overcome our differences. Purple is, after all, a nice color. 

Conspiracies and the Kennedys

The other day I needed to be at work exceptionally early. It was the day right before the holidays began and quell nightmare. Those days are always pure insanity. 

I arrived and remembered that there are a few other people in the office who arrive that early every day. They are morning people by nature, admittedly I am not, but after a direct shot of espresso to the head and heart, I was able to chirp with the best of them. Except, instead of chirping, I listened. They were discussing JFK. 

I’ve always found discussions about John F. Kennedy to be interesting if not especially relevant. He was assassinated and there were many strange parts about his assassination. This is all true. And if you discuss the case from every possible angle, you will always find more and more strange things. Assassinations are always interesting because we don’t know what causes them. Most are usually done by the lone-nut-fanatic (John Wilkes Booth comes to mind) yet the idea of a shadowy hand directing the puppet strings still persists. Why is this?

The interest many people show in conspiracy theories and in New World Order ideas being propagated has always confused me a little. While I love to listen to conspiracy theories, back in my head I have this idea that none of this could possibly be true. There are some people who believe in the Masons and believe that there’s a group of about 4 or 5 men in the world that control governments and stock markets and mass movements and I don’t buy it. For starters, I’ve never met anyone smart enough to run an entire world on their own. Have you? The last time I checked, a country that produces reality television and Facebook is not intelligent enough to run an entire planet, but that’s just me.

In addition to the above, conspiracy theories and the idea that our world is run by only a select secretive few leaves out the possibility of God. In a world where we believe in God and believe that He is controlling all, the idea that the power remains in the hands of only some is just a wee bit foolish.

Setting these things aside, it seems to be that human beings believe in conspiracy theories because we like to speculate. Our social instincts drive us to gossip and to get together and rehash plans and ideas until they become tall tales larger than life. Eventually truth and lies merge in our heads to the point where they become one and the same and the truth, the real truth, is lost. It’s lost to the vestiges of time and the stories and implications of others.

Back in the office, as these thoughts were running through my head, I listened to those around me talking about JFK. For myself personally, the stories have always fascinated me. The Kennedys, love them or hate them, were a beautiful family. Graceful Jackie and darling John Jr. and Sweet Caroline captured the hearts of the American people and it’s easy to see why. My dad has a LIFE Magazine that published the details of Kennedy’s assassination shortly after it happened and when I was young, I’d stare at the pictures for hours, lost in the ideas and dreams of Kennedy Camelot. 

I suppose the reason I remain interested in the Kennedys, and why everyone else does, too, was because of that beautiful, fascinating quality they possessed. Setting aside the important things (Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cold War, etc.) one could learn to really like the Kennedys as a first family, and America did, and then the idea was shattered with a brutal gunshot. I suppose this is the reason why we still remain fascinated by them…because we all saw the dream and then it was gone with a bang.

I wasn’t around when the Kennedys were here. The only Kennedy remaining in that particular family branch I don’t care for (Maria Kennedy Shriver, you would have been a terrible senator). The magic, for me, is a secondhand magic. It’s usually the best kind. In my mind, the Kennedys are a series of pretty pictures. I didn’t ever have the opportunity to dislike them for the things that mattered (politics), I was just able to be enthralled from afar. Familiarity does breed contempt, as Shakespeare so famously put it, and I was never familiar enough. 

Listening to the others in the office who actually lived through that time though, I can understand why they would still talk about the assassination of JFK. I suppose we will continue to discuss it until all of us who saw the pictures are finally gone. 

Thoughts on a December Day

It’s Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. I always remember this date, although I think many others forget it. There are probably some who live in this country who don’t know what Pearl Harbor was. This is sad considering what those men and women went through on that day. It’s interesting to think about as well as grotesque – bodies being blown to bits, people being burned, mass hysteria…I’m grateful I was not there and I am willing to remember the sacrifice of everyone who went through something then not just to honor them, but so I can keep myself mindful of the prayers I need to pray so that never happens to me. I think this is the two-fold purpose of remembering the fallen. One, primarily to honor them and two, to make sure it never happens again.

Anyway, it’s cold outside and dreary, or it was this morning, and I have a bad case of allergies that have pounced on me and threatened to snatch my oxygen away. They’re such a pain, allergies. I read somewhere that eating clean for a few months can make them go away and I have considered giving up chocolate and bread of all forms just so this miracle can occur.

My Christmas tree still sits at HEB waiting to be purchased. It simply isn’t Christmas until my tree is set up in my living room and decorated. This December is already moving by at the pace of lightning – the first round of holiday parties begin next week and I’m sure they’ll continue until pre-diabetic comas have descended on the attendees. That’s the only thing I have against Christmas. I end up either exerting a tremendous amount of self-discipline or waddling. Neither of these are fun to experience and unfortunately there is no in-between stage one can levitate in - slightly waddling and slightly saying no.

How nice is it that we have the opportunity to buy Christmas trees and celebrate holidays. It’s such a blessed world we live in. We are free from dictators, from oppression of all kinds, and we are blessed with more than enough goodness, in terms of presents and food and friends and family. This American life is beautiful in so many ways, and I’m thankful to be alive, enjoying it. 

A random Monday

It’s been a hot minute since I had a chance to write something. I’ve been so BUSY lately…and also lazy. Lazy and busy and listless. Anyway, but today is the day where that ends and where new life and new verbiage begins.

Yesterday was a lazy Monday. Typically when you think of Monday it’s associated with words like “hectic” and “stressful” and “busy” and mine was all of those things until I came home from work. It was cold and rainy outside and a trip to HEB was the only thing worthwhile that I accomplished.

I enjoy grocery stores. Up North the grocery stores are small and overly packed with carbohydrates that I’m not interested in purchasing. St. Louis in particular had a depressing set of grocery stores. They were tiny and not very well-stocked and just a drag to go in. But here in Texas where we have the wonderment that is HEB, purchasing broccoli can be fun-filled and slightly joyous. Perhaps I’m the only person who feels this way. Probably so. In the countries I visited in Europe, the highlight of my trip was a visit to the local Eurospar. If you want culture, real culture, go to the country’s local grocery store. The cashiers typically do not speak English if they bother speaking to you at all, and there aren’t helpful signs translating everything into your local tongue. You are on your own amongst the cheese and bread and salami.

Followed up my trip to HEB with a visit to Chick-Fil-A because there’s nothing that says fast food quite like a visit to the grocery store. The heaps of produce don’t cook themselves you know! While in the drive-thru, the helpful young lady took my order. While we exchanged pleasantries, her male counterpart came over and made a awkwardly flirtatious attempt in her direction. She shrugged him off, annoyed. I asked her what he wanted and she looked at me, whispered, “he’s weird”. I laughed and she remembered I was a customer and smiled and said, “I’m just kidding,” but I knew she wasn’t.

Ah to be young and work in Chick-Fil-A where you’re certain that this is only a small stepping stone and surely greater things lie ahead. And usually they do. Especially at Chick-Fil-A. I’m not sure why, but the employees there are usually much more pleasant and well-groomed than your average fast food place. I’ve yet to meet a dumb cashier at Chick-Fil-A but at my local Whataburger, I had to repeat my order four times the last time I went.

It was still wrong.

So here’s to Tuesday! It’s the first day we’ve had without rain for a while now. This disappoints me a little – gloomy and rainy days speak to me in ways that merely sunshine days do not.

Life goes on! Thankfully.

There are a lot of things going on right now. I don’t just mean things in the world, although those are happening too, but I also refer to life. My life.

Currently I have the beginnings of a terrible onset of allergies. I let loose a sneeze like a cannon in church last night much to my shock and horror. It was one of those embarrassing moments when you feel like everyone is looking at you because you just distracted them horribly but what else was there to do? Sneezes must be sneezed.

In addition to this, each day since I arrived back from St. Louis I’ve tried to refrain from eating sugar but each day I have failed. There are mini candy bars scattered all around the office and what, pray tell, am I supposed to do with mini candy bars? Like 13 year old prima donnas, they beg for attention, their true dark natures hidden beneath a façade of crinkly wrappers (I refer to both the teenage girls AND the candy bars). So I eat them and then I regret the sugar consumption and vow once again to try and not eat sugar. But…it’s hard. Not eating sugar reminds me of that one heiress, when asked how she kept her figure replied, “all you do is eat less”.

!!!!

But I digress. Political things aside, weight loss issues aside (with a vengeance) life is beautiful and good and full of wonderful things. Thanksgiving is almost here, Christmas is right after that, and life continues although for many who voted for Hillary Clinton, it seems like it should have ended this morning around 2 am. I’m glad I don’t care about politics that much anymore although I used to. What a relief! And what a time to be moving and breathing and living.

Election Day 2016: a follow-up

It’s a gloomy day. A foreboding, gloomy day. That line belongs out of a Bronte sister novel or some kind of novel (the kind with murders and elopements). Perhaps it is foreboding because of the election. In reality  it’s just another day in The Woodlands, Texas and the sun is probably shining elsewhere. Who knows? 

There is a strange feeling in the atmosphere. It’s of anticipation and slight dread and overall peace combined. I have had many, many people talk to me about this election today at work. All agree that each candidate is unsuitable and the unspoken question is: what happens next? And who would we consider suitable?

I have a theory and it partially explains why people are so unwilling to commit themselves to either candidate. This immense polarization between candidates leaves polite people at a standstill. We all have our opinions, we all voted for someone (some of us with a secret ballot, unwilling to commit themselves – I am one of these) yet none of us want to discuss anything. We are all noncommittally taking, or rather, not taking, a position in this election, unwilling to be put in either camp. It’s because none of us want to be seen as something we are not. We don’t want to be seen as another cog in the Democrat-wheel, lurking in the dank political shadows where politicians bribe each other and greed takes over, yet we don’t want to be tarred with the Donald Trump brush that shouts and screams and doesn’t make a lot of sense. So we are just staying quiet. We’re voting, but staying quiet.

I wonder what would have happened if there had been a suitable candidate this year? Would we have voted for him or her? Would we be as willing to keep silent about our opinions?

Tonight I will go to church and learn more about Jesus and His will and plan for my life. I don’t think it will have to do anything with Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton – and just a thought, but how horrible would it be if it did? I’m so glad our lives can rise above politics and political events. God’s stories are far greater than ours.

In the end I’m reminded of one of my favorite verses in the Bible: “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” It’s a small verse but it says a great deal.

Happy Election Day! In spite of.

Election Day 2016

I would be sadly amiss if I didn’t post anything about the looming presidential election. Several million people have voted already (I am sure) and maybe you are one of them. I am one of them. I voted early because standing in line on Tuesday to support a list of laughable candidates was not appealing to me. 

This presidential election is not the most important election of our time. Regardless of what people might think, it really just is not. The most important presidential election has been every presidential election to date. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. It just comes as pure common sense that every election has led us to where we are; therefore, they have all been equally important.

As a Christian, I have heard many, many things about this election. Some of my fellow Christians have become remarkably vocal. Some have become remarkably silent. I have waxed both silent and vocal because I teeter between wanting to be a political junkie who must. be. heard. versus being an actual Christian who tries to love everyone, regardless of if they’re voting for abortion rights or gay marriage or other decidedly unchristian things.

This idea that all elections are important and that we should all have our voice heard is quite true. Unfortunately, there are quite a few people who don’t believe this way. I’ve heard many people, some of whom are my close friends, tell me that they weren’t voting because God is in control and whatever will happen He has planned out anyway. This response used to baffle and annoy me. Baffle, because it was true and I didn’t have a response and annoy because it wasn’t true yet I still did not have a response. Now, some odd years later, I know what I would say if someone confronted me with that statement. Regardless of if you are Christian or not, voting is important. It’s important because, although one can be a Christian, it’s not their only label. We are Christians in spiritual practice, but Americans in everything else we say and do. We pay taxes, drive on roads provided by the government, fight in wars, protest accordingly, practice our Amendment rights, etc. We are Americans AND we are Christians. The two are separate, distinct parts of our makeup. You can be an American without being Christian but you can’t be a Christian without being an American unless you weren’t born here in which case that’s another story. And that’s why you should vote. God does have everything in control and I find it completely unsurprising that this election wraps up with two of the most disliked candidates in the history of the United States (that I know of, perhaps this is not the only time). But just because He has it under control does not make you any less American.

One thing I have heard quite a bit this election is the phrase, “Jesus for president!” I’ve said it myself quite a few times and even wondered if I should write Him in. This theory of Jesus being the president is, of course, quite unrealistic. He would have a hard time being seen during the inaugural speech and it wouldn’t be fair to the other nations because He could read the thoughts and intents of their leaders. But never mind, Jesus for president is a great idea although an inherently kind of…silly one.

So tomorrow it happens! Luckily the Lord did foreordain that tomorrow I have church so I won’t be forced to venture out of my apartment to glue myself to a TV for election results. I will instead have things in their rightful place and will be focused on the One who really should be president (even if it’s a false idea) and that’s better than anything else.