Unity.

"All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from, to, and why." --James Thurber

I've had some time in my basement.  It didn't take very long before I could find peace in the Silence.

Here's what I know:  There are a lot of scared people right now. Scared for many reasons. Death, crime, and hatred are all growing at an intensely fast rate.  We just came off of an extremely close and controversial election.  We also battled over chicken a few months ago.  Plus we deal with our kids being bullied in school, with people losing their jobs, and with the fear of nuclear bombs as the Middle East continues to grow even more unsettling.  And just months ago, one of our very own Ambassadors was raped and killed on our country's property.

This is tense.

We are in turmoil. And I refuse to believe that it has to stay this way.  At the same time, I refuse to participate in a perpetual cycle of arguing and lack of productivity.  Practically speaking, we have choices to make when we feel like we are in a state of doom and gloom.  Situations will never go away and challenges will never stop coming toward us, but we do have a choice in our response.

Somehow, it seems, that in the course of the last several years, the younger generation has become quite political and passionate.  I think this generation desperately wants to make a difference.  I just hope that it's for the right reasons, and I say that with the utmost respect.

When we use our agenda or our voices to feel powerful in our lives, we have to understand what a risk that is.  If you say something because you're full of rage or because winning is your goal, I'm going to be bold enough to shoot it straight.  That is not noble behavior.  Nor is it leadership.

If you say something because you are attempting to bring clarity, to mediate, or to share what you ultimately think is best for a situation, then I applaud you.  It's a tough day in age to say anything these days.  We say we have freedom of speech in this country, and yet as soon as we open our mouths to speak, we are subjected to uninitiated attack--no matter how pure or unbiased our motive.

The importance of saying what we need to say never should be dulled down though.  It should also never be mocked.  This is America. Do we not understand what a privilege it is to have an opinion?  And do we not understand the lives that were sacrificed in order for us to be free?  Let's act like adults and steward the gifts we've been given well.  We don't receive gifts like freedom in order to use them against our own brother.  That is beyond insecure and selfish.

If we want to start moving forward, then we need to start by acknowledging the importance and value of each person in this country.  If we don't value one another, what is the point? Who cares if states want to leave? Let's just call it a day and separate. Who cares if our Ambassador is raped? He's just overseas getting paid too much anyway.  Who cares if our tremendous debt is passed onto our kids? They'll figure it out.

This is how we're acting.

And it is more terrifying than anything to me. It makes us a target for ruin.

But even though the situation is terrifying, I'm not backing down. I have a voice, and I will use it. My ancestors with were both Native Americans and Settlers. This is my country. I will not cowtow to unrighteousness behavior, or intimidation, or big government.  This is my stance.

If Jesus lives in me, then so do all of His attributes.  Wonderful. Counselor. Prince of Peace. Everlasting Father. King of Kings. Ruler of Everything.

These characteristics do not succumb to sarcasm, manipulation, fear, control, passive aggressive behavior, or anything like it.

Goodness reigns over insecurity any day.

I can speak my opinion in love and with respect to anyone who disagrees.  I am not in the business of demeaning anyone.  I am for the prosperity of EVERYONE regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, or religion. I will not, however, tolerate being mocked or degraded.  Especially on my own turf.

An Ambassador was raped and killed on his own soil. This is a travesty, and this is also a picture.

This is what we are doing to one another every single day when we hate and when we berate each other. How dare we.

It's time for us to grow up. Crisis is looming, and we need people in their big boy pants--not in diapers.

I honor our president.  I pray for him regularly.  I pray for his safety and for the Goodness of God to lovingly bless his life. So, even though I disagree with his policies, I have nothing but respect for who he has been created to be. And if I can stand here and say that with the purest of motives, then I know that my Life will prosper with peace in the midst of devastation or in the heights of success. I'm just hoping that others want the same, too.

I won't live by this world's way of doing things.

I'd rather be part of creating what we were designed for---life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Divided.

If the 2012 election showed me anything, it showed me this.  We are in a people in great pain.

Yes, pain.

Our unresolved issues of yester year are being thrust to the front in some sort of unproductive grasp to feel powerful and to take our voices back.  When I see posts where people are be-rating one another, I get sick to my stomach. When I see people take jabs or power plays with others, I get so sad.

We have no have idea how to communicate.

We have no idea how use our voices effectively. We have no idea who we are.

Please don't take this the wrong way because I absolutely love freedom of speech.  I love when people are passionate about what they believe.  I love when people express why they think what they think.  I even love when people who disagree with me post their opinions--as long as it's in a tasteful manner.  And, in addition, I love when people I agree with post their opinions--as long as it's in a tasteful manner.

We all have room to have a voice.  This is America, God Bless it.

Our propensity toward Civil War, though, is creeping its way into reality as we fight over our own pain.  Social media has created fake armies with unexperienced generals spouting off orders in cyberspace. A true leader can express his/her opinion without demeaning or judging the other side.  A true leader CAN disagree and can express emotion at the same time, but a leader also does this out of a heart of innocence and not out of a heart of revenge.

I've watched countless posts go through my status feed where people have shown their insecurity by posting statuses just to get a rise out of someone else.  I've also seen posts where people say something controversial just because they think that a firestorm makes them valid somehow.  I've seen relationships lost because of pain-inflated loss of character.  This makes me scared for us.

I realize that this topic of "politics" is nothing new (and it's not just politics, it's how in we engage in life).  Elections have been going on for hundreds of years now, but I think our unresolved pain has escalated.  In my personal experience, the only time I've felt the need to shout at someone is if I feel like I'm not being listened to.  The fact that I am not being listened to hurts my feelings because it seems to say that my voice isn't valid.  When I let that lie burrow it's way into my heart, I end up reacting out of it.  I then either stop using my voice all together (because I think no one cares) or I try to get my power back by using my voice loudly, sarcastically, harshly, etc.  Well, then, an election comes up.  Or the issue of abortion comes up.  Or the issue of gay marriage....and low and behold, I have an opinion. And when I'm still believing that burrowed lie, I'm going to use that voice that no one seemed to care about to get my point across.  And while I'm at it, I'm going to put down the people who disagree with me because I'm in so much unresolved pain from my hurt feelings twenty years ago that I need someone else to feel that, too.  Misery loves company. I hurt someone else because I am hurting inside.  It's a vicious cycle.  It's the cycle of abuse. Open any psychology book.

Does anyone else see this happening?

This is so ugly.

This is such childish behavior.

We are acting like illegitimate children.

God loves us.  ALL of us. We belong to Him.  Our voices were created out of love, and each of us are valid.  When we stoop to this type of behavior, we desecrate ourselves.  We desecrate our neighbor.

It doesn't matter at this point whether you are gay or straight, Muslim or Christian, Republican or Democrat; we aren't going to agree on this right now.  I care most about how we can achieve our best success as a community. Do I have thoughts or opinions? Absolutely.  But my "right" to an opinion is second in line to my hope for restoration.

We have to either learn how to communicate with one another, and by doing so, choose to be on the same team, or we need to prepare for a Civil War. It's our choice.

We are destroying ourselves. And our kids are watching.

At this point, the only place I can find Hope is in silence.  When all the other voices are wiped away, I can listen for the One Voice who gives Life. And my earnest desire is only to release real Life. I refuse to enter or proliferate the cycle of abuse.

Until that Voice reverberates through my entire being, I'm just going to have to go back into the basement....again.

And that's that......