Politics Media and Jesus

 

* I wrote this article for a writers group I'm a part of, several weeks ago...it was written just after the inauguration. I wrote bluntly and boldly...just a warning... or disclaimer or whatever you want to call it.

We are living on our 38' sailboat for the next four months. This live-aboard-marina has everything a body could want within walking distance. There's a beautiful golf course that begs to be trampled on but I'd hate to find out what would happen if I did. Beside the bathhouse, which we are allowed to use, complete with toilets, dressing room, and showers, resides a lovely heated pool which we are not allowed to use. There's a bit of snobbery around here. Club membership is needed for the on site restaurant as well.

The laundry is available 24 hours a day. I went to do laundry early this morning. An old couple were finishing up their laundry. They were warm and friendly and told me my laundry bag was cute and that I had picked the best time of day to do my laundry. They told me they lived over on M dock and I told them I was on F. We exchanged thank-you's and nice meeting you words and parted ways.

There is one lady, probably in her 60's, that does her morning walk around the marina with her podcast blaring politics about the way our world is turning with a clear Biden supported message. Her walk is fierce and her glare is real. I tried to say good-morning a couple times as we passed ways on the sidewalk but I got the distinct impression I had offended her with my greetings. So now I smile. She needs a smile. I have offered a prayer to my-bigger-than-all-her-problems God on her behalf.

Another old couple, weathered and bent, stopped by to look at their racing sailboat that is docked next to ours. Bruce asked the gentleman how fast he's had his boat go? To which the man replied modestly, “I'm not really sure.” His wife, standing next to him, chuckled affectionately and proudly, “He's won several races!”

What makes people be who they are? I have friends and family that are involved and bent out of shape about our country and who the president is. It feels like they are running around squawking, “The sky is falling” like Chicken Little. This makes me sad. What makes each person choose their perspectives about life? Because it really must be a choice, Yes?

I don't enjoy keeping up to date with the news and headlines. I try for the sake of being informed. It's embarrassing to be so unaware of the world that I don't even know when an earthquake happens somewhere. It seems equally burdening to browse Instagram and see yet another cause in which to support and feel guilty about if you choose not to. The constant flow of chatter and disarray about sexual orientation, (whatever that means) BLM, But not white...and don't say that because that is talking ignorance... so many news headlines about fraud and political parties; so much you could choose to educate yourself about, for what?

Which news platform is telling the facts? How do I know that what I choose to read or watch is anywhere close to accurate? Why would I bother reading through all the social media outlets on to blog posts and over to FOX News or CNN or any of them if it is just point of view and opinion? Hello, I have an opinion, with or without the help of the news or social media. Or maybe that is part of the problem, people are depending on those platforms to bring them to what they think.

My sister recently traveled from Nebraska to Georgia with her family and lamented the changes of our country as she passed through each city. I had traveled through this same route three weeks prior and was comforted with how much the same our country is from east to west; north to south. So many people are still being kind and smiling and going the extra mile to be helpful, even behind their masks and all the rules implied. I was comforted because common sense still seems to be a way of life. My sister was upset because it all felt like Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. I'm confused by this. I wonder if all perspectives are right, or at least important. And if so, why do I feel judgmental toward the ones who see the cup half empty instead of half full? Shouldn't there be grace in my heart for the negativity if I'm seeing things positively?

Jesus. He brought peace but not without a whole lot of conflict and controversy. The part of history in which Jesus came to earth was also a volatile period. I imagine there were a lot of political parties making their voices heard or at least trying to. Yet Jesus taught 'Love your Neighbor' and 'Forgiveness is a Part of Prayer' and 'Return Good for Evil' lessons. He not only taught lessons, he exemplified them. Jesus' disciples had a wide array of personalities and differing opinions but able to get along with each other long enough to hear what Jesus was trying to teach them. Simultaneously, they were prone to cutting off ears and bickering about who would be greatest is the kingdom of heaven.

It's not really an argument of your cup being half empty or full. There is no denying the corruption of this world and that Covid has changed the way things are done. But to see our regular ways of shopping and being with people as changed and sad is our choice. If I sit in my boat and never go out on the boardwalk or talk to my boat neighbors, of course I'm going to feel boxed in and anxious about my interactions with others. But if I step off the boat, smile and do my laundry in a public room, if I talk about the everyday things in a positive, kind manner, most often, that is what I receive back.

Recently, I sat with my mother in law and daughter late into the night to watch a movie. I wasn't prepared to actually enjoy the plot because it was based on Thomas Kincaid's story. Being a child of the 90's, I was a little too saturated with his paintings, calendars, and puzzles. Plus if you read about his life, it has a sad ending. However, the movie, Christmas Cottage, depicts the struggle of a young artist striving to make an income off his paintings, and his teacher telling him if he wants his paintings to be real and alive; to be something people are drawn to; he must learn to paint the light into the canvas.

I can choose to look around and make a noise about all the things that don't make sense or I can see that a lot of people are still using good common sense; not letting some silly old rules change who they are, kind and true inside and out. I can feel hurt for the way people seem more rude than they did a year ago, or I can see that even behind the masks people are smiling kindly and opening doors for the person behind them at the grocery store.

So, while the world is corrupt and possibly changed; I choose to paint light into whatever canvas God has me painting at the time. I think grace is a good splash of color in a drab and gloomy heart. I believe hope is bright and warm through thank-you's and blessings. And I know trust in an Almighty God blazes through vast amounts of fear and anxiety.