Letting go of my "righteousness"

I feel pretty mixed up with the state of our nation right now.  I have found myself sucked into social media more in the past 2 days than I have for awhile.  It takes a hold of me and really just makes my heart hurt!  I have read so much hate and slander towards those on all sides that I just want to go live in a cabin somewhere, and not have contact with anyone in the outside world.  I know this isn't the way to live, mostly because I have bills to pay...and God calls us to be in community. 

I find myself wanting to scream and cry out.  I find myself questioning everything I have ever known to be true about people that I actually thought I knew quite well. People that I know are compassionate people, I am seeing them post things that are making fun of our former President, our current President, or the leaders that are running our country. 


My heart is hurting because there are so many of my fellow friends hurting.  We have chosen to put everyone into a category.... us vs. them.  We have chosen to put blinders on, and stop seeing people as human beings.  This is it.  We have got to start caring about others.  We have got to start putting ourselves into other people's stories.  We have got to start listening to what they are saying. 

There are some people that are scared to death that Trump is President.  There are kids that are being called awful names, and forced to do awful things in the name of the Trump Presidency.  It is not our job to tell them that these things aren't happening, or to pretend that they are just making it up.  It is our job as human beings to listen to them, hear them, and then try to help them.  It is our job to love beyond ourselves, even when we don't want to...even when we feel like they are just crying wolf.  Because you know what?  There is not ONE human being on this planet that doesn't matter.  There isn't!  EVERY SINGLE one of us was born in His image.  Every single one of us deserves to be listened to, to feel safe as we walk down the street, to not be scared if we are going to get pulled over.

I don't know your story, because I have never lived it.  I don't know what you have gone through, what bias you have lived with your whole life.  I only know what I have walked through.  I only know my own story.  Is it fair for me to place my own feelings on yours?  Is it fair for me to judge  you because you want to stand up for something that I don't believe in? 

No...it's not.  It isn't fair!  I do not have the right to tell you what to believe. 

I have the right to voice my own opinion.  I have even more of a right to listen.

I am going to try to listen more to the people around me, especially those that I don't quite agree with.  I am going to try to listen to the reasoning behind votes, marches, and protests.  I am going to try to listen without responding in anger.

I hope you will too.