I should probably clarify...

I haven't written since primary season, so now my anti-Trump posts make me sound pro-Hillary. Nope. They are the same to me, both potentially harmful. I am voting third party.

Of course, I'm warned this will give Hillary the win. Unless the person warning me is a Democrat, then I'm definitely helping Trump. Here's what I'm doing: I'm refusing to vote out of fear.

I'm not afraid of either major candidate winning. God is still in control, even if the eventual winner thinks they were elected to save the world. I have to do what is right for my country, no matter what it means for either party. As Charles Stanley says, "Obey God and leave the consequences to Him". If more people could confidently get behind "none of the above," we could break this two-party hold. But that's another story.

I have wanted to write. I had a dear older friend die and I wanted to figure out what it was about her that I missed so much, and what about her that I wanted to be. I wanted to write a tribute. So I thought about that.

Then as Trump's trail became inevitable, I wanted to write about that, too, because I got this image of him as a wall. He talks about building one but he IS one. Always dividing people and grouping them. And I realized shamefully I do that, too. I try not to. I try giving everyone grace, even people with long records of not offering me the same (see? there I go again). I can still convince myself that I know what's best for someone else. I'm a wall, too.

And that's when I realized what I loved most about my friend: she never tried to fix me. [EDIT: By this I don't mean she never influenced me to change my life, or never spoke to me about deep issues.  I mean that to be her friend, I didn't have to believe any particular way, or vote a certain way, or use the latest product. She met me where I was.] I never got a hint that she ever labeled me as anything but a good person to talk to. If she saw anything broken in me, she was comfortable enough to never say anything. And I think that was from her being comfortable in her own brokenness, and genuinely wanting the best for everyone around her.
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So instead of two blog posts, I started a poem. And it's taken me all these months to finish it. Every draft kept sounding like I knew it all. Which made me a wall. And I'm starting to rhyme again so I'll stop.

[UPDATE 9-28-2016]  The Relevant feed is reading like my blog:  ‘Fear Not’ Is a Commandment We Need to Take Seriously and Just Because I'm Single Doesn't Mean You Have to 'Fix Me'