Now What?

A brief guide on what to do in a post-election America.

This past presidential election has highlighted many divides in the United States. Now that the election is over a growing realization is settling in that we have to still live with each other. I have been thinking quite a bit as to the pain I have seen displayed on Facebook, and I posted my thoughts there regarding that subject. I garnered many positive responses to that post, but positive online responses mean very little without concrete actions to accompany them. So with that in mind, I will share some actions that we need to take. These will be from a Christian perspective, but even those without this perspective will most likely find something helpful.

Pray

 

The Bible states that we should "Pray without ceasing." Without prayer even the most well-intentioned response can can easily go awry. If for no other reason prayer is beneficial because it causes us to slow down and let our minds process the flood of information and emotions that bombard us. We need to keep in mind that prayer is much more than listing our grievances. It should involve a great deal of listening to what God has to say to us. While we're at, we should also do a lot more listening to each other.

Listen

 

Some of my Facebook posts led to someone (with views different than mine) contacting me privately regarding my motivation for posting the articles/videos that I did. This led to a conversation in which we came to the agreement that a major problem was that many people simply talk past each other instead of attempting to see the world from the other persons/groups point of view. Listening doesn't mean that you have to compromise your views, it simply shows others the respect that you would like them to show to you. You might be surprised to discover causes that both of you agree should be defended.

Defend Causes Not Candidates

 

Christianity has been done a great disservice by religious leaders that feel the need to promote one candidate or one political party over the other. Such pandering to political power causes many to think that Christians care primarily about winning elections instead of winning souls. I see no where in the Scriptures where Christians are told to aspire to political power. Doing so only corrupts both institutions, with Christianity taking the brunt of the damage. (Something I wrote about in previous posts.) Defending causes can be done in many ways, but the most obvious way is to . . .

Donate Time and Money

 

Your first priority should be your place of worship because let's face facts, the problems we face in this world cannot be solved by political means. Changes in attitudes come only through changes of the heart, and the best conduit of that change at least should be places of worship. If you discover that your religious leaders hold views that you believe to be wrong, talk with them. If you don't get satisfactory answers to your questions and concerns, prayerfully consider finding somewhere else to worship. However, don't give up on God altogether. The Devil often uses corrupt leaders to drive people away from God. Don't allow yourself to fall into that trap. There may also be other organizations that you're interested in supporting outside of your place of worship. You should support them as well with your time and money. If you can't support them in those ways, show your support online. Also, let's not forget another way to show your support is to . . .

Contact your Political Representatives

 

I put this one last for the reason I mentioned in the previous section, political action will only take you so far. However, that doesn't mean that you should totally neglect this avenue. Find out who your representatives are and contact them, and don't forget your local ones. The best way to get your message across is to go old school: telephone calls and snail mail. Electronic means of communication will generate an electronic response, often automatically. The higher level of interaction the greater the impact.

Whatever You Do, Do Something

We find ourselves at a key point in history, and our actions determine not only our future on this world, but also in the world to come. Regardless of your views of Jesus, one thing we can agree on is that He wasn't lazy. He went about doing good. For His professed followers to be spectators to this country's and this world's suffering does a disservice to the name of Christ, and should not be tolerated. So as you go about doing good, encourage others to do the same, and hopefully we can help bring an end to this suffering once and for all.

Uncommon Company

Courtesy frederickcountymd.gov

When working for a common goal, you may find yourself in uncommon company.

My wife and I recently decided to stay at home and watch a movie together (something we hadn't done for awhile), and we decided, via a coin-flip, to watch the movie Big Miracle.  Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with the movie, it involves the plight of a family of Gray Whales trapped by the ever-increasing arctic ice.  This true story highlights how people, and nations, who were normally at odds with each other came together to help these stranded animals.  One exchange in the movie that stands out is when a Greenpeace volunteer and an oil-drilling executive who were both helping the whales each confess that the other person was not so easy to hate as they used to be.

As I thought about this film, I couldn't help but think about a story told by Carl Wilkens in his book I'm not leaving. (you can find my review for the book here).  He told the story of how a group of orphans fled their orphanage to avoid being murdered.  Wilkens discovered that when the children left they took only the clothes on their backs.  He then decided to go back and retrieve their personal items, and upon arriving he stumbled upon a group of armed men looting the orphanage.  After a very tense negotiation it was decided that the orphans should have their things, and the very men the orphans were running from helped Wilkens load the various items into a truck to be delivered to the children.  A surreal moment indeed, but an ideal illustration of what can happen when people work together for a common goal.

While you or I may not find ourselves in such extreme situations or in such unusual company, whenever we work on a project bigger than ourselves, we may find ourselves working with people with very different views than ours.  We should not allow these differences to derail our goals, but rather we should allow these differences to enhance both the project and ourselves.

Have you ever worked on a project that brought you in contact with uncommon company?  Feel free to share your story in the comment section.

The Secret Weapon

One can find many life lessons in the natural world.  A video I recently watched highlights one of these lessons.

I recently subscribed to the DiveFilm HD video podcast which has a collection of short ocean-related videos.  While all the ones I have seen so far have been good, "The Secret Weapon" video definitely falls into the category of educational litter.  See for yourself.  (If you want the HD version, go here.)



How can we use the lesson taught in this video?