What's Next?

Whether you are democratic or republican, this is the fate of our country, and we must learn to live with it. What's done is done.

I'm listening to this while I write.
​You may listen to it while you read.

I woke up today perusing my social media accounts and discovering nothing but fear, hatred, confusion, and shame. Two people groups, both believing they are right, and neither able to connect. It rises in me a pure state of sorrow.
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This morning as I meditated on this, my thoughts turned toward vapor.
Vapor. An image that illustrates something that is present for a moment, and then passes without notice. The following video is where I found my inspiration.

"If you stretched out your arms, and your wingspan was representative of Earth's geological history, and then you took a nail file and took just a little bit off the edge of your finger nail, you would have wiped out all of human history."

In the video, the narrator says that our time on Earth is but a speck in the vast universal scheme of life. Every person you know, every race and creed, every celebrity, every friend, every family member, every historical figure, every corrupt politician, every greedy businessman exists on a pale blue dot floating in space, which will flicker out in a moment, without notice.

This sobering thought might be vastly depressing. We might live our lives ignoring the truth about our finite existence, trying to make the most out of everything. Worrying about where things are going, what we're supposed to do, how we're going to pay our student loans, if we're going to be safe today, if we are going to eat today, if someone loves us.

Or, we could embrace it.

Instead, we could acknowledge that our tiny existence is momentary. Short. Brief. Beautiful. That this painful moment will pass away, and another moment will take its place; a fresh start, another day, given for no apparent reason.

And in that space we find love.

In that space, we find beauty.

In that space, we find inspiration.

If you're wondering what you're going to do today, how you're going to accept the current state of our world, here's what I suggest to you: 
Create.

Throughout history, there have been countless tragedies; conflicts both political and physical, moral and pragmatic. Through them all, art has survived. Art thrives in the human space of deprivation, of desperation.  You are not powerless. You are not hopeless. You are not lost. Art has the power to heal, through comedy, music, laughter, forgiveness, and discussion; and if you want our country to grow and our people to become better, than do something about it.

 Write, act, sing, dance, talk, type, paint, draw, glue, spray, mark, play.
Whatever you do, do it as an act of creation that inspires love. Real love. Love that allows people to be genuine, to ask questions, to gently correct, to remain patient, to be kind, to forgive and to forget the pains of the past. Only then can we move forward. 

Do what you need to do, but let there be something to love after. If you are angry there's a place for that - just not towards one another. If you are hurt there's a place for that - just not by yourself.

In an age of globalization, we must not fall into isolation.

Come together. Create. Learn. Grow. 

I fear for the future. I am a Christian white male who often finds it very difficult to identify himself as such. To the other white people who read this, to the Christians who read this, I hope that you also see that people are afraid. But now, let us all focus on love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.
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The call is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Lastly, I take this dedication from my friend Brian:
To my friends of color,
my immigrant friends,
my native friends,
my LGBTQ+ friends,
my non-Christian friends,
​my Christian friends,
my female friends,
my friends who have ever been bullied or assaulted:
I stand with you and I love you.
We are all in this.

Us for us. Let's move forward.