Sunday Salon, Nov. 13th

To honor veterans.
Armed Forces Tribute Garden in Westminster, Colorado. Photo by Don Bennett.

Weather: Rainy and cold. Miserable.

I just want to be sad for a while, not mad: After the election results of last Tuesday I've had a very sad several days. I imposed a media blackout on myself because I just want to allow myself the room to grieve over Hillary's loss and to be sad for while. I know if I spend any time on the Internet or watching cable TV my sadness will evolve into a deep anger and I just don't want to go there. Not yet.

Worst party EVER: we hosted an election watch party at our house on Tuesday night and had eight friends over to join us. Everyone brought food to share. Even by 6 PM on the West Coast we could tell things were not going Hillary's way and most of the food sat uneaten as we all dissolved into the miasma of despair as the evening wore on. It was quite possibly the worst party ever in the history of parties. Ugh! I think Saturday Night Live got the idea for this sketch from our party.

Jane Austen to the rescue: I was feeling so sad and upset by the end of the school day on Wednesday I came home from school and took a bath (in the middle of the afternoon) then watched Mansfield Park on DVD until Don got home. Rita came over Saturday and we watched Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen to the rescue. Fanny Price (Mansfield Park) is put down at every turn, yet she sticks to her morals and triumphs in the end. Elinor Dashwood (Sense and Sensibility) remains sensible and strong even though she is disappointed with many aspects of her life, one being that she is female, and women in those days just did not have as many rights as men.

24-Hour-Blog-n-Readathon: Don left for Colorado on Thursday. I was still on my media blackout. Friday was a day off school for Veteran's Day. Putting those pieces together, I had a lot of time alone to feel sorry for myself so I decided to spend the weekend reading and catching up on blogging. I got a lot done. Here is my update. It felt good to write eight book reviews which were past due, and I finished two books, while starting three others.

Hope: Last week I posted a prayer about hope. I was thinking about a world where a woman could be president and the causes she supported. This week I have found myself thinking about the word 'hope' in another way---I 'hope' Trump doesn't wreck things for America and the world. Admittedly that is not a very positive way to think of hope. Today in church the sermon was about being 'neighborly', an action verb. When Jesus tells us to love our neighbor, he makes no distinction between Democrats and Republicans, black/white, rich/poor. When he taught using the parable of the Good Samaritan it was to make the point that we need to expand our world and treat others with love, compassion, and respect...in other words, to be neighborly. This is what I am going to focus on this week. How can I be more neighborly to everyone, no matter how they voted.

In the church bulletin was a copy of the Presbyterian Covenant of Peace and Unity. I think it is worth the time it takes to read it and to think of it on a personal level:

COVENANT OF PEACE AND UNITY

As followers of Jesus Christ we yearn for harmony and sometimes deny when discord is among us. But disagreements and disputes are natural and inevitable in everyday life, at work, at school, in our community and in our church. We don’t always know the best way to deal with conflict, yet we are called to participate in God’s activity by healing, reconciling, and binding up wounds. Peace and unity require action. As a community of followers of Jesus Christ at Shepherd of the Hill, we covenant together that when faced with conflict:

·         We will pray for each other that we may faithfully serve God, follow Jesus Christ, and be guided by the Holy Spirit;

·         We will seek to be guided by Scripture;

·         We will acknowledge that the peace and unity we seek is God’s gift to us in Christ;

·         We will speak the truth with love, expressing ourselves with candor and humility;

·         We will listen, endeavoring to understand each other, especially those whose views seem to differ from our own, maintaining a spirit of openness and vulnerability;

·         We will respect confidences, show faithfulness in our relationships, and trust each other’s motivations and dedication.

Enough said.

I look to the future with confidence and hope.

Thank you veterans for your service. The flags represent the five branches of the armed services and the merchant marine.