Weather: Overcast and dreary. We are definitely turning the corner into Fall weather patterns. It was rainy and windy several days during the past week, followed by sunny and warm temperatures other days.
Family news and musings on faith:
- Books. To be honest I have thrown in the towel on several books and practically on reading in general. Reading is difficult for me right now, I am so distressed about national politics I can't seem to settle in to read more than a few pages here or there, making poetry or essay books my go-to choices. I did finish a poetry book by Barbara Kingsolver and am finding solace in essays by Anne Lamott. I'm even having trouble making myself listen to the Trevor Noah audiobook. I decided to NOT even attempt a finish one or two other books, one novel dealing with the topic of child sexual abuse and the other a nonfiction title about extinction. Both of those topics were way too serious for me and my moods right now.
- Issues of faith. As most of you know, I am a devote Christian AND a Democrat. If you pay attention to the news you would think that those two conditions are impossibly opposed to each other. I am confident I am not alone. Many of my friends are in the same boat. When we hear about evangelicals voting for Trump, the most profane, self-centered man to ever hold the office of President, it sets our teeth on edge. In fact one of the things that irritates me above all else is when I either lumped together with those evangelical voters or treated like I am not a Christian because I won't follow their lead. This week I found several organizations who are appealing to people like me, calling people of faith to vote their conscience, not the party. Exploring these sites was soothing to my soul.
- Vote for Common Good. Vote Common Good is inspiring, energizing, and mobilizing people of faith to make the common good their voting criteria and to pursue faith, hope, & love for a change on election day 2020 and prevent the re-election of Donald Trump.
- The billboards (three samples on this blog post) contrast the words of Jesus with the words of Trump, encouraging people to vote their conscience, not the party this election cycle. (Fox17 for a three minute video about the project)
- An evangelical pastor encourages voters to vote for Biden NOT Trump. (Time)
- Jackie, a right-to-life supporter is now supporting Biden. She says, "I will not be bullied." (Stand Up Republic on YouTube)
- Not Our Faith PAC. (YouTube) The ad, Associated Press reports, says Trump “has used Christianity for his own purposes… [Christians] don’t need Trump to save them.” it says. “The truth is that Trump needs Christians to save his flailing campaign.”
- A record-breaking number of faith leaders support Biden: over 1600 of them. (The Hill)
- A message to us all from Pope Francis:
- Biden is a man of faith. (NPR)
"All of you remind me of how Scripture describes a calling born out of the wilderness," Biden told the virtual audience. "A calling to serve, not to be served. A calling toward justice, healing, hope — not hate. To speak the good news, and followed by some good deeds. It's not just enough to speak the good news, but good deeds."
This wasn't a one-off religious reference; this is how Biden routinely speaks.
- Halloween is around the corner. That means a three-year-old I know and love is half-crazed with excitement. // We got flu shots this week. That is taken care of now! Whew! // Seahawks football is up and running and the season is going well. Happiness and harmony reign in our home when football is going well.
Good News:
1. On your mark, get set, VOTE!
2. Link to all pro-Biden, anti-Trump videos. Have fun! (Save America 2020)
3. Competing town halls. 15.1 Million viewers watched Biden on ABC and only 13.5 million people watched Trump on NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC. My theory is that Biden supporters watched him and Trump supporters watched the President. If I am right, that is another good sign that Biden will win.
4. Rudy Giuliani's daughter encourages everyone to vote for Biden, obviously splitting from her famous father. (Vanity Fair)
"We are hanging by a single, slipping finger on a cliff’s edge, and the fall will be fatal. If we remove ourselves from the fight, our country will be in freefall. Alternatively, we can hang on, elect a compassionate and decent president, and claw our way back onto the ledge. If I, after decades of despair over politics, can engage in our democracy to meet this critical moment, I know you can too."
5. I just love this list. Everything on it matters to me. What matters to you?
6. "43 Alumni for Biden. Team 46" (YouTube) Alumni working with George W. Bush's administration backing Biden. A lot of them!
7. Must watch! Peter Souza'a "The Way I See It." Souza was the White House photographer under the Reagan and Obama administrations. He is speaking out with his art about how Trump is not the right man for the job, by comparison to the other two men. Find it. Watch it. Tell others to watch. Wow. (King5 News Promo)
8. Must read "End Our National Crisis (New York Times) Read the whole thing and all the links. (Figure out how to get past the paywall!) "Donald Trump’s re-election campaign poses the greatest threat to American democracy since World War II."
On the Lighter Side:
1. I guess Trump IS someone's crazy uncle. Ha!
2. Referring back to last week and all the fly jokes after the Vice-Presidential debate..
3. At a Trump rally on Friday the President threatened if he doesn't win, he'll leave the country. Talk about a bad loser. Speaking of losing...
Trailing in the polls and at a significant cash deficit compared to Mr. Biden, Mr. Trump attempted to argue that he was opting against raising more money as he enters the final stretch of the election.
“I could raise more money,” he said. “I would be the world’s greatest fund-raiser, but I just don’t want to do it.” What Trump is saying is the classic thing every bully says when he knows he’s beaten and but doesn’t want to admit it.
4. Maybe this is why he wants to leave...
5. I love this part in Willie Wonka... (snark)
6. I just talked to a friend on the phone. She had to stop cleaning out a closet to talk to me. Me? My house is getting junkier by the day.
7. Do you think this is supposed to be the child (wild, unkempt) or the parent (wild, frantic, unkempt)?
8.Sadly, this is probably true...
9. The Biden campaign sure seems to have a sense of humor. Got to love cat videos...
We’ve got to come together to defeat Donald Trump –– Democrats, Independents, Republicans, and yes, even Demo-cats. pic.twitter.com/LtsTWy7MmI
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 17, 2020
10. And be sure to choose your humans wisely... White House Dogs.
Please join in the discussion below in the comments section or on Facebook. I'd especially love to hear from you concerning your thoughts on faith related to this election. Thanks for reading my blog. Two more weeks and two days to go. VOTE EARLY!
-Anne
