Dear John (and all this community--we're all part of it),
I feel your pain, acutely and empathetically. We're all in this together, as Joyce Vance (and many others) say. I read this poem earlier today, which perfectly captures how I feel about the state of things. Peace and love, Dave
Holding Vigil
My cousin asks if I can describe this moment,
the heaviness of it, like sitting outside
the operating room while someone you love
is in surgery and you’re on those awful plastic chairs
eating flaming Doritos from the vending machine
which is the only thing that seems appealing to you, dinner-wise,
waiting for the moment when the doctor will come out
in her scrubs and face-mask, which she’ll pull down
to tell you whether your beloved will live or not. That’s how it feels
as the hours tick by, and everyone I care about
is texting me with the same cold lump of dread in their throat
asking if I’m okay, telling me how scared they are.
I suppose in that way this is a moment of unity,
the fact that we are all waiting in the same
hospital corridor, for the same patient, who is on life support,
and we’re asking each other, Will he wake up?
Will she be herself? And we’re taking turns holding vigil,
as families do, and bringing each other coffee
from the cafeteria, and some of us think she’s gonna make it
while others are already planning what they’ll wear to the funeral,
which is also what happens at times like these,
and
I tell my cousin I don’t think I can describe this moment,
heavier than plutonium, but on the other hand,
in the grand scheme of things, I mean the whole sweep
of human history, a soap bubble, because empires
are always rising and falling, and whole civilizations
die, they do, they get wiped out, this happens
all the time, it’s just a shock when it happens to your civilization,
your country, when it’s someone from your family on the respirator,
and I don’t ask her how she’s sleeping, or what she thinks about
when she wakes at three in the morning,
cause she’s got two daughters,
and that’s the thing,
it’s not just us older people, forget about us, we had our day
and we burned right through it, gasoline, fast food,
cheap clothing,
but right now I’m talking about the babies,
and not just the human ones, but also the turtles and owls
and white tigers, the Redwoods, the ozone layer,
the icebergs for the love of God—every single
blessed being on the face of this earth
is holding its breath in this moment,
and if you’re asking, can I describe that, Cousin,
Beautifully written but there’s a HUGE piece missing and no one seems to want to call it out. FOX “news”, Newsmax and OAN have done nothing but LIE and spread hateful messaging to the country over the air and on tv for the past 8 years or longer. The Democrats didn’t miss anything. Since the election results, the main stream media has been going in circles trying to explain how the Democrats missed the mark yet no one will call the conservative propaganda outlets for their role in poisoning the minds of Americans, in particular under educated voters.
And now the spreaders of obscenities (not words; instead absolute lies about everything) are recommended for Cabinet positions and two in charge of reducing or moving the Fed Workforce. They believe in nothing but themselves and the one at whose feet they worship. They care not for the infrastructure or the lives of millions. Will there be ANY willing in the Senate to say no?
In the immortal words of some unknown WW2 Brit wit: "Keep calm and carry on."
Stick to our principles, even in the midst of hell. If the ten Booms could do it in WW2, we can do it now.
I've been reciting two things, over and over again:
The Serenity Prayer "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. and
John 14:27 - "“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
I am troubled & I am afraid...I really needed to see your post today: Thank you! My parents survived the Nazi invasion of their beloved Denmark when they were 17 & 20. They were part of the Danish Resistance that helped their Jewish Danes escape to Denmark. In time for my birth, they emigrated to America. When old enough, I asked: How did the German people let this happen? Their answers are now the answers you will get from Google. My fear is: Is that where we are headed? But today I shall remember: "Keep calm & Carry on!" I will also look for an AARP resistance to join! Peace Out
There are groups of resistance springing up all over, including Europe. You know he will come after us, but I'm 75, and while I'm afraid, I'm also stubborn, motivated, and angry. How could so many women screw us? Couples are divorcing over this.
At 77, Janis, ditto about stubborn. I wondered this morning if the same military people [excluding those who joined militias & went to NC & before that, 1/6] who, if confirmed, would report to a Fox nobody who knows nothing about running a giant operation (Pentagon) stage their own insurrection. No one in the clown car of nominations knows anything about govt operations. Last night I told my spouse as we watched anything but news that the US will go into a depression with the removal of workers, with no govt workforce to process taxes, social security and disability applications, or to pay the bills. That or war. Yes. I’m scared and I’m committed to act.
Thank you for those two things. I know them, of course, but I hadn’t thought to cling to them. I’m going to put them in my journal and try to start each day reading them.
John, I subscribe to Nadia Bolz-Weber’s substack. She is a gloriously profane minister in Denver who preaches at the women’s state prison. This morning she wrote this. It so impressed me because of the line: “if we have more to worry about right now it does not mean that there is less to love in life right now. I hope your readers enjoy it and appreciate the depth of spirituality it encourages to keep us from despair.
“Dear God,
There’s so much to fear right now that I’m sort of losing track of what to worry about most.
So I’m gonna need some help focusing.
Show me what is MINE to do.
Then grant me the strength to do it, and the humility to rest knowing it is enough.
Help me remember that even if there is more to worry about in life right now, it does not mean that there is less to love in life right now.
So protect every inch of our joy, Lord.
And if you could help me stop reading shit on the internet, that might really help too.
You taught me to love my neighbors, to model the life of Jesus. To be kind and considerate, and to stand up for the bullied.
You taught me to love people, consider others as more important than myself.
You taught me to sing "red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight."
We sang it together, pressing the volume pedal and leaning our hearts into the chorus. You said that “He loved all the children of the world”.
You taught me to love my enemies, to even do good to those who wish for bad things. You taught me to never "hate" anyone and to always find ways to encourage people.
You taught me it's better to give than receive, to be last instead of first. To help the poor, the widow, the stranger at the gate.
You taught me that Jesus looks at what I do for the least-of-these as the true depth of my faith. You taught me to focus on my own sin and not to judge. You taught me to be accepting and forgiving.
So I payed attention.
I took in every lesson.
And I did what you taught me.
But now, you call me a “libtard”. A queer-lover. You call me "woke." A backslider. You call me a heretic. You make fun of my heart. You mock the people I’m trying to help. You say I’m a child of the devil.
You call me soft. A snowflake. A socialist. You shun the very people you told me to help.
What did you expect me to do?
I thought you were serious, but apparently not.
You hate nearly all the people I love. You stand against nearly all the things I stand for. I'm trying to see a way forward, but it's hard when I survey all the hurt, harm, and darkness that comes in the wake of your beliefs and presence.
Understand but as you pointed out devastating but not surprising for those of us who have lived in this country as BIPOC. As a black woman knowing this was the underside of many White Americans was always there. They were kept in check by political and faith leaders and that is no longer the case. Yet, we have to more resilient and have the kind of stamina BIPOC have had to have just to go out the door every single day. So, I am counting on, actually demanding that White men and women in that 64M help us fight to still fight for that equality by holding your White counterparts accountable. We are the guardrails. Many without social privilege do not have an option but to stay. We have always known this is who we are.
Everything you said, John, everything. There was an absolute, willful, even gleeful rejection of “data, reason or empathy.” A total rejection of that and so much more, like kindness, decency and compassion, especially and tragically so by my and your Christian brethren. The next sentence is a lament, not using God’s name in vain. My God, my God, what have we become?
Now I just have to find a way to release the anger which is heading toward hateful feelings or I will become bitter and lose the Holy Spirit. This is a real battle for me. I pray. I meditate. I cry out to God for help. We must do what we can in our own way and let go of all the rest.
Thank you for putting into words what I have been feeling these past days. It is, indeed, disappointment and a degree of shock that what I thought was America just isn't. I don't know what I'm going to do about this. But I do know I will not be giving in to it.
See Charlie Sykes, Sunday, 11/10. Aldous Huxley was right, the prescient warning, the timing of his words. This is us, a culture of “me”, not a culture of ethics, a culture that wants to be entertained, not informed. Sleepwalking to the algorithms.
You state it well, John. Like you, I'm dealing with my own broken heart, and shock, and disgust, and anger...and taking calls and meeting members of my congregation daily who are in the exact same condition. The only guidance I can offer is to grieve the sense of loss and betrayal, and then tap into the anger, and start the battle all over again. 99% of us won't have an option to leave the country, so we will have to, once again, demonstrate, advocate and push for change...and capitalize on the repercussions that those who voted for Trump will begin to feel as he and his cabal fulfill their fever dreams of domination and destruction. They laid their plans nearly 100 years ago, and worked constantly and consistently to bring America to this point...now, it's our turn to plan how to undo it. The alternative is accepting that our time of "empire" is over, and America the beautiful is gone forever. I refuse to accept that!
John, I felt all this also. But let me tell you, I come tot think we are wrong with such conclusion also. We cannot bash the Catholic vote if in fact the bishops supported a vote for Trump. We cannot bash the evangelical vote if in fact their leaders led them into voting Trump. We cannot blame folks who have barely time to get food on the table to not follow political commentaries.
We must stop the name calling. This country has voted for a woman already, remember? But we treated Hillary like she was a looser. Instead if it would not have been for Comey she would almost certainly have won the election against Trump after 8 years of Obama! That is where the country has already been. Giving its popular vote to a woman.
So let’s stop the name calling. Half the country is not racist nor fascist nor full of woman hate. It surely worked on the fringes. But the majority wanted change and apparently felt that four more trump years are less scary than a “Californian leftist agenda.” Harris did not have enough time to run against this label. And I come tot hink as grateful I am to Biden that his admin was a communication disaster. He did great work but let Trump do the talking.
also, as challenging and as difficult it is we cannot run on a love your neighbor agenda and then cave in when it turns out that our neighbors voted for the con man.
Your post is a spot-on assessment of this great 'awakening' - to the reality that most voters freely chose to surrender liberty and justice to a fascist with no moral compass, compassion or conscience. And I cannot disagree more with those voices that say the Trump voters are not responsible for this madness because they were unduly influenced by Fox News, et. al. So, they were too busy in the four years he's been spewing hate and fighting to regain power to turn the channel? Too distracted by work or family to use their own minds, or search their own hearts, for truth, beauty or goodness. To distracted to even tolerate listening to dear friends and family members who fervently sought to save them from their self-inflicted blindness to reality? No, I cry bullshit to the argument for their innocence - They are entirely responsible for turning over our democracy to the most vile man ever to hold the presidency.
You expressed my feelings well. The only difference I have with your perspective is that, I believe, the news silos and the lack of courage in the elected Republicans allowed many of our neighbors to be “conned”. I really believe that many, perhaps a majority, of Trump voters don’t really know what in non-Trump people know. They r exposed to completely different info than us and they made their voting decisions based on this different info… much of it false but still unknown to our Trump voting neighbors. I blame our poorly supported K-12 public school system along with the news silos. We cannot have a democracy when half the voters have different “facts” than the other half. I know you have lived among a much larger group of MAGA supporters than I so will trust your judgement if you disagree with me. Keep up the good work.
“Veterans know better than anyone else the price of freedom, for they’ve suffered the scars of war. We can offer them no better tribute than to protect what they have won for us.”
- President Ronald Reagan, 1983, in a radio address to the nation.
What they fought against was the evil of fascism with all of its concentration camp enslavement and mass slaughter of innocent people, hatred, systematic racism, white (male) supremacy, unrelenting lies and blaming of certain groups of people for their problems (Germany's in particular), looting of the world's treasures, and more atrocities.
It is right to be grateful to these veterans and their families, but isn't it sickly ironic that, on this day, we would thank them for "making the world safe for democracy" (Pres. Woodrow Wilson during WW1) after we just elected a well-backed fascist as our new president?
Thousands of our living citizens' fathers and grandfathers were in WW1 and WW2. Doesn't any of this look or sound familiar to them? Do they really have no memory, no respect for the deaths, wounds, and sacrifices of their fathers and grandfathers, and the women who were allowed to serve? For their own families?
I keep asking God to explain this to me. But, so far, no answer; not that I can discern at least.
My husband and I are of an age and we have too many medical problems to fight any longer. I have dual US and Canadian citizenship and my husband is eligible for permanent residency in Canada. Canada is no utopia but it is at least somewhat less angrily polarized. We are getting the hell out, in sorrow, anger and fear.
Dear John (and all this community--we're all part of it),
I feel your pain, acutely and empathetically. We're all in this together, as Joyce Vance (and many others) say. I read this poem earlier today, which perfectly captures how I feel about the state of things. Peace and love, Dave
Holding Vigil
My cousin asks if I can describe this moment,
the heaviness of it, like sitting outside
the operating room while someone you love
is in surgery and you’re on those awful plastic chairs
eating flaming Doritos from the vending machine
which is the only thing that seems appealing to you, dinner-wise,
waiting for the moment when the doctor will come out
in her scrubs and face-mask, which she’ll pull down
to tell you whether your beloved will live or not. That’s how it feels
as the hours tick by, and everyone I care about
is texting me with the same cold lump of dread in their throat
asking if I’m okay, telling me how scared they are.
I suppose in that way this is a moment of unity,
the fact that we are all waiting in the same
hospital corridor, for the same patient, who is on life support,
and we’re asking each other, Will he wake up?
Will she be herself? And we’re taking turns holding vigil,
as families do, and bringing each other coffee
from the cafeteria, and some of us think she’s gonna make it
while others are already planning what they’ll wear to the funeral,
which is also what happens at times like these,
and
I tell my cousin I don’t think I can describe this moment,
heavier than plutonium, but on the other hand,
in the grand scheme of things, I mean the whole sweep
of human history, a soap bubble, because empires
are always rising and falling, and whole civilizations
die, they do, they get wiped out, this happens
all the time, it’s just a shock when it happens to your civilization,
your country, when it’s someone from your family on the respirator,
and I don’t ask her how she’s sleeping, or what she thinks about
when she wakes at three in the morning,
cause she’s got two daughters,
and that’s the thing,
it’s not just us older people, forget about us, we had our day
and we burned right through it, gasoline, fast food,
cheap clothing,
but right now I’m talking about the babies,
and not just the human ones, but also the turtles and owls
and white tigers, the Redwoods, the ozone layer,
the icebergs for the love of God—every single
blessed being on the face of this earth
is holding its breath in this moment,
and if you’re asking, can I describe that, Cousin,
then I’ve gotta say no, no one could describe it
we all just have to live through it,
holding each other’s hands.
- Alison Luterman
Beautifully stated 💙
Beautifully written but there’s a HUGE piece missing and no one seems to want to call it out. FOX “news”, Newsmax and OAN have done nothing but LIE and spread hateful messaging to the country over the air and on tv for the past 8 years or longer. The Democrats didn’t miss anything. Since the election results, the main stream media has been going in circles trying to explain how the Democrats missed the mark yet no one will call the conservative propaganda outlets for their role in poisoning the minds of Americans, in particular under educated voters.
Demetria, You are correct. What can we do about Fox and the others, such as Newsmax? Media and Musk tilted the election for Trump.
And now the spreaders of obscenities (not words; instead absolute lies about everything) are recommended for Cabinet positions and two in charge of reducing or moving the Fed Workforce. They believe in nothing but themselves and the one at whose feet they worship. They care not for the infrastructure or the lives of millions. Will there be ANY willing in the Senate to say no?
In the immortal words of some unknown WW2 Brit wit: "Keep calm and carry on."
Stick to our principles, even in the midst of hell. If the ten Booms could do it in WW2, we can do it now.
I've been reciting two things, over and over again:
The Serenity Prayer "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. and
John 14:27 - "“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
I am troubled & I am afraid...I really needed to see your post today: Thank you! My parents survived the Nazi invasion of their beloved Denmark when they were 17 & 20. They were part of the Danish Resistance that helped their Jewish Danes escape to Denmark. In time for my birth, they emigrated to America. When old enough, I asked: How did the German people let this happen? Their answers are now the answers you will get from Google. My fear is: Is that where we are headed? But today I shall remember: "Keep calm & Carry on!" I will also look for an AARP resistance to join! Peace Out
There are groups of resistance springing up all over, including Europe. You know he will come after us, but I'm 75, and while I'm afraid, I'm also stubborn, motivated, and angry. How could so many women screw us? Couples are divorcing over this.
At 77, Janis, ditto about stubborn. I wondered this morning if the same military people [excluding those who joined militias & went to NC & before that, 1/6] who, if confirmed, would report to a Fox nobody who knows nothing about running a giant operation (Pentagon) stage their own insurrection. No one in the clown car of nominations knows anything about govt operations. Last night I told my spouse as we watched anything but news that the US will go into a depression with the removal of workers, with no govt workforce to process taxes, social security and disability applications, or to pay the bills. That or war. Yes. I’m scared and I’m committed to act.
I want to leave. I've been active since 1965. I'm done.
For now.
Thank you
Thank you for those two things. I know them, of course, but I hadn’t thought to cling to them. I’m going to put them in my journal and try to start each day reading them.
John, I subscribe to Nadia Bolz-Weber’s substack. She is a gloriously profane minister in Denver who preaches at the women’s state prison. This morning she wrote this. It so impressed me because of the line: “if we have more to worry about right now it does not mean that there is less to love in life right now. I hope your readers enjoy it and appreciate the depth of spirituality it encourages to keep us from despair.
“Dear God,
There’s so much to fear right now that I’m sort of losing track of what to worry about most.
So I’m gonna need some help focusing.
Show me what is MINE to do.
Then grant me the strength to do it, and the humility to rest knowing it is enough.
Help me remember that even if there is more to worry about in life right now, it does not mean that there is less to love in life right now.
So protect every inch of our joy, Lord.
And if you could help me stop reading shit on the internet, that might really help too.
Amen”
Nadia is a true blessing & I love her theology 💓
“To the church of my youth,
What did you expect me to do?
You taught me to love my neighbors, to model the life of Jesus. To be kind and considerate, and to stand up for the bullied.
You taught me to love people, consider others as more important than myself.
You taught me to sing "red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight."
We sang it together, pressing the volume pedal and leaning our hearts into the chorus. You said that “He loved all the children of the world”.
You taught me to love my enemies, to even do good to those who wish for bad things. You taught me to never "hate" anyone and to always find ways to encourage people.
You taught me it's better to give than receive, to be last instead of first. To help the poor, the widow, the stranger at the gate.
You taught me that Jesus looks at what I do for the least-of-these as the true depth of my faith. You taught me to focus on my own sin and not to judge. You taught me to be accepting and forgiving.
So I payed attention.
I took in every lesson.
And I did what you taught me.
But now, you call me a “libtard”. A queer-lover. You call me "woke." A backslider. You call me a heretic. You make fun of my heart. You mock the people I’m trying to help. You say I’m a child of the devil.
You call me soft. A snowflake. A socialist. You shun the very people you told me to help.
What did you expect me to do?
I thought you were serious, but apparently not.
You hate nearly all the people I love. You stand against nearly all the things I stand for. I'm trying to see a way forward, but it's hard when I survey all the hurt, harm, and darkness that comes in the wake of your beliefs and presence.
What did you expect me to do?
I believed it all the way.
I'm still believing it all the way.
Which leaves me wondering, what happened to you?”
---Chris Kratzer
Understand but as you pointed out devastating but not surprising for those of us who have lived in this country as BIPOC. As a black woman knowing this was the underside of many White Americans was always there. They were kept in check by political and faith leaders and that is no longer the case. Yet, we have to more resilient and have the kind of stamina BIPOC have had to have just to go out the door every single day. So, I am counting on, actually demanding that White men and women in that 64M help us fight to still fight for that equality by holding your White counterparts accountable. We are the guardrails. Many without social privilege do not have an option but to stay. We have always known this is who we are.
Everything you said, John, everything. There was an absolute, willful, even gleeful rejection of “data, reason or empathy.” A total rejection of that and so much more, like kindness, decency and compassion, especially and tragically so by my and your Christian brethren. The next sentence is a lament, not using God’s name in vain. My God, my God, what have we become?
Now I just have to find a way to release the anger which is heading toward hateful feelings or I will become bitter and lose the Holy Spirit. This is a real battle for me. I pray. I meditate. I cry out to God for help. We must do what we can in our own way and let go of all the rest.
Thank you for putting into words what I have been feeling these past days. It is, indeed, disappointment and a degree of shock that what I thought was America just isn't. I don't know what I'm going to do about this. But I do know I will not be giving in to it.
See Charlie Sykes, Sunday, 11/10. Aldous Huxley was right, the prescient warning, the timing of his words. This is us, a culture of “me”, not a culture of ethics, a culture that wants to be entertained, not informed. Sleepwalking to the algorithms.
You state it well, John. Like you, I'm dealing with my own broken heart, and shock, and disgust, and anger...and taking calls and meeting members of my congregation daily who are in the exact same condition. The only guidance I can offer is to grieve the sense of loss and betrayal, and then tap into the anger, and start the battle all over again. 99% of us won't have an option to leave the country, so we will have to, once again, demonstrate, advocate and push for change...and capitalize on the repercussions that those who voted for Trump will begin to feel as he and his cabal fulfill their fever dreams of domination and destruction. They laid their plans nearly 100 years ago, and worked constantly and consistently to bring America to this point...now, it's our turn to plan how to undo it. The alternative is accepting that our time of "empire" is over, and America the beautiful is gone forever. I refuse to accept that!
I am right there with you, Jenelle. 💙
John, I felt all this also. But let me tell you, I come tot think we are wrong with such conclusion also. We cannot bash the Catholic vote if in fact the bishops supported a vote for Trump. We cannot bash the evangelical vote if in fact their leaders led them into voting Trump. We cannot blame folks who have barely time to get food on the table to not follow political commentaries.
We must stop the name calling. This country has voted for a woman already, remember? But we treated Hillary like she was a looser. Instead if it would not have been for Comey she would almost certainly have won the election against Trump after 8 years of Obama! That is where the country has already been. Giving its popular vote to a woman.
So let’s stop the name calling. Half the country is not racist nor fascist nor full of woman hate. It surely worked on the fringes. But the majority wanted change and apparently felt that four more trump years are less scary than a “Californian leftist agenda.” Harris did not have enough time to run against this label. And I come tot hink as grateful I am to Biden that his admin was a communication disaster. He did great work but let Trump do the talking.
also, as challenging and as difficult it is we cannot run on a love your neighbor agenda and then cave in when it turns out that our neighbors voted for the con man.
Your post is a spot-on assessment of this great 'awakening' - to the reality that most voters freely chose to surrender liberty and justice to a fascist with no moral compass, compassion or conscience. And I cannot disagree more with those voices that say the Trump voters are not responsible for this madness because they were unduly influenced by Fox News, et. al. So, they were too busy in the four years he's been spewing hate and fighting to regain power to turn the channel? Too distracted by work or family to use their own minds, or search their own hearts, for truth, beauty or goodness. To distracted to even tolerate listening to dear friends and family members who fervently sought to save them from their self-inflicted blindness to reality? No, I cry bullshit to the argument for their innocence - They are entirely responsible for turning over our democracy to the most vile man ever to hold the presidency.
Well said. They are responsible for their choices. They shouldn't get a pass because they chose to be lazy or unaware.
You expressed my feelings well. The only difference I have with your perspective is that, I believe, the news silos and the lack of courage in the elected Republicans allowed many of our neighbors to be “conned”. I really believe that many, perhaps a majority, of Trump voters don’t really know what in non-Trump people know. They r exposed to completely different info than us and they made their voting decisions based on this different info… much of it false but still unknown to our Trump voting neighbors. I blame our poorly supported K-12 public school system along with the news silos. We cannot have a democracy when half the voters have different “facts” than the other half. I know you have lived among a much larger group of MAGA supporters than I so will trust your judgement if you disagree with me. Keep up the good work.
“Veterans know better than anyone else the price of freedom, for they’ve suffered the scars of war. We can offer them no better tribute than to protect what they have won for us.”
- President Ronald Reagan, 1983, in a radio address to the nation.
What they fought against was the evil of fascism with all of its concentration camp enslavement and mass slaughter of innocent people, hatred, systematic racism, white (male) supremacy, unrelenting lies and blaming of certain groups of people for their problems (Germany's in particular), looting of the world's treasures, and more atrocities.
It is right to be grateful to these veterans and their families, but isn't it sickly ironic that, on this day, we would thank them for "making the world safe for democracy" (Pres. Woodrow Wilson during WW1) after we just elected a well-backed fascist as our new president?
Thousands of our living citizens' fathers and grandfathers were in WW1 and WW2. Doesn't any of this look or sound familiar to them? Do they really have no memory, no respect for the deaths, wounds, and sacrifices of their fathers and grandfathers, and the women who were allowed to serve? For their own families?
I keep asking God to explain this to me. But, so far, no answer; not that I can discern at least.
Lord, have mercy.
My husband and I are of an age and we have too many medical problems to fight any longer. I have dual US and Canadian citizenship and my husband is eligible for permanent residency in Canada. Canada is no utopia but it is at least somewhat less angrily polarized. We are getting the hell out, in sorrow, anger and fear.