"Create within us a clean heart, Lord. May your light shine in our hearts!"
(Lyrics from "Renew us, Oh Lord" by Jason Lilies )
Someday we are going to have a boring news week, during which there is nothing said that is provoking and nothing is done that challenges my personal values. That week was not this week. The words that stuck out for me the most were those from a woman being interviewed on TV who said, "I don't want to think that my president hates me just because I am a Democrat." What a sad thing to hear someone say!
"Oh Lord, I want to be in that number..."
A day after the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, there were no signs of a ceasefire here. Even though a number of democrats had given him credit for helping with the ceasefire, Trump seemed more combative than ever. In five minutes, I observed him insulting five people and a TV Show. He started by making a snide comment about inheriting a mess from the Biden Administration and calling Obama "Barack 'Hussein' Obama" with an emphasis on the word "Hussein". He then accused several reporters to their faces of being "Very bad people". The only way that I could explain his behavior was to think, "He must not want us to like him".
The White House press secretary then said that the democratic party has a constituency that is based on Hamas Terrorists, Illegal Aliens and Violent Criminals. A few members of the Young Republicans were then caught posting extremely offensive things in a group chat. They called black people "monkeys" and the "watermelon people". They made homophobic and antisemitic comments as well. They talked about putting their political opponents in a gas chamber and raping women. When people expressed outrage about these posts, the Vice President accused them of "Pearl-clutching". Trump called the upcoming "No Kings" Protest a "Hate America" protest. Nevertheless, the organizers of the protest continued to push for record-breaking attendance numbers. It was difficult for me to attend that protest. I had to reschedule several clients and squeeze my attendance into a short window between work and a personal appointment. However, I just had to be in that number!
"What's in a Name?"
I didn't have much time to make a sign. I planned to take the sign I took to the last "No Kings" protest which read, "I have no king but Jesus". However, a sudden spurt of wit came over me and I ended up making a sign that read, "Which type of Democrat do I look like? A Hamas Terrorist, An Illegal Alien or a Violent Criminal?" I smiled as I worked on it, thinking about how much I reminded myself of the woman who I was named after. That woman was my mother's best friend, Dorothy Elliot. Her friends called her "Dot". Mrs. Elliot's maiden name was Dorothy Joyce. That's how I became Dorothy Joyce Myers.
You may have heard the term "a woman of class". Mrs. Elliot could be better described as "a woman of sass". She had a combination of common sense, confidence and a brilliant sense of humor that transformed many situations. When her childhood peers would dare her to do something and call her a chicken for not doing it, Mrs. Elliot would say, "I would rather be a live chicken than a dead duck." When her friends made a remark about her husband not being very attractive, she asked, "Which one of you is married to a movie star?" Her sass showed itself particularly well when she was upset because one of her sons had gotten in trouble in school for yelling out when another boy jumped on his foot. Mrs. Elliot got into a disagreement about the situation with her son's principal and teacher. During that exchange she turned to the principal and said, "Okay, I am going to jump on her foot" referring to the teacher. "When I jump on her foot, we will see if she yells out. If she doesn't yell out after I jump on her foot, then that will prove that the two of you are right and I am wrong."
Sass, wit and humor are wonderful virtues to have. When used with prudence, they can relieve tension in a difficult situation, and make life more interesting and enjoyable. However, sass is on a continuum with sardonic, and when it is used as a weapon against others, it can become very hurtful and destructive. At the extreme end of that continuum is the type of vile comments made by the Young Republicans.
How did people react? Some tried to defend them by saying, "Well, it's not what they would have said in public. They thought they were in a private chat." Does that really make it any better? It has been said that character is what we do when we think no one is looking. In public, we filter our reactions. In private, our true selves come out. Is it really okay to have a heart full of hate as long as you don't display it in public?
Vance said that young men say stupid things sometimes and he doesn't want this to become a country where a stupid comment can ruin someone's life. I had said something similar a few weeks ago, when Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air and I recalled telling an inappropriate joke in my own youth. Somehow though, this seven month chat with repeated hateful and extreme comments seemed to call for a stronger response. I had to ask myself "What was the difference"?
I got my answer in what Vance said about this situation as a parent. "I tell my kids to watch what they post on-line" he said. That's it? That's all that he got out of this situation? That's all he - a devout Catholic - will say to his kids about hateful and dehumanizing attitudes toward others? People reacted by saying, "Don't tell them not to post it on-line. Tell them not to say it at all." My response was, "Don't tell them to watch what they post on-line, or even what they say or don't say. Tell them to watch what is in their hearts." Then it occurred to me what the difference was between the forgivable youth who says something stupid without thinking, and the type of person who we don't ever want to have as a representative. It is about what is in their hearts.
Counselors have to abide by a particular code of ethics. When we are not sure whether an action we are about to perform is ethical, we are encouraged to ask ourselves, "How would I feel about having this action of mine written about on the front page of the newspaper?" If the answer is that we wouldn't feel very good about it, the action is probably not ethical. As Christians and people of character, we have to watch what we do in private as closely as we watch what we do in public. We don't want to just look good, we want to be good. People may not always know the difference, but God does. If we continually focus on keeping our hearts free of hatred, malice, and grudges, we will never have to worry about what we say, what we post on-line or what is being written about us on the front page of the newspaper. But what does a heart free of hatred, malice or grudges look like?
"Does Anyone Want to Talk?"
The largest protest in American history took place on Saturday. The number attending was more than seven million. I was proud to be part of that number, attending in Pottsville, PA. Some of us approached the day with caution, afraid that with tensions so high, violence might break out. At the last "No Kings" Protest, some Trump supporters showed up. "You're a bunch of fucking retards!" One of them yelled out on that day. When I saw them there again on Saturday, I thought, "Oh no, this isn't good", but the atmosphere this time seemed a lot different. There was a lot more horn-honking and gestures of support. The counter protestors circled around the group of us. They were chanting "We Love Trump!" but no one called us "fucking retards".
I stood next to a woman who I will call Betty. I believe she said she was a pastor. Betty was more brave than I. As the Trump Supporters passed by, I was too frightened to even look at them. Betty said "God Bless You" to each one of them. It wasn't the first time I saw a protestor respond to an unkind remark with something like, "Have a nice day!" but Betty then turned to me. "God Bless them" she said, "They're standing up for what they believe, too." I could see that she was sincere and I was amazed. Toward the end of the protest, one of the Trump supporters asked, "Does anyone want to talk?" Does anyone want to talk.......WHAT????.......Does anyone want to talk....No, he couldn't have really said that......Does anyone want to talk.....I must have misheard him.....but I didn't. I saw Betty speaking briefly to one of the Trump supporters and she told me later that she said. "God Bless You" to him and he replied, "God Bless You" to her. Then she told him that she would pray for him and he said that he would do the same for her. "I always pray for the other side," he last said before walking away. And some people say that miracles don't happen!
"Does anyone want to talk?"...I know that sounds like a stupid thing to be jumping up and down with excitement about, especially since I wouldn't really want to hear anything he had to say. However, if the MAGA people who used to be screaming obscenities at us had started asking if anyone wanted to talk, that was a huge change. I know that the change occurred between only a few people exchanging only a few words in a small city unknown to most of America. It is hardly an indication that the crisis in our country is over........but it is a start, a reminder to me that the light of Christ is always present, even in the darkest of times and places. I was so excited that it didn't even dampen my spirits when Trump posted a video dumping excrement on our heads!
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it". Proverbs 4:23.
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