I confess! I should have changed the headline on the post I shared on my Facebook page Friday, but I didn’t know how to. I did not intend for it to be a political statement. But duh! How else could the headline be interpreted: “This video is the LAST thing Democrats want you to see right now – and it’s going viral.”
The headline did create attention. With 72 “shares” on my Facebook page alone, I can’t help but wonder how many would have read it had I created a more accurate headline like: “He’s not everything the media says he is. Another side of Trump.”
Posted on Allen B. West’s website, the video tells the story of a Puerto Rican boxer whose life was changed because of Donald Trump. I shared it not to rub salt in the very real wounds of those who are grieving over the results of Tuesday’s election. Rather I shared it to show another side of Mr. Trump that we have not seen covered by the media.
Our nation is deeply divided. Yes, I know that’s an understatement. Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, and other minorities are genuinely fearful for their safety. So are white evangelicals who are being accused of putting a bigot in office.
A dear black friend in my critique group was run off the road by a white man screaming “Trump.” She shared a link to the must-read blog below that I also posted on my Facebook page. Sadly there have been only two shares.
The author, Anthony Bushnell, wrote: “One of the central teachings of Christianity is to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37–40.) The Bible exhorts us to ‘weep with those who weep’ (Romans 12:15); it doesn’t lead with telling us to ‘judge whether they should be weeping,’ says pastor H.B. Charles, Jr. The same is true for those in fear. We don’t have to agree with the intensity of their fear in order to empathize with them. Compassion doesn’t require us to be convinced another person is entirely correct. It requires us to care about how he is feeling. Even if you think the danger won’t come to pass, the fear is certainly real….”
I witnessed this fear In July when I spoke in an African-American church in Baltimore after a beautiful black man was killed in Minnesota. I said that day, “The battle is not with people made of flesh and blood but with the principalities and powers seeking to divide our nation and the church.”
I have also experienced fear as a white woman when I’ve driven through the black inner-city neighborhood where my son and daughter-in-law used to live. The rioting in Portland and threats calling for the assassination of President-elect Donald Trump cause me much fear that our nation could descend into anarchy.
The shouting and name-calling coming from both sides is deafening our ears to really hear one another. Who is listening? Certainly the world is. No doubt their opinion of Americans has fallen. God is listening and, I’m just as certain that He is not pleased, especially with those who profess to be Christians. Hopefully we are not spitting out hateful and angry words, but our silence can be just as loud and divisive.
Friends, we are called to be reconcilers through and because of His amazing love. Father, let peace begin with me and my decision to listen and to love.
Write His Answer 
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