What we’ve lost
by Elouise
The urge to write is upon me
Though ‘about what’ escapes me
Not because nothing is happening
But because my world is shrinking
Behind me an organ plays and
A choir sings about what we’ve lost
A kind of dirge marching slowly
Across pages of my weary mind
Yesterday I gave up trying to figure
It all out as though truth were a
Puzzle to solve for fun and recreation
Before blowing it to smithereens
Is this the beginning of the end?
For what am I willing to live or die?
And why am I here in the first place?
Does anyone out there know or care?
The heaviness of our post-election massacre of truth isn’t a good sign. I keep reminding myself that ‘they’ and ‘we’ are not in control. Though what we do matters, what happens next matters even more, regardless of the outcome of this political tantrum about the 2020 Election. Following the wrong leader can be deadly.
In addition, finding our way home is more difficult and not nearly as much fun as getting lost. Do we have enough shared good will or desire to find our way home, together? Perhaps we’re too busy scoring points, or too certain this attempt to keep Trump in office will fail. Maybe we’re unwilling to see what we’re doing to each other, no matter the outcome.
And here’s another reality: Disenfranchising certain voters has been happening for decades, though it’s never happened to me. Perhaps the silver lining in this cloud is that some of us will finally get it. That is, how it feels and what it means to be deemed nobody.
Happy New Year to each of you, and thank you for visiting.
Elouise♥
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 3 January 2021
Image found at mynorthwest.com
Telling the Truth 
What’s around the corner? Isn’t that the life of a follower of Christ until we shall see face to face. Is it curiosity that pushes us onward or the Love we have and the Love God has for us. Hope to meet you at the next corner and the next. BLESSINGS ELOUISE AND DAVID.
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Thanks, David! For me, the next corner refers to the next thing I need to face head-on. Perhaps it’s something I’ve been avoiding because it didn’t seem directly to affect me or the way I live. I also see the next corner as you describe it–an opportunity to find out what my next step will (or won’t) be. We never know when the end will come, for us or for those we love. Thanks for your thought-provoking comment! I pray your year will be filled with wonderful surprises, along with the other stuff of life and of death.
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Hi Elouise, I’m convinced that following any national political leader is a recipe for developing hatred and/or anxieties in one’s life. National politicians deal in the currency of division – us vs them. It’s how they “energize” (manipulate) their base. It saddens me to see good people cheerlead for either side.
Our nation is lost, and there’s no hope to find our homes as long as our direction comes from political powers. If only we spend an extra trillion this year, we will have a solution to this problem, or that injustice. Here we are, many years and many trillions later, with more problems than ever… The bigger the problems, the more power for the ambitious politicians.
Disenfranchising voters happens to everyone, we’re all nobodies in the eyes of the political power mongers. They effortlessly weave crafty narratives to undermine a legitimate presidency by convincing eager ears that Russians altered an outcome or because of rigged voting machines. There are tens of millions willing to believe absurd lies because we misplace our faith.
This is why I cut 90% of my news consumption – I no longer wish to be a consumer of such lies. How do I feel after watching a news show? Usually sad, or angry, or filled with anxiety… I no longer allow these lesser things to manipulate me.
Sorry for the rant, but I hate to see good people, friends, being so unsettled by a few hundred people in one city who have given themselves over to a life filled with an insatiable desire for supreme power.
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Hi, Matt.
Elected leaders come in many forms, with human weaknesses as well as strengths. In my lifetime, several of our Presidents or political leaders have crossed the line. It isn’t about parties, it’s about human weakness. Especially the kind every politician, every pastor or priest, every president or leader of any organization experiences. What each does with his or her weaknesses is up to each individual.
On the other side of the equation are victims of leaders who take advantage of people they have vowed to serve. It’s never a pretty picture. Nonetheless, I don’t find it helpful to ignore the obvious. Partly because as a child I, too, was a victim. PTSD isn’t just for soldiers or world war victims. It’s a reality among any population taken advantage of and subjected to humiliating or life-threatening situations.
One way to stay in touch with our leaders–for whom we’re to pray–is to stay in touch with ourselves. In a way, that’s what I’m trying to say at the end of this post. I’ve never had my vote (as a US citizen) invalidated. Of course I’ve been taken for granted. Still, I’ve never had to fight to keep my name on the register of voters. Nor have I ever had to wait in line for 4 to 8 hours or more to vote. I’m white. I’m privileged, even as a female working in male-dominated settings.
For me, knowing what’s happening (not every detail, but important decisions) is important. Good theologians keep their eyes on Scripture and on the news. Not to test which way the wind is blowing, but to ascertain which wind we need to fight against. Or for. Christian theologians who chose to see Hitler as a great savior who would make Germany great again were profoundly mistaken. Without the daily news (beside Scripture and other thoughtful writings), I’m without a mirror of on-the-ground reality. Do I see myself in this picture? I’m always there, somewhere in the picture.
At the end of this post, I acknowledge that even if my vote is invalidated, I will have a first-hand taste of what our black and brown sisters and brothers have lived with for decades. This approach invites me to examine myself. Not Mr. Trump or any of his followers or non-followers.
I hope that helps. I, too, am distressed by how easily we Americans get hooked by media of all kinds. I watch my own habits, and choose NOT to keep letting the bad news in the door (so to speak). What matters is what I, a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, choose to say and do in light of what’s happening. This isn’t a TV show. It’s real life. I’m with you 100% on that. I also hear how much you care about your friends who are, perhaps, taking their cues from the wrong places. Only our Creator sees all things well.
Thanks again for your comment.
Elouise
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I believe our votes are all invalidated at some level. It’s now in vogue for the losing side to build a false narrative of how they’ve been cheated by foreign interference or nefarious actors. This allows the losing side to build support for resistance against an “illegitimate” President. This invalidates the wishes of the majority of voters by using dishonesty to weaken a President.
It now costs billions to run for federal political office. Lobbyists and big business, even foreign countries, in a roundabout way, provide much of these funds. A Senator represents people in their own state, but increasingly, they receive more campaign funds from out-of-state sources. Where do you think the average voter (white, black or brown) stands in this environment? Where do you think the poor stand in this environment?
I agree that we all have (many) weaknesses, but we all don’t have the same level of temptations. I know myself well enough to know that I could never be a national politician. It would be my ruin. The billions don’t pour into these campaigns without the most despicable self-centered request (demands) from people and organizations who obsess over more power and more money. They demand a handsome return on their investment. It’s not so much white privilege, it’s rich privilege. Fairness and justice will not come from a few hundred individuals located in a single city. They are at the beck and call of those who fill their reelection coffers.
I agree that we should monitor the news, but 24/7 news is now the norm, a hint that keeping an eye on the news has turned into nursing a news obsession.
I pray for leaders, mostly that they don’t destroy our country with their deception, lust for power, and with their wholehearted service to their super-funders. And I pray that ever-increasing government encroachment of our lives doesn’t eventually become a humanistic ultimatum on my Christian faith, but I suppose we all know that will eventually happen.
It seems we have some areas of disagreement here, but our disagreements are likely more semantic than at the heart level. In a previous post, I remarked that that our differences keep things from becoming boring. I stand by that and embrace it. 🙂
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