A new day is dawning. The long nightmare is over. Joseph Biden may not have been my first choice for the job, but I believe his experience is what we need at this point in time. Many of us collectively are giving a sigh of relief however we are experiencing a type of post traumatic disorder from the past 4 years. The symbolism of both republican and democrat leaders attending mass with Biden before the inauguration felt like a return to God-Love-Decency-Kindness… whatever you want to call it. This is a stark contrast of Trump fumbling the Bible in front of St John’s Episcopal Church in a photo op where he did not even enter the church. The young poet, Amanda Gorman, is now a household name. “The Hill We Climb”, a spiritual poem she penned speaks of a brighter future. A nurse singing Amazing Grace brought tears to my eyes. We have a woman Vice President.
A friend texted me and said she thought Biden’s speech was a bit boring, but boring never felt so good.
As a child I remember my mom and dad getting into a heated discussion over who to vote for. My dad’s argument was that you aren’t rich enough to be a republican. I can hear him say that republicans would withhold giving food to a 100 people in case 1 did not need it, whereas democrats would feed 100 in case 1 person needed it. Don’t get me wrong, I am not anti-Republican. Democrats and Republicans are on different sides of the fence, but it is the same fence. Both sides are passionate about our country and have different views of how best to proceed. Yet we both love our children and worry about their future, sit at our dying parents bedside and weep when our pet crosses over. We each sometimes have difficulty deciding what to fix for dinner, wonder if we will get the COVID vaccine and have a sleepless nights. Yet at the mobile soup kitchen where I volunteer, there are republicans and democrats hoping to make a difference. Maybe we are more alike in our ideals than we are different.
