A New President... Now What?

I have now lived through the administrations of 11 Presidents of the US. That means I’m old! I grew up during the administrations of Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson; I was an adult during the terms of Nixon, Ford, Regan, George HW Bush, Clinton, George W Bush, and Obama. (The first election in which I was old enough to vote was in 1972, and I voted for Nixon. We all know how his tenure ended.) Now, after his inauguration on January 20, 2017, Donald J. Trump will be the 12^th President during my lifetime (so far).

I have lived to see many changes to America as a result of the leadership of these Presidents. During their  terms in office, our country has seen several wars, political and moral corruption, impeachment of two of them while in office, resulting in the resignation of one of them; death of one President by an assassination and attempts on the lives of two others. Yet, we have also witnessed changes for the good of our country such as changes in voting laws to include 18 year-olds and people of every race. Each man who was elected had detractors; each one had secrets and character flaws. We may not have known about them instantly, but many of these men’s skeletons have been eventually revealed by history.

Whether your candidate was Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton, your new President-elect is Mr. Donald Trump. Like him or loathe him, He is now our Commander-in Chief.  As President, he will face some of the same challenges as his predecessors, both Democrat and Republican; he may also face new ones. Now, we as Americans are given the opportunity to stay involved and engaged in the privilege and responsibility of citizenship.

"Now is the time for all good men [and women] to come to the aid of their country." We must step up and speak up for the unborn, the un-welcomed, the poor, the tired, the “alien and stranger” among us. It is time to join together to fight to recover the principles of freedom and faith on which this nation was founded.

Will we disagree? Yes! Can we dialogue and discuss with respect and honor for each other so as to determine an outcome that will be best for everyone? I hope so; I know I am going to do my best to try!

RADIO SILENCE

If you are old enough to remember the term, “radio silence,” then this blog will make sense to you. If you are a youngster, here is the definition. 

•  In telecommunications, radio silence or Emissions Control (EMCON) is a status in which all fixed or mobile radio stations in an area are asked to stop transmitting for safety or security reasons. https://www.google.com/#q=radio+silence

• a period during which one hears nothing from a normally communicative person or group. https://www.google.com/#q=radio+silence

For the next 40 days (October 1- November 8, 2016) until the election polls close, we will be constantly inundated with media ads, news commentary, and opinions regarding the election. If I am not careful, I could become depressed, disgusted, disillusioned, or even distraught because of all the noise on TV, internet, Facebook, and yes, even radio—since I am a dinosaur and still have more than one of these.  😊

I’m not important enough to issue an order for radio silence, but I can choose to be silent on certain topics for safety or sanity reasons. 😊 So, I have made a decision regarding the next 40 days. (Ironic number, don’t you think?) As much as I possibly can, I am going to invoke EMCON over my mouth regarding the election. Yes, I have strong opinions about most issues, events, and general nonsense, but I think enough has been said by more people than probably should have entered the conversation, so I’m taking advice from King Solomon, described by many scholars as “the wisest man who ever lived.” He wrote much about how much we talk. Here are a just a few examples from Ecclesiastes 5:1-7.The entire book of Ecclesiastes is full of wisdom, in case you are interested.

Ecclesiastes 5 (bold emphasis is mine)     http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/5.htm 

1 …keep your ears open and your mouth shut… 

2    …let your words be few.

3   … too many words make you a fool. 

5   … It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.

6   … Don’t let your mouth make you sin. 

7   Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead.

I have made my choice of candidates for each position to be filled on November 8, 2016. It has not been an easy choice, but I have done my best to choose based on prayer for discernment and my own independent research of each candidate. I have listened to the persons who are running for each office and tried to learn as much as I could from trusted sources about their voting record and their stand on issues that are important to me. No person is going to meet every criteria 100%, but there are some issues that are not negotiable for me. I will cast my ballot with pride in my country that still allows me to vote. The persons I choose may not  be elected, but I will still be true to my convictions.

So, I will do my best to keep my vow of silence for the next 40 days regarding the election. (Come on… a girl has to set limits.  You would miss me if I were totally silent.) 😊

Semi-silently yours, 

Jennifer