Romney and Racism

So we all know I am in to politics. However, I did not watch the debate as I was busy and have found past years to be very disappointing   Since the debate, I have heard many things about it.  Last night, however, I had a conversation with a very nice man who happens to be a self described Liberal hippie.  I rather enjoyed them as customers. I found them delightful to talk to and rather un-offensive. I say that not because I assume the above described would be offensive but because of the conversation that occurred right before he walked out of the restaurant.  I must say, here, that one of my best friends is a Progressive Liberal, so being of that political mind set does not make a person into someone I don't like.  

On to the conversation at question.  We talked about politics. When I work, I try to be as non-political as possible. I try to be agreeable and find "common ground" which I believe I did when I expressed term limits for everyone (in politics), salary reduction, and finding people to run for office who have the best interests of the people at heart, not a desire to makes "lots" of money.  He moved us on to the political debate, which again, I had not seen.  I had heard about Romney referring to "Obama's facts" as being untruths that he (Obama) repeated until he thought people would believe them and that Romney referenced the fact that "I have boys and they try that too" or something along those lines. I took that as a reference to Obama being a younger man.  This gentleman, that I was speaking with, informed me that Romney was being a racists by referring to Obama as "boy" which is apparently a derisive term to blacks.   While I admit that it was used derisively in the past (and possibly still today in some areas), it could hardly be what Romney was referring to.  The only "proof" that Romney is a racist is the made up examples like this.  Unless Romney has his own "blacks" that he was referring to when he posited that his "boys" do the same thing, it is more likely that Romney was referring to his younger sons.  It's time that we stop trying to make others into our preconceived ideas of what people of different ideological perspective are. How about we judge each man according to his own actions?  It's novel and all, but I think it might work better than trying to force others into the box of prejudice that we have set up for them.  

While living in North Dakota during the early 2000, I went to a rodeo in the "back woods" with all of the locals.  While sitting around the camp site (for lack of a better word), I listened as the un-educated, local haters talked about the one "nigger" at the Rodeo.  Apparently, not all black were "Ns" to them, but this one was because of the way he walked around there.  He didn't know, apparently that he was to cower and be afraid while there.  He got beat up; I heard about it afterward. I have to say that I wanted to throw up. I only knew one person there and so stayed quiet for fear of myself.  I wouldn't have known how to get out of the rodeo grounds as they were way back in the middle of no where in farming country which is a lot like a maze to people like me.  That was racism. That's what racism looks like.  It's ugly and very hard to hide.  

In my opinion, Romney, who is not my first choice for president, is better than the man we currently have in office, not because of the color of his skin but because of the failure of his policies.  I am proud that our country has gone from enslaving people of color to electing them in office. What a great achievement for a people.  Now, lets stop creating division and racism where there is not and start working towards what is best for this country.  Let's deal with real racism where it is instead of creating it where it is not.  Let's work together towards a better country to pass on to our children.

Jeremiah in the Morning

"Heal me, Lord, that I may be healed;
save me, that I may be saved,
for it is you whom I praise."
Jeremiah 17:14

So simple, so powerful.  Let these words reverberate in my heart constantly, let them be the song on my lips, and the prayer in my heart.

Tale of a Survivor

The Tale of a Survivor

I believe I was sixteen and my sister almost 18 when our Mom called us in to talk to us.  For some reason, at that point and time, we thought it was funny to ask: “Who died?” whenever our parents wanted to share something serious with us.  It may have just been my imagination, but, after that, it seemed that our mom hesitated before she spoke. 

“When I was 16, I had an abortion…” she spoke.

I froze. I can’t speak for my sister, but for me, I suddenly saw my mother as someone I didn’t know.  It was like falling through the floor into another dimension.  You must understand that I am the youngest of 5 kids, I guess now I can say of 6 kids, in an actively pro-life family.  We were members of a Teen Pro-Life Group. We went to church every Sunday.  We did not do that.

At that point, a lot of feelings and questions went through my head.  How could she do that? How could she keep that from us? What else was she lying about? What else would I find out wasn’t true about my life? Why was “he” aborted and not me?  What made me worth more than him? 

My mom had been dating an older guy (a couple of years older) and had only had sex with him once but was “un-lucky” enough to get pregnant.  My grandfather was not excited about his daughter being pregnant and, it seems, didn’t want the embarrassment of her having a baby out of wedlock; my mother, also, wasn’t ready for a baby.  It was just a blob of tissue; surely her parents wouldn’t let her do something that would harm her?  My grandmother went with her; my grandfather never spoke to her about it again (even now). **

My Mother had feelings of unworthiness and feared sharing this terrible secret with us. She had to wonder how we would feel about her after this revelation.  For a day I had to work through my feelings so I could look at her, and maybe a few days more to come back to knowing that she was still who I thought she was.  She loved us enough to change her life, to help change the lives of others through her work with Project Aurora and Rachel’s Vineyard.  She volunteered at a crisis pregnancy center and helped us to be involved in Pro-life groups, hoping that we would never go through the trauma she went through, and hoping, also, we would help other girls to not make the same choice she was pushed into making.

Last night, I had a dream that I had had an abortion.  There was such sorrow in my heart for that baby I would never know.  I kept wanting to go back to undo the abortion so I could give life to my child. I thought about, in my dream, the lives that wouldn’t be because of the life that was ended.  When I awoke, I was free of those fears and worries but people like my Mother will never be free of them.  The only hope for them is healing. 

That’s where my mom comes in again. She wasn’t content to just heal from her own abortion, she wanted others to be healed too.  Through her ministry in Project Aurora and Rachel’s Vineyard, she has helped lead many women (and men) to be free of their terrible secret and to come to a place of healing in regards to their lost children.
**I must mention that my Grandmother came to regret her part in my mom's abortion and would attend the Rally's for Life with us at the state capitol every year.

If I were to leave you with one thought it is this: be open to those who need to share and be healed.  Confirm life.  Don’t hide your abortion from those that love you but allow them to help you through your pain. Don’t let others make you feel badly about yourself because of your past mistakes, and use what you have learned to help others.  As a survivor of the womb, I would also ask you to choose life, to  confirm life, to live life. There is help out there for you who are survivors, help that does not come with condemnation but with love.  


Seek help! Don't date men who use your past against you.  You are the mother of a wonderful child who wants more for you than for you to blame yourself and be in abusive relationships because of their death. 


http://project-aurora.org/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Project-Aurora/

Divine Office in my Heart

Last night I finally followed all the link on the Facebook Divine Office page til I was able to sign up at http://divineoffice.org/ where the Divine office is so easy to navigate.  You can even listen to it, if you want.  There is a familiar feeling of being fed, when I read the office.  For me, its like coming home after a long journey.  The Catholic faith is home.  Celebrating and living it fills me with a deep sense of fulfillment, like living out my purpose in life. 
As I prepare to welcome our second child into this world, I feel pressed upon my heart the need to live out my Spirituality in a more visual manner for my children.  How can I teach them how to live their faith if I am not being a living example.
 From Psalms 101 in today's readings:
I will walk with blameless heart
within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
whatever is base.
Let this be the prayer of my heart all through the day!

Change is external and internal

I find that my conversion has it's ups and downs. One change that I am noticing is that I am now working on my external too. I have come to realize that I need to change my appearance too. I need to make better choices for my eating and exercising.
There are so many helpful books and web sites out there. I find that just getting out and walking makes a huge difference in my day. Yoga is wonderful. I haven't been doing it for about 2 weeks and I can tell. I hurt all over. Today is the day. I start again with my Yoga and with my portion controlled eating start again.
http://www.self.com/fooddiet/2009/10/cook-once-eat-healthy-all-week-building-blocks

Conversion of spirit and change of my eating habits...I feel better, and I am happier.
Dani

Going as I am called

I have a tendency to get grandiose visions of the wonderful speeches I am going to give or the amazing devotion I have to share instead of spending time writing them. I have a tendency to forget who the center is in view of the great idea I have. What I believe I am to share is how Christ wants to move in us. He wants us to know that we are not alone. He wants us to know that not only are we not alone, but that: “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.” (Exodus 23:20). Not only that, He says: ^{Isa 52:12} “For you are not to hurry away, you are not to leave like fugitives. No, Yahweh marches at your head and the God of Israel is your rearguard”. New Jerusalem

I have long prayed these Scriptures in my hour of need. It’s so easy to get caught up in figuring out “the solution”. It’s so easy to decide that “this” or “that” is the right answer. What the Scriptures tell us is that He Himself sets our path. They tell us that He is not only setting our path, but covering our past. I think that rear guard can be looked at two ways. First, it is as it says: He has our back; secondly, though, I see, He has our past mistakes and sins and he has covered them (or washed them away).

I like to see that He is saying that those past mistakes we have made (and sinful tendencies) have to get past him to get to us. He says to us that he is a shield and our strength.

I recently heard a wonderful woman of God speak of raising her children. In particular she shared a few examples of when she had had enough. She talked about praying to God for guidance or else she would lose her mind. She shared how God told her what to do with her children, and how well it worked. I was struck by that. We are taught to give every bit of our life over to God, but how often do we do it. It seems so often that we call on God for the “big” stuff but think that the little stuff can be handled without bothering Him. He is such an awesome Father that he wants to be bothered for everything. He takes the time to answer every need we have. What an awesome Father!

Isaiah 6:8: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah was filled with dread right before he said this. He knew he was not clean enough, not good enough for God. God knew this too, so he purified Him. God calls us as we are. He knows who we are. It’s easy to say, “God must not mean me” because we know what our failings are. God says come anyway. He wants to make us whole, He wants to use us as we are, and then, in the process, make us better. He is a healing God. He wants to give us the strength we need. It’s easy to feel that the calling can go to someone better. I think it’s important to answer the call, especially when we are uncomfortable. If what he calls us to does not take us out of our comfort level a little, then we have a tendency to forget who is calling and in whose name we come.

God doesn’t just want us to remember who is sending us, He also wants us to be made whole in our obedience to him. He is a healing Father. My mom has often shared how having a Heavenly Father has helped her to find healing as her own father is emotionally distant. When she became a Christian in high school, the void that she had always had, began to be filled. All the things that God calls us to do: help others, be godly parents, help our neighbors, be obedient to Him, all these things are ways that He works on us, the way he refines us like gold in fire.

And I pray: Lord, we need you to guide us. We need your strength, we need your wisdom, we need You. Lord, today, we ask you to March at Our Head, and not only that, Lord, we ask that you be our Rearguard. We thank you, for we know that you all these things. Lord, we thank you for your scriptures that are a guide for us when we do not have the words. We thank you for your Holy Spirit which inspires us to seek you. We thank you for offering us your salvation. We thank you for the fellowship that we have here. Lord, we ask you to dwell in our midst. Lord, you are a catalyst for change, Lord, please change those things in us that keep us from being wholly one in you. Lord, let our lives be examples of what your grace can do. We ask that we may be vessels of your healing power to the world around us. Lord, we ask for compassion, generosity, and charity. Help us to see the people around us as you see them. Help us to love them as you do. We offer you our time here, today, and ask that you use it to bring us closer to you. Let this time be a time of building up, a time of healing, and time of support. You Lord, are the center of our lives, help us to live like that. Help us to be aware of you always. Help us to be Godly examples to our children. Help us to parent like you do. You, Lord, are the focus of our lives, be our all.

Tea Party

As a Conservative who associates myself with the "Tea Party", I find myself and my friends under attack in many contemporary TV shows. There is this notion that the Tea Party is violent and anti-cops...it couldn't be further from the truth. I resent the notion that I am anti government merely because I want government... to be limited and stop trying to replace my parents.

And...just because I am pro-life does not mean that I wish ill to the abortion providers or to those that are pro-abortion. I wish that all people could respect the sanctity of life, find healing for lost life, and live in a pro-life society. Instead of teaching our children to be careless and then mop up their "accidents" in an abortuary, why not teach them the consequences of their actions long before a life hangs on the line. It's time to give every child a chance at life and every prospective parent a chance to be a parent. There are many couples who would love to be parents and that can't get pregnant. Why not make adopting less expensive? We all know someone effected by infertility and someone who has had an abortion, wouldn't the ideal situation be for those two people (groups of people) to get together for the life of the child? Think about it.