Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Dona Nobis Pacem


Yesterday, we witnessed history being made as Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was elected to become the President of these United States of America on January 20, 2009. What made this event so historic -the fact that Senator now President-Elect Obama is the first black man ever elected to serve in this office.

I had hoped that with the election over, a done-deal now, that some of the flack that has been coming forth during the campaign would not come to an end. The ads -from both contenders that cut to the bone -for openers. Well, thankfully, since there is no need to run them anymore, that did happen.

But the e-mails, even some blog posts containing hatred, vile comments -unfortunately, those still exist.

It saddens me to read things people write that keep the fires of racism, of bias, prejudice, and the like burning with comments calling President-elect Obama all sorts of names, insulting any who voted for him as being "White trailer trash" for openers. Referring to him not by his first name but as Hussein and casting out aspersions and accusations that he is a terrorist, a socialist, a communist, a Marxist -you name it, the list goes on and on, ad nauseum.

Shameful words, shameful actions and what a shame it is that there are still so many who chose to exist in a world that is so closed and unaccepting of others based primarily on a difference of the color of one's skin.

Is this any way to live in harmony, in peace with one's fellow man?

The beauty of this country is that yes, people have freedoms here -many, many freedoms as a matter of fact -one of which is freedom of speech, which allows people to say these hurtful things. The freedom of the press give them the right, the ability then to not just think and say these despicable words, but also to publish them as well -share the wealth, so to speak, of hatred and prejudice, teach it to yet another generation. Let it continue to fester and grow but then, if someone who has been maligned, injured in some way by these statements, these words, name-calling and acts out on them, then come forward of course with an "I told you so" type statement that the perpetrator believes to justify the nastiness in the first place.

What goes 'round, comes 'round -as my grandmother liked to say -and hatred begets nothing more than more of the same.

As long as any one harbors feelings of this ilk inside, how can a peaceful co-existence here or around the globe ever become a possibility?

While I realize the words spoken last night by President-elect Obama, while to most were seen as extremely inspirational, to some, they are meant to be used as a means still of ridicule, I would HOPE and pray too that they were received as they were intended by more people who will take them and with them, try to spread that message again and again, in order that Peace might someday prevail.

What I really do not understand at all though is how so many who continue to view others by race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, economic status, as being of a lower caliber can also stand up and declare that they are also "Christian" in their belief. To me, to do that is to ignore Christ's own teachings - you know, that man whose teachings you profess to believe but yet, you fail to practice those teachings -"Do unto others." You fail to recognize God asks us -no HE tells us -that we are "Our brother's keeper." And by brother, HE doesn't mean some one with the same DNA but our fellow man and by man, HE doesn't mean just the male of the species, but male and female, alike.

As a young child, one of the first hyms I learned in Sunday School -and it was sung almost every Sunday too -included the words, "Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus love the children of the world." And I, as a small child heard that and rather foolishly I think though, believed that since I thought those words were truth, so did everyone else around me -in the church I attended, the school, the villages and towns far and near, cities all across this great, wide and wonderful land of ours and around the world as well.

I grew up and realized too many near and far didn't really believe the words of that song, certainly didn't practice doing that either.

And many decades later, I wonder if everyone were to think of the words in that simple hymn, say them over and over again and then, try to practice doing just that by recognizing the equality that should be present between all races, all cultures, male, female, if by remembering and doing that, we might -just possibly -bring about an end to all the conflict that exists.

What would it harm if we just tried to do that -to love ALL the people of the world, red, yellow, black and white?

A smile at a stranger, a friendly hello, even -who knows, how far little gestures like that might go!

Worth a try isn't it if it might, just might, resolve, bit by bit, a small conflict here, a little larger one there and on and on it could go but onl if we each resolve to give it a try.

I'm willing. Are you?

28 comments:

Mimi Lenox said...

Amen and amen.
GREAT post.

Peace to you and yours on the BlogBlast Day!

Mimi

♥♥ Willa ♥♥ said...

Happy Blog Blast Peace Day!

Travis Cody said...

Well said my dear.

Peace.

~*~Patty S said...

Sending*Peace*Love*Light* in hopes of a bright future!

Barbara said...

Peace be with you !
Thank you for your moving post.

Let's all keep the light of Peace burning...

Hootin Anni said...

Yes...the slander towards Mr. Obama AND his family was uncalled for in my opinion too. Sad thing is...during McCain's concession speech there were STILL boos and hisses from his followers...not right, not good, not healthy for our country!!! May we all find peace with our new leader...MR. BARACK OBAMA!!

Come on over, and read my impressions of peace if you can find time today.

Anonymous said...

I'm already doing it :-) Such a great post, well said!

All those people having "bad reactions and behavior", I suspect that they have big problems with themselves. They're afraid and have much anger steamed up inside them, that they need to work on.

A person with good faith in themselves and others, wouldn't come down to this kind of misbehavior, no matter what disagreement.

There is so much work to do in this world when it comes to peace - and humanity. It's a pity that "the world" isn't more focused on it....

LOVE & PEACE

Michelle said...

Count me in. :-) Funny, I ended mine with a challenge too.

Peace day blessings to you.

RazorFamilyFarms.com said...

I have to say that I've heard the slander for both Obama and McCain. A blogger who used one of my photos on her blog write a horrid post in which she called McCain a racist who wanted to return to slavery and that he and his wife only hugged their daughter at the RNC to try and show the world how they weren't secretly plotting to return things to the days of "whites only" bathrooms.

I was horrified.

I am just so tired of all of that stuff. Obama seems like a nice fellow. McCain is a great guy. Why do people feel the need to drag their families into it and take these crazy extremist views??

Awesome post.

Blessings!
Lacy

Michelle H. said...

I am always willing to send peace and love to everyone! Great post!

j said...

Peace with one another, peace in our country... I am all for peace.

Dianne said...

I'm willing Jeni, thank you for a wonderful post.

Mary said...

Jeni,

A wonderful post, my friend. We need to have love in our hearts in order to pass it on to others. Too many try to love with clenched fists.

My post for Blog Blast for Peace is finally up. If you have a chance, please drop by.

Blessings,
Mary

Raven said...

Beautifully said. Peace and blessings.

Sandi McBride said...

What I will enjoy is children in the White House...won't you? And his putting up a Christmas Tree and decorating one on the front lawn will hopefully put paid to the muslim chat...I didn't vote for him and I'm not going to say I did when I didn't, but it's over now...
as for my story...I couldn't believe my auto post had screwed up! I had to rush over and copy and delete and recopy and save as draft lol...whew, what a whirlwind!
I'm glad you liked it, though...
hugs
Sandi

Anonymous said...

Well said Jeni!! Although I did not vote for Obama, I respect his position and I pray that he will lead this country in a way that is in line with Christian values. Thanks for stopping by and saying hello!!!

ShannonW said...

Awesome post!!!! Peace to you and all you love.

Akelamalu said...

Great post! Some people do just not want peace. Thankfully there are more that do. I am willing. :)

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree with you more. Sadly, there are some people that can only find self-worth by making others seem less. The emphasis they place on President-elect Obama's middle name helps them find a reason to hate. Never mind that he has attended a Christian church most of his life, and repeatedly affirmed his choice of faith. Those who choose to hate will never be confused by the truth.

Excellent post and I hope you have a beautiful Peace Day.

Ralph said...

We need to be pure of heart in all our feelings - in case we act on our feelings. Peace is the ideal, and we need to have peace in our hearts. It will catch on. We are to love our neighbor. It is commanded of us...

Finding Pam said...

Just stopping by to say hello and have a beautiful peace day. I agree with your post. Nice globe.

Finding Pam said...

Just stopping by to say hello and have a beautiful peace day. I agree with your post. Nice globe.

Anonymous said...

Girl, you are just awesome!

Debo Blue

Keith said...

The sad thing is...a lot of "Christians" give Christians a bad name by their extreme rhetoric. God makes it so simple. The greatest commandment is to Love God with all your heart and the second is just like it...Love others. He even tells us to love our enemies. How cool would that be if EVERYONE did that?

Great post.

Peace!
Keith

Linda said...

I'm going to say something here that is probably not going to be very popular but what the heck - it's how I feel ... I wish to heck that people who stop with the whole "we just elected our first black President" stuff because this race was never supposed to be about race and yet it was. It should have been about who was the best candidate regardless of his ethnic background or the color of his skin and yet that obviously was not the case.

Do people find it necessary to pat themselves on the back for having finally allowed a person other than a white man to become President? That's sure the heck what it seems like to me. It's like shouting out "Look how progressive we are!" Good grief.

This has been one of the most vicious and nasty elections I have ever seen and that started way back when it was Hillary making a run for the Oval Office. This election was never about who was going to be the best person to lead our country out of the mess that it's in but what part of history was going to be made in the process; whether we were going to elect our first female President or our first black President. And that's just sad.

I honestly do not give a rat's behind what color President-Elect Obama is - that particular detail matters not one iota to me. What I care about is if he's going to be able to back up all of the wonderful promises that he's made and whether or not he's going to provide this country with the type of leadership it so desperately needs at this point in time. I do not care what color the person is who's doing that ... I care about the quality of the person doing it. Black - white - male - female - I don't care and I am sick to death of everyone saying how wonderful it is that we have our first black President like that's all that matters.

It is my fervent hope that President-Elect Obama does not let down the people who supported him and that the news media finds something else to talk about for awhile because, frankly, I am sick to death of politics, politics, politics.

Anyhow, sorry for going on and on, Jeni - I've just had enough and I want people to try to act like civilized mature adults who can agree to disagree with each other in a manner befitting civilized and mature people and I don't want it to be about race anymore; I really don't.

Rodney King said it best when he said, "Can't we all get along?"

Good question - can't we??

Kanani said...

This was the most vitriolic race ever. And I'm glad to see it go. I've heard enough crap about all the candidates, and frankly --I think the bashing on blogs was so great, there are divisions between people now that will be difficult to be bridged.

Unfortunately, through history, during an election politicians on both sides for almost every office on every level of government make bold sweeping statements --often not based on the full fact, often made off the cuff, often a vision that might be impossible to fulfill due to unforeseen factors once they get in.

No one said that the only thing that mattered was Barack Obama's race. He had a vision that touched a nerve with a lot of people --over 60% of the electorate. In other words, over time, his message became bigger than his race.

But what people are marveling at is the fact that after watching our local, state and federal elections diversify over the past four decades, we have finally elected our first black president. It's a milestone, and what we can remember is that Barack Obama stands where he does because of people like the late Shirley Chisholm. Race is something that we can't overlook --it's ingrained in our history. But it's how we handle our differences that gives the full measure of who we are.

And I have no doubt, a woman will someday be President.

Peace be to you, and to everyone

Maggie May said...

Great post. Lots of truth in what you say. The world would be a better place if all were more tolerant of each other.
Peace to you.

Julia Phillips Smith said...

A wonderful post and a lovely quote on your peace globe. I love what you said here:
'How so many...can also stand up and declare that they are also 'Christian' in their belief.' This has always and will always confuse the heck out of me. However, I've got to accept their very existence as part of Creation, bizarre as they may be.