I live in a state that voted to legalize marijuana.
Nevermind that it’s prohibited by federal law. I live in a country in
which my president, after the announcement of his reelection, makes his first
public statement by “tweeting.” I feel like a pioneer woman who’s found herself
on a rocket ship. How did I get here and where is the world I once knew?
One of the TV commentators said that America is becoming
less white, less religious, more liberal, and more tolerant. While I don’t
doubt that’s true, everything in my world screams to the contrary. During the
course of the election, I did not see one Obama sign. Not a single bumper
sticker. I can’t think of anyone I know who is a big fan of Obamacare or who
supports abortion, “choice,” or whatever you want to call it. I am grateful for
the non-white people in my life and my children’s lives, but it’s a shamefully
small number. And while I do have a handful of good friends who are Democrats,
I can’t think of anyone I regularly interact with whom I would call “liberal.”
I’m not bragging about my world, for sure. The Great
Commission tells us to go into the world and make disciples, not to stay in our
own neighborhoods and make friends only with people who are just like us. I
need to get out more. I need more experiences like I had at jury duty that open
my eyes to how different my world is from everyone else’s. I’m also more aware
that Kevin and I need to raise our kids to understand that they are minorities.
They would not pick that up just by looking around, but they need to know it. We
need to prepare them to live in a country in which they are unusual, weird—
even freaks—because they believe the Bible is the inspired word of God and that
there is a definite right and a definite wrong. My grandmother could not have
imagined opposition to this belief, not in America. My grandchildren, I suppose,
will experience nothing but opposition.
Thankfully, while the nation is changing, God is not. I also
get to teach my children that though we may have to share our roads and
highways with pot smokers, the world is not spinning out of control. God is
still on the throne, and nothing takes Him by surprise.
