Fate and Change

The world changed today and I wanted to watch. Only time will tell if the change is for good or ill, but the world did change today. Those that have come to these pages know my feelings about President Trump, so I will not pretend to be upset that he is no longer in power. I do realize that many Americans are very upset at his loss and I hope that they will be able to accept the change that occurred today. I would offer this from Minister Joyce Meyer.

“Change is always tough. Even for those who see themselves as agents of change, the process of starting a new thing can cause times of disorientation, uncertainty and insecurity.”    

President Biden has spoken much since the election about unity and his message is timely and good. We all know our Country is as divided as it has been since the Civil War and this division cannot be sustained over time without destructive consequences. We have now seen what happens when disorientation, uncertainty and insecurity reach the boiling point. We saw it last summer after the death of George Floyd and we saw on January 6 in President Trump’s final, desperate attempt to cling to power.

I don’t know if our new President can unify our country, but I am thankful that he is willing to acknowledge the need and make the attempt. President Trump did not cause our division, it has been long in the making, but I do think he made it worse with his slogans and his message.

Make America Great Again looks good on a hat, it is a catchy phrase and is easy to remember. But at its core, it is a negative comment on our country. It suggests that our country is broken or has somehow become less than a shining city on a hill. Perhaps there is a grain of truth in this slogan, for we all understand the eternal struggle to create a more perfect union. Perfection is not a destination, it’s a journey. (did I see that on a poster?)

However, under President Trump it evolved into the need to “Take our Country Back.” This was never on a hat as far as I know, but during the last four years, we heard it over and over again from him and from his supporters and it came to a crescendo at the Capitol. Herein lies the problem. Herein lies the flawed logic upon which the entire MAGA movement was based.

It is not your Country to take back.

It is our Country to build.

Us, all of us, have to contribute to, and work toward solutions that lift us all up. We cannot frame our debates, our discussions or our disagreements in terms of you have to lose for me to win. In the end, I believe, at a fundamental level, this is why President Trump was not re-elected. America wants to be a win-win community, not a win-lose or us-versus-them hierarchal society.  

I’m about to make a course change here.

I have always looked upon our Presidents as powerful men, exalted to high position, playing a different game than myself, or at least playing at a higher level and as men with whom I had little in common. I was never an actor like Reagan. I was never a governor like Clinton, I never owned a professional baseball team like Bush. I have never been a black man like Obama or a real estate mogul like Trump. I was a potato peeler and proud to be one, trying to hammer out a living as best as I could. Trying to be a husband, a father, a citizen and a man. Didn’t always succeed, but always tried.

This time it is different. 

Today, as I watched the world change, President Biden said this toward the end of his inaugural address:

“There’s no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days, you need a hand. There are other days when we’re called to lend a hand. That’s how it has to be. That’s what we do for one another. And if we are this way, our country will be stronger, more prosperous, more ready for the future. And we can still disagree.

Will we rise to the occasion, is the question. Will we master this rare and difficult hour? Will we meet our obligations and pass along a new and better world to our children?” 

There is meaning in these words that transcend politics or the state of our country. There is a deeper and more humane meaning in these words. 

There is meaning in these words that comes from a place of deep and profound fear. There is meaning in these words that reveal a crippling despair. There is meaning in these words that remind us that no matter what fate has dealt us, we must cling to hope, we must accept the hand extended to us, while at the same time we must extend our hand to those that need us. You must accept the disorientation, the uncertainty and the insecurity and know that fate has changed you forever.

In these words, President Biden and I are bound together in a way that I have never been with another President. These words were spoken by a man, could only be spoken by a man, that has suffered the death of a child. President Biden and I, as are our families, are members of the worst club in the world. 

In these words, I know that he understands my pain, my loss, my fear and my despair. He understands my fate in a way few others can. He and I share the disorientation, the uncertainty and the insecurity that fate has dealt us and we also share the hope that tomorrow will be easier than today, not just for us individually, but for all of us. I hope and pray that he will use what fate has dealt him to help us build a more perfect union. Let us all lend a hand and accept a hand.

God Bless Us Everyone!

R.I. P. T. N. L. J. 8119