The Post I Meant to Write Yesterday but Ran Out of Time: I Wore Purple.

posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Four years ago, feeling snarky, I tried to make an underhanded statement of support of my chosen candidate at the polls, which backfired hysterically.   Next time, I stated in a reply to a comment, I will wear purple.

I remembered that statement as I stood in the closet on this Election Day, and pulled out a purple kind-of-sort-of twin set to wear.  My own humble pie for trying to be too clever last go-round.

 You can see a bit of it in the obligatory 'I voted' selfie I posted to Instagram...

But in the back of my head I had a thought all day that, just maybe, wearing purple was a sort of statement after all.

Purple is, after all, a blend of red and blue.  Once blended, they can't be pulled out again.  There's something new.

Had I written this post yesterday, as intended, I would not yet have known the results of the election.  My plan was to write something along the lines of ...whoever wins, we've got to unite as people.  We've got to quit the 'us vs. them' business and figure out how to get along even though we may not agree.  We've got to quit being red states and blue states and be purple together.

I remember doing a mock election during the presidential election of 1972 when I was in Junior High school; one of my classmates pulled me into a toilet stall with an unflushed, completely foul commode and announced, 'That's [the candidate you're supporting]!'  Even as a 13 year old, such a statement made absolutely no sense to me. The truth was, she didn't know enough about the issues and the platforms to make a reasoned argument against the candidate my team was supporting...and so crude insults were her argument.

I have seen way too much of such junior high behavior from way too many people in this election process... from supporters of both major parties and a good number of independent voters.    Maybe the person you voted for won, maybe that person did not.  But guess what...the folks that voted for the 'other candidate' probably didn't do it for the reasons the [liberal or conservative] press may be touting.  Most folks who cast valid votes do so for the person they think will do the best job for the USA from the available choices (I am not so sure about the 11,000  or so folks who voted for a dead gorilla.  Surely they could have written in one of the independent candidates who better represented their values). I may not understand why someone would vote for a particular candidate, but I have to respect their choice.  I know I don't appreciate reading some blanket statement applied to the folks who colored in the same circle I did; I'm quite sure folks who filled in other circles will not be encouraged or uplifted by some similar blanket statement applied to them.  And we will not heal up until we learn that individuals vote for individual reasons and we cannot lump everyone who voted for [this candidate] under one offensive epithet.

There are people who revel in such notoriety, who are rewarded by the shock and pain on the face of the person whom they judge worthy of a an unflushed toilet, but the truth is when you try to shoot down those folks, you inevitably hit the folks who were standing on the same side, who thought their choice through and, because they might have slightly different perceptions or priorities or foundations for their thinking made what they believed to be a reasoned choice...but different from yours.  And they would be just as horrified to be shoved into a bathroom stall for their choice.

So be judicious, not judgemental. Because God says there's a better way to change a nation.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  -- 2 Chron. 7:14 NIV 84