Dear America, This Is My Prayer For You

I like to write about love. It feels relevant, feels important. It’s a big part of my life, and the lives of those around me, and when I write about love, I feel the layers of my heart reopening and healing and connecting with strangers. And that’s so beautiful.

But today, I don’t feel like I can write about love. Not about love and relationships, broken hearts and missing people you’ve drifted from. Today, those things seem trivial. Today, there are more pressing issues and heartaches.

Today, we have become a divided nation.
Today, we have become a fearful nation.

Today, so much has changed and when I woke up this morning, all I could see was status after status about the future of this nation. And it hurts me.

It hurts that there are people fearing for their lives. It hurts that there are souls who are scared, who are doubting their next move, who are nervous and unsure and angry. It hurts that even in the wake of this important decision, America is at a state of unrest.

I don’t know if I can put into words my own feelings, let alone my reaction to what I’ve seen, to what I’ve read, to the bleeding hearts I’ve encountered, so desperately divided.

But what I do know, is that I can write about love. Love for our new president, love for our country, love for one another despite our differences. Because love and prayer are really the only two things we have.

Today marks a new day of a new path, and whether or not we support it, we can support America with love.

Whether or not we agree with Donald Trump as our president, we can choose to pray for our nation. To trust that these changes are in God’s hands, and ask him to lead our country to a place of strength, acceptance, tolerance, equality and respect.

This is not a political piece, not an ‘I support(ed) this candidate,’ or a ‘here’s my perspective on the election.’ This is simply a statement of support for America, for each other, for love in the wake of this election.

What we wanted, who we voted for, which candidate had our support is irrelevant now. What matters is how we move forward, how we love, how we show compassion, and who we become.

And so I pray for our healing. I pray for those who are frightened, that they would know that God is with them, even on their darkest days. I pray for those who feel disrespected, that they would see their power, their beauty, their worth in the eyes of our Father. I pray for me, for you, for our neighbors and enemies and friends—that despite our perspectives, we can find acceptance.

I pray for love, because love is what we do next.
We love. And we continue to love.

I am a woman. And yes, I have been challenged by the perspectives of this new leader of our country. Yes, I have been hurt by the way he has treated my sex, by the things he has said about people that I love and know and don’t know. Yes, I have been angered by the decisions he has made.

But this isn’t about me. And this isn’t about the past.

The truth is, we can only look forward, not back. And we must continue forward by putting our fears in the arms of Christ. We must ask Him to heal our hearts, to forgive the sins we’ve made and encountered, and ask Him to guide the future of this nation.

We must ask Him to guide our president, to love our president, to be with our president in all the words he says and decisions he makes.

We must not keep ourselves at arm’s length from one another, spewing hateful words and living in darkness. We must not hold onto our perspectives, so much so, that it keeps us from coming together. We must not let our fears hold us back from becoming a powerful nation.

Whether or not we agree with the decision we have made, we must learn to forgive one another and trust in God. We must pray for our president, our nation, our future, and our broken neighbors. We must find a way to come together, for that is the only way our America will survive.

We must love. And keep loving.