Going My Way, Her Way, His Way

The older I get, I realize that there are so many things I don’t know.

I didn’t know whether to root for the Los Angeles Dodgers or the New York Yankees in the World Series. I no longer have to worry about that (congrats Dodgers and Freddie Freeman!)

I don’t know whether I prefer summer (the season of my birth, and the one with bugs and spiderwebs) or winter (love the time change is but it’s too cold).

I don’t know if my favorite color is still red, or is it black, gray, or blue.

There are so many things I don’t know.

But I’m quite sure about the things I know.

Last week, when I took advantage of early voting, I was confident in my choice of candidates.

I knew who I was voting for, and why.

Anyone who knows me knows that I voted for Kamala Harris.

My choice was based on three parts - one part philosophical, one part Kamala, and one part faith.

I believe that much of life is gray.

Most things are neither all good nor bad.

The former president is a huge exception to that rule.

He has no redeeming qualities.

He’s a liar, cheat, racist, misogynist, and nativist.

He is running to avoid incarceration, and because of ego.

When then President Obama made fun of him at that White House Correspondent’s Dinner, his ego couldn’t take it.

He felt he had something to prove, even though he is thoroughly debased and so morally compromised that having morals would be a compromise.

He ran against the first woman to be nominated by her party as a presidential candidate.

She was an unpopular candidate, and certain people felt they had already endured a Black president and couldn’t countenance having a woman president.

He won the election, and we had the most disastrous presidency of modern times.

For those of us of a certain age, which means it was worse than Nixon, and that was bad enough.

I do not want to see a repeat performance.

I’m not going to agree with Kamala Harris on every issue.

But I agree with her enough and disagree with the former president enough to have voted with certainty.

The third factor influencing my vote is my faith.

I know that Jesus loves everyone.

I know that He especially cares for the downtrodden and the disaffected – whether they are widowed, orphaned, People of Color, women, immigrants, and the LGBTQIA+ community.

I know that everything He does comes from a place of love, mercy, and compassion.

I don’t see love, mercy, and compassion in the former president, his allies (Christian or secular), or his platform.

I see hatred, venality, and selfishness.

I see pandering from someone who demonstrate none of the Fruits of the Spirit but is forever touting the Bible (when he’s not selling them).

The Madison Square Garden rally should be offensive to anyone who considers themselves a Jesus follower.

I have to be true to Jesus.

I have to be true to His plan for my life, which is advocating for the disenfranchised.

I have to be His Hands and Feet.

None of that includes voting for the former president.