LOVE WINS - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2020

 LOVE WINS - Friday, November 13th

The number 13 has been associated with evil - and today is a Friday the 13th.  But, that stigma tends to be superstitious.  I think the connotation comes that Jesus has 12 disciples plus himself for thirteen people and one of those betrayed him - so thirteen is evil.

But, we won’t let that stand in our way.  

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Today, another word study in the LOVE WINS area - the word “NEVER”.  Last week, we looked at the word “ALL”.

I’ve seen the word ‘never’ thrown around (as well as implied) lately.  There have been comments like “I can NEVER trust a Democratic President”; “I can NEVER get over this election”; “I can NEVER accept how this election was stolen by Biden/Harris”.  Too frequently (at least this year) these sentiments are coupled with unsupported (or only lightly supported) accusations of voter fraud.  Yes, there may have been voter fraud - or there may not have been voter fraud.  On what scale?  Can I see the proof?  

Now, understand I both agree with the concept of let’s count all the ballots again.  We (the United States) did that in Florida in 2000 (remember the ‘hanging chads’?) In close elections - whether for school board, major, senate seat or president, we need to be reasonably accurate.  By reasonably accurate, the provisional ballots in Texas for the Presidential content may not have been counted as the number of those ballots and the margin of victory for President Trump would have made the process of no additional value.  (Provisional ballots in Texas were generally from people who moved to Texas in the last few months, who did not register to vote in Texas, who may or may not have voted in their previous state.  To validate each provision ballot, an election person would have to research if that person did or did not vote in their previous state and if their reasons for not registering in time were compelling).

I remember the use of “NEVER” before.  Back in my college days as protests were happening over the Vietnam war, I heard people say “I never will fight in Vietnam.  I am moving to Canada.” or “I will NEVER vote for a (Republican/Democrat) again.”.  

But, times do change - and it might be such that a “NEVER” can become a possibility.  Even in our political climate, it might be in 20 or 30 years that liberals (whatever that word means) can become conservative and conservatives (whatever that word means) can become liberal.  Times change and people change.  

NEVER is a word that shuts the door - that refuses to listen.  Now, there may be reasons not to listen.  If a particular member of a religious group is at my door and is speaking of doctrines that do not appeal to me, I may say “NO” (or NEVER) to that person.  I may say “NO” (or NEVER) to an aggressive senior male or female who is making advances on me.  NO, I’m not interested.  

Like “ALL” “NEVER” is an absolute.  And, in my thinking, there are few things that truly are absolute.  Does the sun always rise in the east?  Not always - if I am standing on the north pole, the sun will always rise in the south (in that is the only direction to go from the north pole).  

If I had said at one point in time, I will NEVER be friends with a black or a Muslim or a Hindu - I would have been wrong.  

I am not the smartest person in the world.  I may be (and have been many times) WRONG about things.  God is infinite and I am finite.  I can LOVE, but I am not allowing myself to hate people (I still can hate eating raw oysters though!!!)  

So, LOVE WINS suggests to me that listening thoughtfully to all sides of an issue makes sense.  LOVE WINS might mean that I review my candidates for public office and opt for one that makes the most sense to me - at that time.  And, I do reserve the right to change my mind - and to admit I was wrong!!

1 John 4:7 says, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”

Let us love one another!!!  (Please)

LOVE WINS!!!

Hugs!!

Karen