Moms are under lots of pressure to be all things to all people. If a woman works outside the home, she's pressured by people (Gov. Mike Pence included) who shame them for not staying at home with their kids. If they stay home with their kids, they're questioned about why they aren't using their degree(s). What no one wants to talk about is that some mom's are better, happier mom's when they work. Some mom's have no choice but to work to keep the family afloat. Some moms' degrees lead to jobs that don't pay any more than daycare or babysitters would cost, so we invest in making a home on a budget and supporting the family that way (it takes time and planning to stretch a budget). Some mom's can easily afford to stay at home, and just love it. Some moms have kids with special needs who need them there. The truth is, it takes a village, but few women in this day and age have an unpaid village to rely on. Most women exhaust themselves everyday trying to honor their family's needs. Most husbands or partners exhaust themselves everyday trying to give their family the best life possible. It's time for us to stop judging and shaming one another for how we try to find balance and sanity in our vocations (one of which is parenting). Most of us are quietly doing the best we can. None of us can be all things to all people. All of us need support. Let's stop judging and start being a village for our friends in every little way we can!
This election is not only about Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. It's about our deepest fears and how we respond to them. Fear in itself isn't a bad thing. It alerts us to danger and focuses us while we defend ourselves. But when fear sticks around and becomes the glasses we wear all the time, fear deceives us. It alters our vision. Fear can make neighbors look like suspects. It can make compassion look like weakness. It can make hope look like naivete. Fear can make isolation look like safety, and violence look like the only option. Fear can make prejudice look like wisdom and openness look like carelessness. Fear can make interdependence look like helplessness, and diversity look like a threat. When fear alters our vision it clouds our faith by convincing us that what we see is all there is. When we surrender our vision of our common humanity to let fear be our lens, we risk losing more than an election or an argument. We risk losing our souls. We were created in the image of a God of Love, called to give Love eyes, ears, hands, and a voice. Let us look for love everywhere we go. Let us listen for love in the midst of the bluster. Let us create spaces for love right where we are. Let us speak love into the angry, hateful, fearful, and broken places until everyone can hear it. Don't campaign for fear. It was never meant to lead. #lovewins #loveheals
I spent first 9 years of my life in the Catholic church. Each time I entered the Old Mission Parish in San Luis Obispo, CA I felt the quiet safety wash over me; not the kind of safety that says bad things won't happen, but the kind of safety that promises that when bad things happen I won't ever be hopeless or alone. It's the kind of safety that wraps itself around my senses and fills me with the assurance of Love that is bigger, surer, and more enduring than anything I know. Today I walk into the Episcopal Church and meet the same peace. We all need reminders of that Love; signposts that point us in the direction of that Light when we find ourselves in dark places. Those reminders can be people, spaces, or moments. They become sacred when they shelter us with the promise of Love that is bigger, surer, and more enduring than anything we know. Spend time with those people, be those people, inhabit those spaces, and open yourself to those moments. As the great Glennon Doyle Melton says, "Carpe Kairos".
