On Tuesday night, my eyes were glued to the TV. I watched as Texas lit up. I continued to watch. And then Missouri did the same. Bright red.
The map continued to bleed as I watched the other states get their color. Both colors, the color of blood. Blue, pumping with oxygen, and red, poured out as if flowing from an open wound. It was hard to watch. I had to catch my breath a few times as the election coverage muddled through the results. The people were shocked. The world was stunned. Hearts stopped and the blood continued. It pumped and poured over America. The entire country affected. The world watching. It’s people frozen in disbelief.
How could love not win?
This is the question that keeps getting asked. In the newsrooms, on the morning shows, in the classrooms, and on our couches. Love. It lost. How could that be possible?
And it devastates me.
I was born into a red state, and my roots run deep there. My love for rodeos, the sunshine, and wide open spaces is an affect of that rearing and my Texas drawl slurs words that others find amusing...and often confusing. I am a conservative to my core and I have more Bibles in my house than most hotels have in all their rooms combined.
But, I love.
I grew up riding horses, I swam in dirty ponds, and I spent most of my childhood barefoot. I was in church every time the doors were open and my family even sang Amazing Grace around a campfire a time or two.
But, we love.
I grew up in a red state, and still to this day, I live in a red state.
But, I love.
My family loves. My conservative family loves...and always will love. Some would even say, “their hearts are the size of Texas.”
I also have family that grew up in a blue state. My husband, for one. He grew up in the Northwest. His roots run deep there. His memories alive there.
But, he loves.
And his family loves.
So how can we, as Americans, who all bleed the same blood, whose hearts all pound with the same force,
hate each other?
Just because we are different? Just because we live in different states? Just because we have different convictions. Different beliefs?
I don’t agree with some lifestyles. Some don’t agree with mine. But we can still love.
For Christ came to seek and to save the lost. Without love, we are ALL lost. The world is hopeless without peace. Without forgiveness. Without hope for today. Hope for tomorrow. And hope for eternity. Without love, Christ’s perfect love, we are hopeless. Lost forever. Doomed for destruction. Every single one of us. Red or Blue.
But because HE bled. We can live.
No matter who you are. Or what lifestyle you lead. Or where you reside. Or how you live this one life you’ve been given.
He died for YOU. He died for me.
He lives for YOU. He lives for me.
He loves YOU. He loves me.
Love still lives.
No matter who sits in office.
No matter what our world comes to.
Love will prevail.
Jesus is still on His throne.
And just like Titus wrote in his writer’s notebook today,
though life is different in St.Louis,
“love is the same.”
So be encouraged, dear friends.
Love has won.
