Bit of a Day

I went to bed at around 1:00 this morning after Skyping with friends from home. At that point it looked like it was going to be an uphill battle, but I had faith in humanity. This morning, I got up with that faith utterly shaken. When I found out that Trump won the election, I had a gut-wrenching fear. I felt like, as a woman, my body suddenly no longer belonged to me. Obviously the results of the election don't mean that men are encouraged, let alone required to suddenly become sexist or to assault women, but it makes me fear that when those incidents happen, they'll merely be shrugged off. Despite my privilege of being white, it still felt like all my basic human rights had been taken away, like people have no respect for the rights of their mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, and friends as females. This morning I just wanted to retreat inside myself and not talk to anyone. While YAGM is a one year program, I could stay on in England as a Time for God volunteer for a second year, but in too many ways that just feels like running away and hiding from the problem. As the day has progressed, though, I remembered (with the help of reminders from my fellow YAGMs) that while part of the point of YAGM is to spend a year in service to our brothers and sisters around the world, part of the call is also to go home and fight for the victims of inequality and injustice, ultimately to change the system that allows those things to happen. Politics has never been my call. One of the environmental studies options with my major was to focus on policy, which I avoided as much as possible. The flare of anger I feel in situations like this is too often, and too quickly cooled for it to lead me to significant action. I realize that my place is to stand with the oppressed and marginalized. I may be too shy to be a politician and too scared stand up to the politicians. But I can offer love and support to those whose voices are not being heard. In the past few years, I've thought pretty seriously about going to seminary school. I still don't know for sure if I will or not, but today has been a pretty big addition to the list of reasons why I should go to seminary. On this day, I've found comfort in the words of Lin-Manuel Miranda. "Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside." We may not end up with the America many of us hoped for, but the fight for love, acceptance, and equality goes on.