My momma wrote a beautiful blog post. It made me cry, so I wanted to share my thoughts and
link you up to hers.
The person I respect and admire most in this world is my mom. She taught my brothers and I to live by one rule more than any other, “Live your life with humility. Think about how it feels to be in other peoples' shoes.” My brothers and I were never spanked, instead we were sat and talked to. My mom would explain that what we had done hurt other people (my brothers, her, my dad, etc.) and that worked. I didn't like to be hurt, so why would I want to hurt other people? I think it turned out well, I was never in trouble at school, haven't even thought about touching drugs or a cigarette, have never been drunk in my life, have a good job, a wonderful husband, and a home I am proud to be working to pay for. I am not perfect, but I believe my husband and I try to live our lives the way God would like us to.
I know I am young, and I've only voted for president once, but that doesn't make me ignorant. My husband and I try to be as open politically when it comes to researching what we are voting for as possible. We watched both conventions, have researched both presidential nominees' positions on everything from health care, to the war, to gay rights. Lately we've watched re-runs of Oprah about how our education system is failing, “An Inconvenient Truth” about how we are failing our world, and Michael Moore's “Sicko”, about how we are failing our people. When did it become ok to turn our backs on and forget about those who have less than us because we, personally, may be doing alright?
Most conservatives label themselves as Christian. I am Catholic (which is the first form of Christianity), and the one theme that is threaded though out the bible that stands out to me more than anything else is that Jesus loves
everybody. I also learned through my religion that God gave us free-will. I believe that this means that he gives us the choice to make our own decisions, and undoubtedly would allow any woman to make a choice about her own body, or any person to love whomever they
fall in love with. Not only does He love us, except us for who we are and the sins we make, but he is unconditionally forgiving. God would want the same opportunities given to the crack addict's son as the CFO's daughter. Where do we miss these key things in America? How is our whole nation “casting the first stone” at same-sex couples, Muslims, pro-choice American's, illegal immigrants, the homeless?
I, unlike my husband, take politics personally. I wish I could place everything into a neat little box and not let it hurt me because they are not speaking directly at me. But I feel like I am failing all these people because I can't stop my country from doing so. I hurt when the McCain camp disrespects Obama for being a “community organizer” who wants to raise our taxes. First of all, if I myself, had to pay $10 (or heck, even $100) more in taxes a year to ensure that everyone in America could have a quality education up through college, premium health care, a roof over their heads and a job to make them feel proud and productive, I would do so in a heart beat. Obama won't raise my taxes though. My husband and I are middle/working-class American's (and no, that's not under $5 million a year, McCain). Our taxes would be cut(along with 95% of Americans), so maybe we'd be able to put some money into savings for our future children.
That's just one of most of Obama's policies that I agree with. I don't think I can name one of McCain or Palin's that I would vote for. If God gave us free-will, where is it anyone else's place to take it away by over-turning Roe v. Wade or only teaching abstinence in schools or by changing the constitution to discriminate against same sex couples? Oh, and who's to say God didn't put the intelligent men and woman on this earth to become scientists to help us cure fatal diseases? How
dare any one man stop medical research that could have saved millions of people in the 8 years he has been in office.
When I watched Obama's speech at the convention, I felt like I was watching my generation's Martin Luther King Jr. (and I would say that if Obama where white, purple, green, or black). I felt hope and pride in my country for the first time in a long while. Maybe I can do something for my not-so-lucky American brothers and sisters by voting this November. Maybe I can make our nation a better place.
I made up 3 different leaf patterns, and then crocheted each pattern in 4 colors. Then I decided that I didn't want it to always look the same. I wanted it to seem as if a tree had let it's leaves drift onto my tabletop. So, I used gold safety pins to pin them together in a random pattern. That way if I make more I can rearrange them, or maybe turn them into a garland...
or my Etsy. But remember, you get a .50 discount for buying through Ravelry! If you click on the Ravelry link above, even if you're not a member, you should be able to purchase through them, it'll take you to the PayPal site and I think you just send me a payment and it'll let you download the pattern.
