I love America. I don’t care what anyone says about anything. Some people love our leader, some hate him. Some people think we have a lot of problems, some people think all is well in Zion. But that’s what makes America a place I love.
Yesterday, I posted something about America and the state of the people here. It was one man’s opinion, that many people may share. I think I agree with most all of his points. Maybe you agreed too. Maybe you didn’t. Isn’t it great that we can disagree? I’m not a historian, but I know there were times and places in the world where the opinions a person had were not welcome unless they were in agreement with the powers in charge. I would hate that.
I had a friend, still do actually, in Florida that I truly love. This woman was/is super creative and fun. I loved hanging out with her and cooking, scrapbooking, crafting, eating, talking…..it was all good. I considered her one of my best friends. One day our conversation turned to politics. I was shocked/surprised/bewildered to learn that her political beliefs were completely opposite of mine. It took me a minute to think about that. How could I be friends with someone that had such a different way of thinking about something so important?
I say it took me a minute, but it might have been less. You see, I love this woman. She is super fun. I decided pretty quick that it didn’t matter who she wanted in office or what bill she was going to vote on. What mattered was that we were friends. We supported each other, looked out for each other, cheered each other, and had a good time together. We agreed to disagree. It has never been a problem for us.
Sometimes I think about her and wonder how she could be so “wrong” about things….and then I realize she isn’t ‘wrong.’ Just because someone believes differently from you, doesn’t mean one person is right and one is wrong. It doesn’t have to be a black and white world.
I used to argue with my late husband about finding the grey in the world. He was a black and white kind of guy. It was either right or wrong. High or low. Sweet or sour. It used to drive me crazy. Since he died, I find I have put a lot more black and white into my grey world. I wonder why that is? Perhaps it is a safety net. Is it easier to deal with some things if you only have two categories to sort them into? Sometimes people can get lost in the grey. Maybe.
Like it or not, we live in a grey world. A grey country. We have a heck of a lot of people here, and we all have our own minds, will, desires, attitudes, and favorite colors. I mean, some people still eat at McDonalds for heaven’s sake. I do worry about them, but I also rejoice in the fact that they can if they want to.
The high school where we lived Alabama was required to read East of Eden. I had never read it, but figured if my kids had to read it I should know what it was about. It was basically a horribly graphic (to me) representation of a story of two brothers. Some say it is a parody of the story of Cain and Abel. That may be true. It was hard to get through and I wondered many times why in the world high school students should be made to read it. At one point in the book, the author brings out the choices the two brothers made; one brother made good choices and had a good life, and the other made bad choices and had a less than good life. The point was, it was their choice. To me, that was the point of the entire book. (It took a mighty long time to get to it I might add)
We all have our choices. We can like what we want to. That is America to me. I wouldn’t want it any other way…..cause I said so.
CuzIsaidSo Weblog 
I love my free agency. At times I wish I could blame my actions on something other than myself; when the consequences inevitably come, I’d love to point the finger away from me and escape them. That would of course rid me of the times when I choose the right, and I receive the blessings that follow. There are few feelings, in my opinion, that near the joy that I feel when I make that hard choice to follow the road less traveled and eventually reach a sushi bar {happy place}