Holding Our Breath
If you’re like us, you basically held your breath from Nov 4th to Jan 6th: Reading and watching every election hearing carefully – some, several times; studying testimonies, subpoenas and graphs – quickly learning that forensic digital evidence of election fraud looks like gobblety-gook to your average Joe; learning how election laws were changed so recently in several battleground states for, supposedly, covid – and how it was almost always handled the wrong way, illegitimately, unlawfully, unconstitutionally – but somehow was not being recognized as such by those in power; hoping and praying for the truth to be shouted from the mountaintops so that every American would know the blatant in-your-face-facts of what we know – that the election was stolen; learning how to read court documents and how our judicial process is supposed to work, but somehow did not – every time; holding your breath, even deeper, for good news from every court hearing that should’ve been a win – but there was no court who would even hear it – not even the highest court of the land; writing letters to every official imaginable, from state and federal government – appealing to them – for them to read and hear the truth; making phone-calls, signing petitions alongside our brethren to the same officials for the same reasons. Then you learned about the process of how the electoral votes would be counted by Congress – and how those votes could, and should, be challenged by representatives from the House and the Senate. Finally, you thought, this must be where the truth will echo for all ears to hear – in the halls of Congress!
The first conscientious exhale of breath was watching the enormously stupendous crowd form for the Stop The Steal Rally on Jan 6th; you recognized, even though they were the faces of people you’ve never met, that this is your family – this is your kin. FELLOW AMERICANS UNITING – MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS. Representing those of us who could not go – because of expenses; because of home responsibilities; because of time. Yet, there they were – this beautiful, magnificent, radiant American family gathering together with their flags and their MAGA hats – joining together so peacefully, so friendly, so happy – ‘the shining city on the hill’ made real, in the flesh – making you so proud to be one of them! Making you so proud that they made it there to represent the rest of us.
And then within just a few hours, we were holding our breath again as we watched, in horror, the final moments of Ashli Babbitt’s life.
And now, there is what could only be called ‘the race to totalitarianism’ swiftly appearing before our very eyes.
What To Do Now
Breathe. What each of us does next can become a pivotal moment in small ways and big ways. Breathe. Don’t let anyone pressure you into voicing an opinion, a statement, or a decision right now – no matter who they are. Breathe. You have earned at least that – time to breathe – and time to digest what has happened and where we are now. Times such as this we look for things that are concrete and with certainty – to ground ourselves and find comfort. One thing that is for certain – we are all still together, us Real Americans – thinking, processing and, yes, fearing the same things. While the page is completely different now, each of us finds ourselves on the same page as roughly 74 million other Americans – (quite a miracle when you really stop and think about it). That’s because we are, truly, patriots. And that’s why there is not a single one of us alone. Kinda like those corny songs about “one heart” – in this case that is absolutely right – not corny at all, quite the contrary, immensely comforting – to know that we are all still together, and bonded even more strongly than we were on Jan 5th. Us Americans. The Real Americans. Yeah – That’s us for sure.
Ashli Babbitt was a Real American – a Real Patriot – and she deserves our prayers. She deserves our reflection on who she was and how she came to be at the Rally on Jan 6th. She deserves our reflection on WHY she died. We all know by now that she was “a 14-year veteran, who served four tours with the US Air Force, and was a high level security official throughout her time in service”. It’s necessary to seriously contemplate on why she felt so compelled to storm the Unites States Capitol. When she lost her life at the hands of a Capitol Policeman. As a veteran, we know that Ashli had sworn an Oath. Did Ashli weigh that Oath against her actions on Jan 6th – before she entered the Capitol? We are thinking, Yes, Yes she did. That is a tremendous thing to reflect on.
Pray. Pray for Ashli. Pray for Ashli’s family. Such a beautiful and vivacious woman she appeared to be. And she must have had great courage to have served four tours, and great intelligence to have been a high level security official. We can only imagine what a loss her family is experiencing right now, and will experience for many years to come. Pray for them – they really need our prayers.
There is a well-known quote, within a lesser known passage, by Thomas Jefferson that can be found at Monticello.org: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Dare we contemplate that this might be the case of what happened to our fallen sister? Pray. Pray for Ashli. Pray for Ashli’s family. Pray for clarity of what has happened. Pray for strength and courage. Pray for vision and renewal. Pray for our Real American Family – their safety and guidance. Pray for our Real American Leaders – that they will hear the direct voice of God’s instruction for this time in our American History. Pray for our leaders protection and good health.
We Are Waiting For Our Leaders and We Know Who They are Not
Just as we each are trying to digest what has transpired since November 3rd, and trying to discern what to do next – so too are our leaders. Whether we speak of President Trump, any of his counsel, or any of the conservative leaders whose words, and wisdom, we have been seeking for at least the last two months – you must know that they are drawing up a new plan. That is what we are waiting for. And so while we wait – we must breathe, and we must pray. We must not make rash decisions right now. We must rest and refresh ourselves because apparently, what we have all just been through was just a battle, and not the war.
