On this “Day After”, I’ve been sitting and watching my Facebook newsfeed and thought I’d enjoy posting some snarky videos or meme’s about the results of last night’s election but I can’t help think about the people in our country who lost; the ones who felt Hillary Clinton was going to take the election with ease.
Just over 150 years ago our nation was divided and because of that division we sacrificed over 600,000 of our citizens due to deeply held beliefs over many issues. Today, just like during the time of our Civil War, Americans are divided about beliefs they hold dear. That division runs deep just as it did all those years ago. It runs deeper than party lines, it runs deeper than state borders. This division divides our families – mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers, aunts and uncles all stand on different sides of these issues. Now is not the time for one side to gloat and chase the other side to cower and fester in a corner. Instead it’s time for the winners to be gracious and extend their hands to those shedding tears and feeling the pangs of their great loss.
In the wee, early hours of this new day, President-Elect Donald Trump stated “now it’s time to bind the wounds of our division”. He is absolutely right! It’s time to put aside the hurt and anger and to come together as one united group of people that want nothing but the best for our nation. Secretary Clinton in her concession speech admonished her supporters to “remember that this election was never about one person or even about one election – it was about the country we love”. Both Secretary Clinton and President Obama made a statement to the American people that Donald Trump is going to be the next president of the United States and there will be a peaceful transition of power.
These are people who’ve spent so much time, money and effort fighting for something they believed in who are now setting aside their differences. They are at the very least putting on a public face of acceptance and making way for a peaceful transition. I strongly believe it is time for us to set aside ours as well. It’s time for us to heal the divides in our families and in our own friendships. We need to set aside our petty gloating for the greater cause of supporting our nation.
It’s time for us to become not only one nation united; but also families and friends united.