Bittersweet

It wasn't until I was in the middle of taking some pictures of the bittersweet vine outside of our back yard this morning that I saw the metaphor of the vine to today, election day in the US.

I'm so very grateful for our freedoms I can't put words to it.  So overwhelmingly grateful to be able to vote, to speak  and to live my beliefs.

And, today, there isn't a choice that brings any joy or hope. Bittersweet.

  So, I choose to put my hope in Christ.

As I was thinking about it all again this morning and trying to not despair.  Christ tells me not to despair.  I saw an irony I had not seen before.  The Democratic candidate believes she empowers women with the right to abortion.  But, the truth is, she enslaves them.  Legal abortion (and rampant use of contraceptives) enslaves women to the likes of the men who are like the Republican candidate.  Think about it. 

At the beginning of the Catholic Mass, there is a confession of sins.  A public confession that is meant to tie us all together.  We all come together before our Lord acknowledging we are sinners, but relying on His Mercy.  Together.  This bittersweet jumbled vine makes me think of that.  All of us with this opinion or that opinion.  For the most part, we are all sure hoping for good though.

So, for anyone who wants to stand with me today, jumbled but knowing the sinfulness we live in and are part of....

taken from the Mass:

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.