About two months ago in our small group, the topic of politics came up. One of the people from our small group, without hesitation, said, "Well, this is MY president". This really caught me off guard. Really? He believes in everything you stand for? You believe in everything he stands for? What at the moment, does he stand for? (that is another topic for another day) And what is it about this person as a leader that makes you call him YOUR president?

It is really no surprise to anyone who knows me or reads this blog that I am not into politics. I really am not. And I certainly can't point to any one person being MY president. Or MY congressman, or MY anything when it comes to politics. I just don't believe in what they stand for strongly enough to believe that they are really representing me.

We have been keeping an eye on the Iran election and the aftermath of the results. Those people, thousands of them, are out in the streets, risking being hurt, or even worse, shot, for freedom. For something they believe in with their whole heart. How lucky we are to be Americans. As much as I disagree with some forms of government and as much as I believe there are some crooked things going on in the US, I also know that there is justice. There is no justice currently in Iran. There is no sense of right or wrong, at least not a common one. How terrible that is!
And those people in their green masks, throwing rocks and shouting, they believe in freedom. They demand freedom, and they believe that the leader who didn't win was THEIR president.

My friend HH sent me a letter recently from a member of his church. That church member is a very well respected Sunday School teacher and leader of the church. He isn't someone I know well, but I know him. He wrote a very beautifully stated letter to his church, standing up for the rights of Gay people. He took a stand. One that may or may not create problems within the church. One that may or may not cause him to lose friends. He stood in his street and yelled for rights for his daughter and all other Gay people who have been turned away from church because church members just don't "agree with their lifestyle".
He took a stand.

This has really gotten me to thinking lately about my slacktitude. Would I, if given the opportunity, take a stand on this or other issues? Is there an issue that leads me to the point of standing in my street and yelling to the rooftops? Is there something that I believe so strongly in that I would risk my friendships with people I work with? People I go to church with? People I live with? People I call close friends?
I am not sure, but I think I need to start thinking more about it.

Iranians believe that each one of them can make a difference. R, the man who wrote the letter to his church believed he could make a difference. Isn't it about time we all believed we could make a difference? And then stood up and shouted for what we believed in?