A Week From Election: 2022

 

Tonight, marks one week from the General Election, 2022. I've done a fair job of trying to stay away from political ads on TV{ We don't watch much} and even watching debates of races that I vote in-- I need to maintain my sanity. 

In Florida, I am worried about my future and the future of people I love. 

With Roe V Wade overturned, several mothers of daughters I know are having touch talks with their young women at ages when I-- and my age peers-- were still building forts in the backyard. Thank God I grew up in the 1980s-- life was far from perfect then, but at least my parents didn't need to worry about their fifth grader falling pregnant by an assault and forced to carry to term. This is the reality that parents and other caregivers of preteen girls face with the erasure of Roe in a state whose lawmakers pander to a certain ideology that strips half of the population of body autonomy. 

I am past child-bearing age, but I care about the health and welfare of those who are{ or who soon will be} of childbearing age. 

Florida's lawmakers are chipping away at the civil rights of the state's non-straight citizens-- and reserving special venomous for transgender people. Recently the medical board of this " great state" chose to deny lifesaving medical care to transgender children. Again, this was made due to some lobbying by people with misinformed and hate filled opinions on gender. 

I vote.  I have volunteered on a campaign. I text banked. { and got some ugly replied from Floridians} I show up for legal demonstrations. I show up on campus wearing a purple " Free Mom Hugs" in support of young LGBTQ+ persons. 

Insurance rates for homeowners will rise-- and companies will drop whom they choose. 

Why? The simple fact is that Big Corporations have more rights than living, breathing people. 

What I've earned for all my efforts is some people who should love me unconditionally choose not to talk to me. 

I voted, knowing damn well that Florida will do what Florida does best lately-- pander to the hatred that rose to the surface in recent years. 

I'm tired. I'm PISSED-OFF!  Yet I am never ashamed to be on the correct side-- the JUST side-- of history. 

As a child and young voter, I took pride in Election Day. Sadly, voting seems like a chore now-- a chore that will not bring light to many law-abiding, tax-paying Americans. I'm fortunate in that I carry a lot of privilege, and that is why I want others to have the necessities available to me. 

Namaste...

Sarah Beth

Called By Name: Sarah Beth.

 "But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. ."

 ~ Isaiah 43 1-28

No one listens to prophets, but that is a whole other discussion for a later time. 

A sermon I heard lately a sermon on names, and the importance of names, has me thinking a lot about my own identity.  

My legal name {and the one my parents bestowed upon me at birth} is Sarah Elizabeth McCarren. Mom says that she chose this name in part for the way the sounds blend together. I chose to keep this name when I married, as it has always been my legal name and I like the way it reflects both my parents' heritage. 

Sarah {called Sarai first in the Hebrew scriptures} was to be the matriarch of God's People. Elizabeth, a cousin of The Blessed Virgin, be game pregnant with John the Baptizer at a later age.  

Both of these names are prominent in Scripture, and both reflect the strength of women whom God calls to do things that seem impossible. 

I like my name a lot, so I kept it. Legally, I've never been called by any other name but that by which I was given at birth and affirmed at baptism. 

Most people call me Sarah. I've never had a nickname, as no one called me " Sally" or {shudder "Sadie" . I was always just Sarah-- with an H. It still irks me when people I know misspell my name. For instance, a person I've known and loved for over four decades still writes " to Brian and SARA" on our yearly Christmas card. 

Please, my name is Sarah, not Sara.  It is an ancient name in the spelling I use: Sarah. Thank you. 

When Brian and I got together, he started calling me Sarah Beth. Not having grown up in the South, the concept of double naming was foreign to me. Other people in our circle started calling me Sarah Beth, and gladly accepted this newish name. 

When we moved to Pensacola and transferred our parish affiliation to St Christopher's, I thought long about what version of my name I wanted people to call me. 

At this stage of life, I am Sarah Beth. Of course, I answer to Sarah, but I want my name tag to reflect who God is calling me to be now.  When the bishop came a few years ago and I re-affirmed my faith, the name I asked him to use was Sarah Beth. 

God sees us and knows us by name. Some people change their names when they marry. Others change their name as part of becoming their true gender. 

Nonetheless, God knows us and calls us as God's own. Making an effort to get a person's name correct { including  correct SPELLING } says that you see that person as a beloved member of the human family. 

Amen

Sarah Beth McCarren

10/10/22