One Nation Under Love

As we wait for the election returns to finalize, I began thinking about my ancestors -- my family goes back to colonial days on both of my parents' sides.   My mother's family was primarily of the south, starting in Virginia and working their way west through Kentucky and eventually Missouri.   I've heard stories about the bushwackers that came through Missouri during the Civil War and killed my great-great grandmother's brother and father.   Some of my mother's family definitely has red state sensibilities -- but not all of them. 

One line of my dad's family started in Massachusetts and then eventually ended up in Colorado.   My dad's grandfather actually fought for North during the Civil War.   He eventually became one of the founders of the Union Colony in Greeley -- much of old Greeley was built by him.   Another line of Dad's family started in Virginia and worked their way across North Carolina to Indiana.  Dad's grandmother somehow went from Indiana to Colorado -- alone -- and became my great-grandfather's third wife.   I wish I knew more.   But their daughter, my grandmother, never spoke of her parents or childhood, so I don't much other than she grew up in Greeley and homesteaded in Montana where she met and married my grandfather.  

After some googling, I believe I was able to pinpoint where in North Carolina my great-great grandfather lived - I believe near High Point.   He was a Quaker.   I am wondering if he was an abolitionist in North Carolina and moved to Indiana before the Civil War... more research is required. 

How strange one parent's roots are the North -- the other from the South.   And yet these families were able to wed and pull together to build family and community within our nation.   Through the years, my family members have survived a revolution, a civil war, Indian attacks, the two world wars, a catastrophic pandemic, a Great Depression -- all this before I was even born.  

And yet somehow my parents met, fell in love and blended two diverse lives and created new beginnings.  I believe in an America that operates on love.  

Out of curiosity, I began reading about the Quaker community.  Fascinating history.   It's amazing how by deep diving in Google,  you learn so much.   In the process, I came across this poem that was written a few days ago.   It is helping me to remain fearless and hopeful in these times of despair.  

A poem by Ken Jacobsen, a Quaker who lives in Wisconsin:

One Nation Under Love

it is good to remember
in this time of political stress,
we are all already citizens
of the country of Love,
in the democracy of Love,
one nation under Love,
the Love that was from the beginning;
and whoever we may choose in our elections,
Love has already chosen us,
to heal us, to make us a more perfect union,
to make us whole in our hearts,
and in our land.