Serenity and peace. No anxiety before I went to sleep last night for the first time in four years. No fears of what would be tweeted out during the night or what further evil words would come from the mouth of the man who was supposed to be America’s uniter, but instead worked his best to be our divider. Perhaps once again there would be light in our world. In my religion we are told to be a light among the nations. But for some time, people of all faiths were forgetting to be that light.
Serenity and peace. After a January 6 like no other in my lifetime. I have seen much pain as I have matured. The horror of September 11; the fear of polio when I was a child; the destruction of the Challenger in 1986 and later the Columbia in 2003; the assassination of presidents and leaders, riots and protests against the Vietnam War and the killings of innocents.
I have watched the USA reach for the stars and land on the moon and watched disaster in the skies. I have watched for years as the World Trade Towers be built as a child living on the New Jersey Palisades and watched them destroyed within hours. I have joined the lines of children who received their sugar squares soaked in vaccine to keep us safe from the Polio pandemic, and now I await my own vaccine. My husband, a hospital-based physician is getting his second vaccine today. I have mourned the deaths of those who died too young.
But I never, in my life, expected to see our country ravaged by its own people, chanting, “Hang Mike Pence,” our vice president, all the in the name of making our country great again. The desecration of our Capitol was horrifying. Even more so with a president and his son and lawyer urging the crowds on to do violence.
What happened to my America — The land of the free, the land of the brave, the land of immigrants? The country that opens its doors to the opposed, Instead became the oppressors to waves of immigrants, separating children from their families. Bringing images of my own family and its horror in the Shoah!
As a parent and teacher, one action caused me to fail a student and punished my child. LYING. To my children I said, Tell me the truth. If you lie, the punishment increases. I will not have lying. To my students, I wanted truth. Do not cheat on a test. Do not copy someone else’s work. If you are having an issue, let me know in advance. But if you lie, you will fail that assignment.
Lying is what I hate the most. So the lies, the big lies that came from powerful people trying to destroy our country, trying to destroy our election, disgusts me. I have so much respect for those who finally stood and said NO to the liar in chief. How can we teach our children not to lie, if the president and those in power lie?
With all that in my mind, I was a bit fearful for the inauguration. Would the domestic terrorists strike again? What other evil deeds could the prior president do? Would the new administration say the right words in our time of need?
Thank you God for answering and for giving words to the President, to the Vice President, to the young poet laureate, who graced the stage with her poem. There was joy in ceremony. There was unity. There was a plea for peace for coming together, for being one country again.
I watched a press conference where there were no demeaning words and lies told to the public. This was important to me as both a journalist and someone who hates lies. It was almost relaxing to watch!
Last night I went to sleep without dread and this morning I woke up to a new USA. To a return to sanity. As Amanda Gorman said so wonderfully, “There is always light. If we’re brave enough to see it. IF only we’re brave enough to be it.”
zicharonot 
Amen.