I did not vote for Donald Trump. I believe that a significant majority of Americans who did vote for him did not vote for the man but instead voted in the hopes that positive changes would be made regardless of Trump's flaws.

I have too much respect for half of my family and friends who voted for Trump to think they were 100% wrong to believe such a vote will bring positive changes to our country.

I know the love these family and friends carry in their hearts and the loving acts of kindness they perform in so many ways. They are convinced that a Trump administration will achieve things that will make the USA a better place for all, and I will have faith that they are right.

The other half of my family and friends, like me, remain concerned, perhaps gravely concerned, largely due to the person and personality of the man who is our president.

My request is that each of us offer our best to help the Trump administration succeed. It is time to stop the “winner takes all”, “it’s us or them” mentality and replace it with “I truly want what is in the best interest of all.”

So, what is that?

My thoughts. So many claim we are a Christian country. Jesus Christ lived so we could see what a life filled with love was all about. The miracles he performed, performed out of love. The sermons he preached, imbued with love. The Sermon on the Mount, his pre-eminent lesson to us all, effusive with love of neighbor. So why don’t our politicians ever speak and act, like Jesus did, in the terms of love?

Review the campaigns, campaign speeches and rhetoric from the last election cycle. You will be hard pressed to find that word, that feeling, that was the pre-eminent message from Jesus, “love one another as I have loved you.”

I have a problem with this.

None of our politicians, Christian, Muslim, Jew or otherwise, has demonstrated a desire to lead all of us from a position of love. None of them have the courage to change things from the current hate-filled “us versus them” to a place where we are all asked to love one another, care for each other (particularly those who cannot care for themselves), and to “do unto others as we want done unto us.”

Of course, actions matter most. My hope, my prayer, is that our politicians, and government, business, education and union leaders, everyone in leadership positions, proclaim their desire to lead from a position of love. To lead an effort to make love the foundation of all that they do, so we have that example to follow.

I know the half of my family and friends who voted for Trump have the same love in their hearts as the other half who did not. Time to end the unnecessary divide. Love is the answer. Let the love shine.

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