Today, I woke up in a bit of a haze. Like many people around the country, I am heart broken for all the groups who have felt hated and disenfranchised during the course of this election season. I have to – though reluctantly – acknowledge that this includes people who voted for our new President, because they too must have felt overlooked and forgotten by the Washington elite. I assume that many of them acted out of fear of what they perceived to be a status quo that they are unsatisfied with, be it economic prospects, perceived infringement of their religious beliefs, or something else.

On the other side, I have read the tweets and posts, and talked to friends who are crying actual tears of fear for what could be a dangerous future for many of us.

There’s the very real prospect of hate crimes, renewed passion for segregation, and a lowering of the glass ceiling for women even further.

There is a good chance that laws that protect the equal treatment of everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, could be overturned, and others that promote the opposite will be passed for the first time.

There could be families ripped apart by deportation and refugees who never get the chance to gain asylum because of their country of origin or religion.

There are very real, very scary threats to life as we know it because of the message that has been sent out by half of our citizens.

Here’s the thing – we can’t let fear win. We are better, stronger, and smarter than that. We, as individuals, as citizens, as humans, won’t let our country recede to a time when we were more against people than for them. When our “sweet land of liberty” was only sweet for the rich, and powerful, and white, and male. When we were more concerned with the preservation of individual selves than the integrity of entire groups of people.

I am an immigrant and a minority and a woman, and I will not let fear rule me.

I won’t be dragged down by the discourse and actions of anyone who promotes hate, and especially in the name of a Jesus I neither recognize or believe in. Hear me clearly – THAT Jesus isn’t the one found in the New Testament. The REAL JESUS is the one who stood up for the poor, marginalized, weak, outcast, and foreigner. The real Jesus said, “Love your enemies, and do good to them.” The Christ on the cross sacrificed himself so that we could live abundant lives here and now, empowered us to love others as ourselves. I will run towards hope and light and love and grace – all elements of the type of society, aka the kingdom, that Jesus came to usher in.

And while I believe with my entire being that Jesus is on the throne, and ultimately His plan for humanity will prevail, I can’t ignore the fact that we are his agents of reconciliation here and now.

I don’t know what the next few months, and certainly the next four years will look like, but I know that I am ready to lovingly disagree, nonviolently resist, and passionately stand up for anyone who has their voice or rights stolen. I believe that we can do this. We can be united. We can influence and affect and change our communities, one person at a time, through conversation and collaboration.

Hope always trumps fear. Love never fails. Every morning has a new dawn. Let it start with each of us today in how we move forward in our new reality.