I am a meteorologist and a former youth leader at church…I have a lot to say on both subjects…and then some
Well, it’s the day after the elections and W has won again. With all of the earlier back and forth by the candidates and what seemed to be the most partisan campaign in my short memory (I just realized that I am now about 2/3 my parent’s age), what do we do that makes it seem to make our version of democracy work? Watching John Kerry’s concession speech this afternoon, a co-worker remarked, “That’s what leaves other countries scratching their heads. After all of the shouting, we come back together as Americans and pick up where we left off. In other countries they might try to kill the opposition. Here we try to embrace them.” I think that I would go much further as to say why. We have done all this as Americans, because of the Christian virtue of forgive and forget still runs deep in the country.
Although, I wonder if we are beginning to see that platitude of forgive and forget beginning to show stress. The reason I say this, is because of the last 4 years. In Texas, then Gov. Bush was known as one who could easily unite the two sides and get things done. After the 2000 election, instead of letting it go, it seemed that there was a marked number of people that thought that Bush had somehow rigged election or gotten in without earning it and that he was somehow an illegitimate victor. I can understand how easy this can be to not put aside our feelings, but in politics, it seems to be a necessary thing to do.
Now follow my logic on this, as the country is now in its post-modern phase, we are beginning to see some things that, at least in my mind, are things that fly in the face of that virtue. As it seems that more people don’t tolerate other’s differences and fewer forgive and forget. I think that some ways, this seems to be the reason that the country seemed to be as polarized as it is and to some why it looks like we are fragmenting. George Will on the ABC News coverage made an interesting observation. We are becoming more like Europe in that we are becoming more hard core partisan.
My prayer is that what John Kerry said in his concession speech about waking up as Americans the next day and healing the wounds from the race takes hold. Because I would like to think that my friend at work was right. But not that we should leave the world scratching their heads, but be the example of cooperation after great division.
This will probably be a bit on the rambling side, but I’m in a mood to write something…
Funny how you think of things that you want to say, but when you get the chance they slip away. Case in point, this blog. I’ll see something interesting or have some revelation while driving (this is pretty typical with the distances that I drive) and think, I have to write about this. Of course, by the time I get home, I forget to post it probably because I am putting away groceries or I just plain forget about it after bring my stuff in from the truck. So what am I posting this morning? The fact that I can’t remember. Some things that I really think are important, I’ll record as a voice memo in my PDA (or my electronic brain as I like to call it). That works well.
Yesterday, the vague subjects that I was thinking about posting were another musical commentary, but the song and artist I was listening to at the time escapes me, Something I read on another blog about college students, and something to do with fear and stretching out of your comfort zone.
Today is the day to vote (I think that might have been something on a post that I forgot). I was reading something from somebody that they weren’t going to vote because of how the system is a complete farce. There is some truth to what they said(I won’t go into the details, just trust me on this by following the rest of this, besides I am trying to remember what I read, since I don’t remember where I read it). There is an impression that the system doesn’t work and that it is driven by the extremely rich. That’s is true to a certain extent, but not completely. If I remember right the post by this person was pretty cynical (I just remembered my musical commentary. Artist: Five Iron Frenzy. Song: That’s How the Story Ends.). It was probably from one of our former youth group members that is in college, that’s not a surprising thing. It’s easy to get cynical in the first few years outside of the cocoon of the parents. I did. It took a while come out of. Here’s the excerpt from the song that I wanted to post on.
How distinctly I remember,
It was in a bleak December,
and each dying ember,
wrought it’s ghost about the floor.I heard a voice that chilled my spine,
I saw what I could not define,
a sight I never could contrive,
there stood Brad at last, alive.“Where have you been these endless years?”
I asked him, sobbing through my tears,
“I did not die by plague or prison,
what really died is cynicism.”
In a discussion that I had with someone about 10 years ago(I remember it because of the place in which the conversation took place), they thought that the US would have collapsed after 10 years(and here we are 10 years later). I thought that if the US were to collapse it would be in 50 years. As I remember the discussion the difference between us was that I had more hope and less cynicism than the other. Over the years, I see now that my cynicism was dying and is now long since dead and that hope and faith in God to guide not only me, but the nation as a whole has increased to where I don’t think this nation will collapse. I have no illusions about the political system in America, but for the most part it does work, good things get done (bad things do to, but in time most of those have gotten righted). Being selfish human beings, we corrupt a system that should work well, but we have gotten away from the way it was intended to be, all in the name of progress. So for me I will vote and pray that God’s will be done in the election. Whoever we get, I have faith that the right things will result in time. Patience and Longsuffering (parts of the fruits of the Spirit) are key in life.
Wow, I got somewhere, and posted one thing on here when I thought I had forgotten it.
