Well, the day has finally arrived. I didn’t think that it would ever get here. It seemed like a thousand years ago that we began this horrible process, but the day has finally arrived. Tonight it will all be over and the endless political ads will no longer fill the airwaves and the robo-calls will cease. And, there will be winners and there will be losers … and it will be morning and it will be evening another day.
Living as long as I have, I have witnessed a great number of election cycles. Thinking back over the years I cannot remember any other election that turned so ugly and mean spirited so fast than this one. In my humble opinion they are all losers. Somewhere along the journey to obtain the ultimate prize they lost their integrity and compromised their ethical standards. A moral compass was definitely needed to navigate through the minefield of temptation to say anything, to do anything, to twist a truth here and a half-truth there all in order to depict the opponent in the worst light possible. It is evident that no candidate for political office found nor used their moral compass ... but it will be morning and evening another day.
A fortune has been spent, which is amazing in and of itself given the present economic condition of today plus, the number of multi-millionaires who have spent freely their own monies in the hopes of being elected. All of this spending does remind me of a homeless person who, upon receiving a handout of $5.00 for a hot meal, decides instead to use it to purchase a lottery ticket in hopes of winning. The odds are just stacked against you … and them, the hopeful political candidates ... but it will be morning and evening another day.
And so, as the sun sets upon another election day there will be winners and losers. I just pray that the people, you and me, turn out to be the ultimate winners, but I fear that probably will not be the case. The scripture that I struggle with during these days is Hebrews 13:17. Now, I am aware that it speaks to spiritual leaders such as pastors and not political leadership, but what if it was to include them as well. In the NIV it reads: “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.” I’ve never liked the entire concept of submitting to others – as many can bear testimony to, but there it is … “submit to their authority.” What if the elected officials saw their elections as a mandate from God to lead? What if they understood that it wasn’t the people who placed them into office, but God? What if they were open to the possibility of fulfilling the purpose of the Kingdom of God rather than their own or political parties agenda? If that ever became a reality then truly it would be a glorious dawning of new day. We can hope … can’t we?
But alas, that is not the world in which we live nor is it a world in which those running for political office desire to live. When I went to take advantage of “early voting” I had some definite choices that I knew that I was going to make, but then there were others that I simply felt like The Born Loser as he peeks out from the voting booth and asks, “Does anyone have a coin?” All we can do at this point is hope and pray that as this evening comes to a close and the reports begin to come in, the winners will be individuals willing to submit themselves to the authority that is over all of us … and morning and evening will come another day.
Quote for today: These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. - Thomas Paine
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