Warning: This post includes two topics we are never supposed to talk about in polite company - politics and religion.
Well, the hour has finally arrived for all of our friends and family in the States: The Superbowl of political activity - the presidential election. Having lived away from the United States for so many years, I sometimes feel like I have lost all right to comment on its internal politics. Still, I continue to watch the entire process with great interest.
I think I always had a political bent to my personality. Is it possible that type of thing is included in our DNA spiral?
As a boy I remember that Vice President Nixon looked "scary" in that
first debate. Apparently, his mother was in agreement. She phoned him
afterward to ask him if he was sick. Most experts think Nixon won the
second and third debates, and the fourth one (probably the best
performance by both men) was a tie. Still, if you look up the
Kennedy-Nixon debates on YouTube all you get is that
"sweaty-lip-heavy-beard" one. I guess first impressions really do stick.
I have always thought that concession speeches said a great deal more about candidates than the more victorious variety. I confess I shed some tears listening to Hubert Humphrey's concession speech in 1968. No one thinks about Humphrey much today, but he demonstrated character when he conceded to Mr. Nixon. Later on, when he was dying of bladder cancer, he spent his last weeks in the hospital going from room to room, cheering up other patients by telling them jokes and listening to them. He also called former President Richard Nixon to make sure he knew he was invited to Humphrey's funeral. Now THAT would have been an interesting phone call.
In 1976 no one filed for a rather obscure position in Gregg County, Texas, where Su and I were living at the time. As such, a space was left on the ballot for people to write in their choice. At the end of the day, without having campaigned a minute, I think I came in fourth! Apparently, a lot of my college-aged friends thought it would be humorous to write my name in when they voted.
When we lived in Bolivia we were obligated to vote in national elections. It was considered a "responsibility" and not a "right" by Bolivian law. If you didn't vote you could not cash a check, buy gasoline or sign a legal contract for sixty days after the election. Su voted blank. I always tried to figure out the "best of the worst" - a real challenge at that point in Bolivian politics.
Thinking of which, the best bumper-sticker I ever remember seeing was from the 1992 governor's campaign in Louisiana. This was the rather infamous race between David Duke and Edwin Edwards. The bumper-sticker read: "Vote for the crook. It's important." Talk about a campaign slogan!
Whoever wins on Tuesday - or whenever the election is called - I hope that all of us (including those who do not live in the States) can remember a few important things:
We should remember the real power in this world - the power to save, the power to transform lives, the power to create change which matters - is in the hands of our God.
We should remember that real freedom has a price. It's free to us, but it had a high price to God. In fact, the cost of freedom was Jesus Christ - the Creator of all the universe - hanging on a cross in a dusty, Roman, back-water province.
We should remember that as followers of Jesus we cannot conform to the patterns of this world. Instead, we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).
We should remember that we live as we are meant to live when our passions reflect the passions of Jesus. No matter who wins on Tuesday, we need to wake up on Wednesday and go about the serious business of reflecting His character and His priorities in our lives and in our communities.
Well, the hour has finally arrived for all of our friends and family in the States: The Superbowl of political activity - the presidential election. Having lived away from the United States for so many years, I sometimes feel like I have lost all right to comment on its internal politics. Still, I continue to watch the entire process with great interest.
I think I always had a political bent to my personality. Is it possible that type of thing is included in our DNA spiral?
As a boy I remember that Vice President Nixon looked "scary" in that
first debate. Apparently, his mother was in agreement. She phoned him
afterward to ask him if he was sick. Most experts think Nixon won the
second and third debates, and the fourth one (probably the best
performance by both men) was a tie. Still, if you look up the
Kennedy-Nixon debates on YouTube all you get is that
"sweaty-lip-heavy-beard" one. I guess first impressions really do stick.I have always thought that concession speeches said a great deal more about candidates than the more victorious variety. I confess I shed some tears listening to Hubert Humphrey's concession speech in 1968. No one thinks about Humphrey much today, but he demonstrated character when he conceded to Mr. Nixon. Later on, when he was dying of bladder cancer, he spent his last weeks in the hospital going from room to room, cheering up other patients by telling them jokes and listening to them. He also called former President Richard Nixon to make sure he knew he was invited to Humphrey's funeral. Now THAT would have been an interesting phone call.
In 1976 no one filed for a rather obscure position in Gregg County, Texas, where Su and I were living at the time. As such, a space was left on the ballot for people to write in their choice. At the end of the day, without having campaigned a minute, I think I came in fourth! Apparently, a lot of my college-aged friends thought it would be humorous to write my name in when they voted.
When we lived in Bolivia we were obligated to vote in national elections. It was considered a "responsibility" and not a "right" by Bolivian law. If you didn't vote you could not cash a check, buy gasoline or sign a legal contract for sixty days after the election. Su voted blank. I always tried to figure out the "best of the worst" - a real challenge at that point in Bolivian politics.
Thinking of which, the best bumper-sticker I ever remember seeing was from the 1992 governor's campaign in Louisiana. This was the rather infamous race between David Duke and Edwin Edwards. The bumper-sticker read: "Vote for the crook. It's important." Talk about a campaign slogan!
Whoever wins on Tuesday - or whenever the election is called - I hope that all of us (including those who do not live in the States) can remember a few important things:
We should remember the real power in this world - the power to save, the power to transform lives, the power to create change which matters - is in the hands of our God.
We should remember that real freedom has a price. It's free to us, but it had a high price to God. In fact, the cost of freedom was Jesus Christ - the Creator of all the universe - hanging on a cross in a dusty, Roman, back-water province.
We should remember that as followers of Jesus we cannot conform to the patterns of this world. Instead, we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).
We should remember that we live as we are meant to live when our passions reflect the passions of Jesus. No matter who wins on Tuesday, we need to wake up on Wednesday and go about the serious business of reflecting His character and His priorities in our lives and in our communities.
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