There was an election in my town yesterday and no one I voted for won. It seems to me that this should be a reason for some serious reflection on my part. What is the meaning of it all? I have some thoughts, confusing and contradictory and thus worthing of sharing.
I am out of touch. As I live out my 70th year, I have no illusions that I am “hip” or “with it.” Maybe it’s just that I am too old for the community in which I live. Maybe my values are no longer the values of the society in which I reside. I think perhaps I am being too dramatic here. I wasn’t exactly in love with the ones I voted for. I didn’t wear t-shirts with their names on them or mess up my bumper with stickers. Truth be told, I just thought the ones I voted for weren’t quite as much “tools of Satan” as the other guys…the ones who won.
A Sign of the End Times. That brings me to the next possibility that this election is just another sign that Jesus is coming soon. I admit to taking some comfort in this, but note that none of the winning candidates had 666 as their number nor can I take the letters of their names, add them up and come up with 666. I still take comfort in thinking yesterday’s election results bring the return of Jesus closer. Nothing wrong with that.
More time for lawyer commercials. I won’t miss all the political ads. I can’t wait to once again see lawyers standing on 18 wheelers. Telling us how they are the best and that they will make us rich no matter how awful our case is. On further reflection, maybe the political ads weren’t so bad. I guess those lawyer ads didn’t disappear for the last few weeks, they just didn’t seem quite as awful when compared with the political ones.
Maybe we take politics too seriously. An awful lot of money has been spent in recent weeks on candidates. Many promises were made. Do I really believe that the guys who won will make things, in any measurable way, better? Being 70 not only makes one “out of touch” but a bit skeptical.
Maybe we don’t take politics seriously enough. Are the candidates that won and those that lost, the best our society could produce to fill the empty leadership positions? Has the expense of running and the fear of mudslinging keep all the really good ones away? Do we raise our kids with the hope that one day they will be politicians? Maybe we don’t take politics seriously enough.
Maybe we don’t take Jesus seriously enough. One thing I’ve learned in the past few weeks, we will spend a ton of our time and resources supporting and opposing those who really aren’t going to save us. We will burn tons of energy on winning teams and a few hours of sports violence. We have plenty of energy and passion and time to devote to things that are of no eternal significance Maybe we take politics and sports too seriously and don’t take Jesus seriously enough.
But what do I know? I’m a seventy-year-old whose probably just out of touch and just crazy enough to be grateful to be closer to being with Him. No one I voted for won. The one I’m counting on always does.
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