So today is a big deal, I get it, we all get it. However today saddens me, from what I see online & talking to people it saddens almost everyone. Yes voting is important, however how we live our lives is significantly more important.
Somehow we as a society have arrived at a place where we are making a choice between two democratically (ish) nominated candidates that the vast majority seem to not want to have to choose between.
Is the answer to this problem to become more involved in the political world? To get in on the primaries & whatever comes before them?
No, that is not the answer. I don’t want to trivialize the political process (although it would be say for me to do so), the answer to our problems lies not in candidates or parties, policies or social media etiquette. The answer to our problem comes from changing the current state of society that we have all in one form or another played a role in creating.
In the information age we have some how moved past satirical humor to outright abuse. We have arrived at a place where we trivialize the denigration of ideas, of individuals. No longer it seems are we capable of compromise, openness and acting with respect towards dissenting ideas.
If someone has a different opinion to you or different values, that should be ok, that should be celebrated. There is obviously basic human decency and laws that need to be respected, but if the values of another are not that say for example, selling kids into slavery is ok, if they just hold a different view on taxation or healthcare or background checks for weapon ownership.
It is ok to discuss civilly & at the end of the conversation respectfully agree to disagree. You are not supposed to be an evangelist for your political ideology, you are suppose to help your fellow human beings have an open mind and come to their own conclusions, that is how decent society works.
Instead everyone seems angry, everyone wants a solution to a problem that they either cannot fully articulate or they cannot fully identify. This week & this year especially, everyone wants to lynch someone in Washington, whilst at the same time demanding they fix whatever it is we collectively feel is broken in our society. A society that celebrates focusing on anything negative whilst ignoring anything positive I might add.
In the times of Jesus, people missed the king of kings because they were looking for him to be a politician or a military general. They killed him for healing and teaching peaceful ways. You may not be a Christian, you may not even believe that Jesus walked the earth. Regardless, what is taught in his name in the bible is pretty much universally accepted as a good thing, that is – to love one another.
One of the saddest things about this election cycle, in fact in all of President Obama’s time in office, is the number of apparent Christians who are spreading a gospel of political hate instead of the gospel of Jesus.
John 13:35 says “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”
I promise I am not going to get too preachy or religious on you. However the one thing i know is that whatever happens in the election today, the answer to our country’s future lies with the people, not the politicians. In the words of my pastor last Sunday, On Wednesday November 9th the sun will still rise and we will still get to be the change, to love the poor and the marginalized.
Who am I voting for, am I even voting? It doesn’t matter! Not to minimize the importance, regardless of the fact that my one vote and one voice will make literally no discernible difference, it is still important. However people are treating this whole thing like they do fantasy sports, so obsessed with the actions of others in an arena that they have zero influence. They then get mad at reality when their fantasy world does not go according to the script that only they know exists. We need to snap out of it, we need to be better.
Maybe instead of obsessing with the tv actions of a bunch of people we will never really know, with questionable intentions, we should go about being the change we want to see in the world ourselves. Maybe by making our local area better we could influence the wider area to be better.
Maybe, just maybe, today YOU can make the choice, not to complain, not to question someone else’s values, but to LOVE someone, anyone. Smile, be friendly, spread hope, because hope and love are infectious and beautiful. If you really want this country to be better than you feel it is today, that is exactly how you can do it.
Be blessed my friends. May you have peace, hope and love in your hearts.
unhiddenlight 
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