Hope springs eternal
2,000 years ago, a young carpenter from a po-dunk town of Israel rose to the ranks of the known and stirred up the established religions of the day by claiming to be God and throwing out ideals like many of the ancient prophets did – Justice, hope, and peace (amongst other universal ideas). Jesus is risen!
700 years ago, A guy by the name of William Wallace (if you believe the movie) cried out for the ideals of freedom for every individual against an established feudalistic order of the day that was hell bent on keeping the land owners, land owners, and the peasants, peasants.
100 years ago, two men were born, one in the north and one in the south, who believed that things were not right, but they could be. So these men fought for equality, hope, and the American dream, both rising to national prominence, and both were shot for these ideals they were propogating. Martin Luther King, Jr. died at a hotel on March 29, 1968 and Ronald Reagan survived an assasination attempt on March 30, 1981 (coincidentally hours before my sister, Brooke, was born). Reagan went on to finish out 8 more years as the president of the United States.
I use these examples, not to call our new president (as of this January) any type of savior or freedom fighter or even a uniter – He’s not a savior and hasn’t been around long enough to fight for freedom or unite anyone. But I want to continue to propagate a different message that I believe every politician, pastor, and leader should hold on to beyond this election week.
When given the choice between cynicism and hope – we will ultimately choose hope.
When given the choice between hate and love – we will ultimately choose love.
When given the choice between injustice and justice – we will ultimately choose justice.
When things aren’t going well, the temptation is to start playing the cynic and attack the opposition, but the irony is that time and after time after time the person or people who accentuate their ideals ultimately win, over those who attack the opposition. Could it be that God created the world this way?
I know there are a lot of arguments (even good ones) against this thought process. But the examples for ideals far outweigh the examples of playing the cynic. Just look at the opposites of the aforementioned examples. They are famous too: The Pharisees, King “Longshanks”, George Wallace, and Walter Mondale.
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But just like they did with Jesus, they will all want to crucify him in a few years anyway…
i appreciate your encouraging positive words. i’m curious if by ‘cynical’ you’re also including ‘critical’. Elections don’t negate the value of ideas. i’m still confident that the ideas that loaned the president elect his success are specious and bound to fail.
In fact, the huge back pedalling at the acceptance speech last night belies the idealism of expectations. Talk about lowering the bar!
For those of you who know me, i’ve been saying for a while now that any failure of any kind by the Change Agent will be attributed to the previous president. What’s with the talk now about ‘sacrifice’ and ‘false-starts’ the years of work to ‘remake’ the nation? i got the impression during the campaign that ‘change’ was going to be practically instantaneous. What’s really going on is the cooking of the frog in the pot.
To the previous poster: you may want to crucify him yourself in a year or more. If you’re honest enough with yourself and not afflicted with ‘Bush-derangement-syndrome’, you might find that you’d like a do-over.
Never, ever, ever, ask for ‘change’ without a clear picture of what that might mean. Sure, no one can know for certain what the future brings, but chasing after shiny baubles could lead to buyers remorse.
i know a guy who felt he needed a change; he wasn’t happy. Unfortunately for his wife and three children that change ended up being a new life with a new wife. Not a new or rare story. Be careful what you wish for, you may get more than you bargained for.
I like this post. In this election I think a lot people voted for love, justice and hope over politics. Like him or not he is our President (elect) and we have to BELIEVE that he will make a difference in America. Thats how I read your post. I am pretty sure you supported the other ticket but after it was all said and done you realize the good that can come out of his presidency even if you don’t agree with his “politics”.
As for GARRET the day is a complete failure.
“In fact, the huge back pedalling at the acceptance speech last night belies the idealism of expectations. Talk about lowering the bar!”
This statement alone is not only false it’s the type of pre-election garbage that we were hoping to move on from. I never once heard that “Change” was going to be instant and he campaigned that change was going to take time. So to Garret I say give the man a chance but at the same time let your voice be heard. But let your voice be critical of what the man has not done rather than what you think he will not do.
Well stated.
Change has already occurred. “Change” was instantaneous. The perception that racism is a mainstream American paradigm lost and freedom from this oppressive sentiment won.
Change happened the moment my (young) bi-racial children looked at the president elect and saw that their skin color is not a barrier to success (as the NAACP would have them believe).
Change happened when American flags were hung over Kenyan trees.
Change happened when African Americans felt authentic pride in their country for the first time.
Change has happened. Change is sure to come.