Election Thoughts
The following quote was published twice by Frederick Buechner, in his books Whistling in the Dark and Beyond Words. (It’s good to know that I am not the only one who repeats himself.)? His words seem appropriate in this particular election time.
“You can’t help wondering what would happen if a person running for the presidency decided to set politics in the flag-waving, tub-thumping, ax-grinding sense aside and to speak, instead, candidly, thoughtfully, truthfully out of his or her own heart.
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Suppose a candidate were to stand up before the reporters and the TV cameras and the usual bank of microphones and say something like this:
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‘The responsibilities of this office are so staggering that anybody who doesn't approach them with knees knocking is either a fool or a lunatic. The literal survival of civilization may depend on the decisions that either I or one of the other candidates make during the next four years. The general welfare and peace of mind of millions of people will certainly depend on them. I am only a human being. If I have my strengths, I also have my weaknesses. I can't promise that I'll always do the right thing for this country. I can only promise that it will always be this country rather than my own political fortunes that I'll try to do the right thing for. I believe in this country at its best, but I also believe that we have made many tragic mistakes. I am willing to entertain the possibility that our assumptions about Arabs, for example, may be as wrong as their assumptions about us, and my major objective, if elected, will be to explore that possibility with them at the highest levels of government and in the most radical, searching, and unrelenting ways I can devise. I believe that the survival and well-being of the human race as a whole is more important than the partisan interests of any group, including both theirs and our own.’
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There are many who would undoubtedly say that such a statement is naive, dangerous, unrealistic, and un-American, and that anybody making it couldn't get elected dogcatcher. I can't help believing, however, that there are others who would find it such a note of sanity, honesty, and hope in the political quagmire that they would follow the person who made it to the ends of the earth.”
We need to be clear that elective office is tough. There are all these competing constituencies and all these not-so-clean-cut decisions to be dealt with. We seem to believe that we want people who are absolutely clear about things. Someone who is never in doubt (as long as he or she agrees with me). And many may enter office believing that they are certain about things. Even if one starts out that way, it usually lasts until the first hard decision or vote crosses their desk. Choices have to be made without the certainty as to what the long term consequences will be or who it will anger. The social media atmosphere only makes that more complicated. The rest of us Monday Morning quarterbacks are so certain, but of course, we don’t have to make the decisions.
I have been in worship on several occasions when a part of the morning prayer was a petition for our leaders, national, state, and denominational. That seemed appropriate then and seems even more so now. We might also include a prayer for ourselves as we consider it all. Might we be realistic about the difficulty of the job and the importance of the decisions that our leaders will make. Might we pray for their wisdom and humility in the face of incredibly hard and far reaching decisions.