Hope and change, take two

Another election cycle has come and gone, just in time for the 2012 season to dawn sometime Thursday morning, Nov. 4.

The hope and change promised in the last presidential campaign has given way to another wave of hope and change for some, as in "I hope we can change things back to the way they were."

Others are just ready to "throw the bums out," regardless of party affiliation. It should make interesting fodder for post-election pundits, whatever the outcome.

This year, more so than in the past several election cycles, maybe even more so than in 1992 when the phrase was coined, it really is "The economy, stupid," driving voters to the polls. Unemployment remains perilously high. Foreclosure rates are breaking records and even the most extravagant shoppers are curtailing their spending sprees in favor of lowering their personal deficits.

I'm no political science major but it seems to me that re-election, to whatever office, consumes so much time it is nigh unto impossible for office-holders to get anything else done. (I made the Nov. 4 comment with my tongue held only slightly in cheek.)

Perhaps the need to plan for the next election cycle helps to explain why none of our representatives or legislators knew what was in the health care bill signed in March 2010. Not only did they not have time to author the bill, many were quite candid in admitting that they hadn't even read it. Nancy Pelosi even admitted that the legislation had to pass "so that you will know what is in it." Apparently, it was impossible to know otherwise, by Speaker of the House Pelosi or by John Q, Public. What little has been revealed thus far is, to say the least, disconcerting.

One thing is for certain, barring voter fraud already making headlines in certain contests, we're going to get just what we asked for, whoever wins. It can't be helped. These are our representatives. We put them in office, not only with our votes but with our pocketbooks and with our eyes wide-open. The author of the comic strip Pogo, Walt Kelly, said it best in his Earth Day strip in 1970. "We have met the enemy and he is us."

Say what you want about this or that politician. Shady dealer? Philanderer? Able to speak out of both sides of his mouth? We have met him and he is us.

After all, we have a representative form of government.

It's impossible to pinpoint the day and time of the beginning of the demise of this -- the greatest nation in the history of the world. There are so many possible culprits. Perhaps it lays at the feet of those who banned school prayer. No, wait, it must be Darwin's fault with his dissertation "The origin of the species."

It could have happened just as easily Jan. 22, 1973, when Roe v. Wade became the law of the land. Some might even dare to say the soul of the nation was forfeit Aug. 6, 1945, when the lives of innocents were deemed less worthy than the lives of soldiers.

Was it any of these monumental national decisions, a combination of the total or something even more sinister, for all of its simplicity?

Perhaps it's just us -- just you and me, hedging our bets against heaven or hell, dismissing the authority of God, the validity of Scripture, the absolutes of morality, little by little and piece by piece.

As convenient as it is to paint our government, be it local, state or national, as the bad guys, we do still have a representative form of government and they are us. Some are elitists, to be sure. But so are some of us. Some are clueless. So are many of us. Some are merely attractive, well-spoken puppets. We too, all too often, dance for the piper playing the most ornate flute.

If this country is to turn the tide and regain its standing, its economy, its very soul -- it will depend, not on the leaders elected Tuesday, nor on the president, but on you and me, individuals who are given the choice day-by-day on how we should live. We are the source of hope. We are the agents of change. Once upon a time, we knew not only where we were going, but the way to go. We can know it again. It's up to us.

But in order to find our way again, individually and as a nation, we must first recognize where it is we went wrong and do all we can to turn it right again. In religious circles the acceptable term is "repentance." In the world the phrase, "if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging" is close enough. It's time to stop lying to ourselves. It's time to recognize that there is "none righteous, no not one" and to turn to the One who promises justice bathed in mercy for those who turn away from their wickedness. It's time to hope again, that as each man lives he will live by the admonition to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." If we can do this one simple thing, everything changes.

"The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn away from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it." 1 Peter 3:10, 11 (NIV)

I don't have all the answers, but I know the One who does. Let's walk together for awhile and discover Him; together.

Dawn