Election Re(Cycle)

It’s nearly Election Day in America. And while I’m usually pretty optimistic… (IMHO) our current options don’t exactly inspire confidence.

Yes, there’s a fresh face… and I’m genuinely delighted by that. I’m just not convinced she’s the answer to what ails us.

Instead… (despite the re-sorting, re-branding and revelatory rollout), it feels like we’re facing an election re-cycle. Similarly sorry lot of elephants and asses as the last go-round. (Which wasn’t merry by the way.)

Apparently “upcycling” isn’t a thing in politics.

In the last round, Biden wasn’t “my guy.” To be clear, Trump wasn’t either. So I’m not one of the gleeful folks who celebrated because my ticket won in 2016… or 2020.

Rather, I’m one of the American citizens who woke up sometime in the last decade to discover that I’m “politically homeless.” I don’t align fully with either the GOP nor the Dem party politics/platform/policies/party line.

Honestly, I just… can’t.

(On a side note: the political process does not sound, look, or feel at all like a party to me. Parties are supposed to be festive. And fun. And blissfully free of bullies, blowhards, and bumbling, babbling bureaucrats. But that’s just my two cents.)

I believe I’m supposed to align myself with what Jesus said and taught and did and demonstrated. And neither candidate reflects that, sadly. But I will cast a vote nonetheless…

And answer only to God.

(Family, friends, neighbors and nosy acquaintances need not inquire.)

The truth is… I’m too conservative for most progressives and too progressive for most conservatives. I’m committed to biblical principles and social justice. A champion for human life from womb to tomb… desperate for racial equality… concerned about the plight of immigrants (documented or not)… alarmed by our national opiod epidemic, the escalation in gun violence, an ongoing mental health crisis… aware of the glaring inconsistencies (and outrageously unjust outcomes, in certain cases) in our criminal justice system… praying to become a peacemaker.

Bless them.

Here’s the thing. I have no idea how this whole thing is gonna go. Come January, the new (old) president or the new president (old VP) and the Congress and the Supreme Court could enact and accomplish and uphold or overturn things that would make this country a whole lot better, brighter, more beautiful. (Please, God!)

Or this could be a real s&*# show.

No matter who’s in the Oval Office.

We could be targeted by foreign enemies or decimated by a digital security breach. Our nation could succumb to widespread violence or food shortages. The housing/job/stock market could crash. Our infrastructure could crumble or our communication capabilities collapse.

Or we could fall prey to other crises we can’t control. Like cosmic catastrophes. And global pandemics. And natural disasters.

But you know what? I’m going to choose to…

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances… ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT)

I’m going to remember that this is not my real home…

Heaven is.

And neither Trump nor Harris is my Hope/Healer/Savior/King.

Jesus is.

So regardless of my disappointment in the behavior of my fellow voters and the party candidates and the whole election process, I remain…

Hopeful.

Call me crazy. (It won’t be the first time.)

But I know if it all goes to hell in a hand basket here (North Carolina/USA/North America/Planet Earth), I’m still gonna be ok. You know why?

Because I’m just passing through.

Heaven is my future. And it’s forever.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. ~ 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NLT)

All I know is… it’s going to be good. And as much as I love this land, far better than America could ever be.

I have no doubt things are gonna get dicey around here, no matter who gets elected. (Let’s be honest, they already are.)

But the POTUS isn’t responsible to “save” us.

Jesus is the only one who can do that.

And all he asks of us… is that we trust him to do it.

That’s it. No self-flagellation/religious rites/”good” works required. Just an honest self-assessment: I’m imperfect and undeniably incapable of making myself anything other than that. I’m selfish and sinful and smug. I’m broken and beyond self-help.

And I need someone to pick me up… clean me up… and not just “put me back together” but make something dazzlingly fresh and beautiful from these irreparably broken pieces.

He makes all things new.

And despite how it might look, he’s got the whole world in his hands.

Today, tomorrow, November 5… and January 20 too.

What a relief!

Wendy