I was born in Chicago and lived in suburbs of Chicago for many years. Chicago was Cook County, a Democrat stronghold. I then lived in DuPage County, a Republican stronghold. Interestingly, many people who lived in DuPage County had come from Democratic Chicago. Phrases like "Vote early and often" were not pipedreams. They described the reality. The enforcement of election laws in both Cook and DuPage counties was, shall we say, a bit elastic. In DuPage County, I know that people in the nearby cemetery were registered voters. The same was true, on a possibly wider scale, in Cook County for Democrats.
I'm not going to get into politics, although it is so tempting. I have tried to avoid crossing the line into politics when preaching or speaking here for one simple reason. I do not have a death wish. I will simply note that, when I ventured even a little towards crossing that line, the amount of vitriol I received from a few was ugly, beyond partisan, and irrational. That is a shame, but this is the reality. So what I have done is try to speak in terms of principles. I will not easily forget the time I was speaking about Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount. I was assailed by one of the most vicious people that I have ever encountered here. (we really have an awful lot of very nice people on all sides of the political spectrum. But this person was an exception.)
Essentially, this person was against Jesus, was against the Gospel. I could expand on all this person said, but I won't. LIfe is too short. I would have no desire to change this person. It would not happen anyway. I would have liked to have talked about the application of Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount. It is so hard to talk with someone who fits this description - that their mind is already made up and they will not be confused with the facts. Sigh. It is a shame. This is also a reason why sizable number of homes have had to avoid political conversations. They instantly result in far too much acrimony.
This is a shame because I genuinely love to have political discussions with people. On an election night, I am all but attired in a Yankee Doodle costume to watch the returns. I love watching the political analysis. It is genuine fun for me. I learn from the analysis - especially those things that may challenge some of my views. I like to grow.
So, my public and even private thoughts for this election are that it be without interference of foreign governments, that every one of our citizens can freely exercise their right to vote, their privilege to vote, and that the people elected are worthy of our trust. Will these things happen? I hope so. God bless America.
TODAY's GRATITUDE: Freedom.