Get some perspective, please.
August 25, 2008 by Laura | Trackback URI
As we get closer and closer to the election, I’m hearing comments from folks that if their candidate doesn’t win (and it’s primarily about McCain - I only know a few people who favor Obama, although their rhetoric is much more extreme than McCain voters) it will be “unbelievable,” “the worst thing that could happen,” “we’ll never get over it,”and so on.
For pity’s sake, people, get over yourselves. It’s an election. No matter the outcome, the republic will still stand. As for the “worst thing that could happen,” line of thinking, let me refresh you on what that looks like. Nearly every adult has been here, and if you haven’t, someday you will. This is what it looks like:
You’re hunched over to try to ease the ripping pain in your chest, and you can’t even roar out your agony because your breath is being exhaled in harsh, wheezing pants. You’re sobbing but the tears haven’t started yet and if you could think at all, you would want them to because that would begin to ease this unbearable pain. You can’t think, you can’t speak; all you can do is feel and you wish to God you couldn’t. Finally the tears come, and each one seems to carry away a little bit of that emotion until the pain is at least bearable, which is a relief because you know it’s going to be with you every day for a long, long time.
That’s what “the worst” looks like and I feel extremely safe in predicting that no voter is going to be suffering like that on the night of November 4th. That’s what happens when you lose someone you love, not when you lose a lousy election. Yes, the election is important. Yes, people’s lives will be affected, and we may have to do things differently or fight harder in other areas (like Congress) to achieve certain goals if our preferred candidate doesn’t win. But it’s not the most important thing in life. Winning will not come close to the joy of a marriage or a birth or many other things, and losing won’t come close to the pain I described earlier.
So knock off the apocalyptic rhetoric.
thanks for putting it in perspective
seriously.
Actually I feel like McCain supporters (which I reluctantly am) have a no win situation. If McCain loses we have Obama and I believe our country will be worse off with him as President. Higher taxes, class warfare, punish success, and a militant segment of the Americans of African descent population (not all, just a very vocal portion) set on “righting the injustices of the past” (reparations etc). If McCain wins we have a man determined to win the war but I think his whole Presidency would be overshadowed by a larger militant group of folks claiming racism and taking us back to the ’60s. I actually think our country will not “win” no matter who gains the Presidency.
The reality is…. this is small potatoes in the whole realm of eternity. We DO need to remember that don’t we. What we may perceive to be the future may not come to be so even my predictions above are rather a moot point aren’t they.
Thanks for pulling some of us back from the brink. Actually for being a parachute for some of us in free fall. Great blog, by the way, I appreciate your ministry.
Wow, I wanted perspective, and here comes Gustav. I was already pulling back from politics but they officially just took last place in my order of priorities.