Sunday, November 08, 2020
Sunday Reflection: New Eras
No matter who you supported in the election, we are going to enter a new era this next January together. The transition from Obama to Trump was abrupt and jarring. This transition will likely be less so.
As I've said before, it is important to keep politics in perspective. The truth is, almost always the choices we make in our daily lives impact us much more than the person who holds any political office. Whether we exercise is more important than who is the Senator from our state. Whether or not we forgive those who hurt us is going to mean more than who the President is. Our ability to focus and do well at our jobs is going to make a bigger difference in our lives than who the mayor is.
I voted for Joe Biden and am glad he won, but I don't imagine that his being president is going to change my life in any dramatic way. We are responsible for our own fulfillment.
After four years of President Trump, I fear that we have taken to viewing politics as a form of entertainment more than anything. We elected a reality show star, and suddenly we were all in a reality show! But politics has to be something other than entertainment.
And so does faith. This administration has been a kind of mega-church with a charismatic pastor and not much else; quite a show, but not authentic.
I know I've gotten totally sucked in to politics as entertainment during the last 4+ years, and it'll be easier to wean myself since the Biden administration may be relatively boring again. On the other hand, with the Covid situation, the person who's president does have potential to affect millions of people's lives. Back in January 2020 during the impeachment trial, I was resigned to the outcome because, I thought, can Trump really do that much damage in the time he has left (in 2020)?. Then we were immediately in the middle of Covid, with Trump deciding we didn't need to know how bad it was, and flouting science. How many people might still be alive if the Senate had voted to remove him?
I think you're right, that who we elect usually doesn't have the day-to-day effect on our lives as our smaller, personal actions for self and others. But we never know when we'll need the things a well-run, reasonable government can do to help us when we're down, it seems to me . . .
: 11:19 PM << Home
