let’s be real. can we?

Let’s cut out the crud. Let’s remove for a moment all expression of passion and perspective that sometimes impedes respectful dialogue and communication. Please hear me… I am not in any way denying the validity of your passion or perspective. I’m not denying mine either. What I am saying, however, is that sometimes the way we express how we feel gets in the way of others hearing us clearly. Believe me, if I feel something deeply, I want others to be able to hear me. I’m not out to merely affirm the likeminded.

So let’s be real. Let’s pause for a moment. Let’s come and reason together. Can we?

This election cycle has been trying. It started a long, long time ago, in sometimes seemingly a galaxy far, far away. We began with two first-name-only candidates on the left, and about 37 would-be candidates on the right. In fact, part of me wonders if our current scenario would be different if the left didn’t feel like a coronation and the right didn’t feel like a dogfight. But alas, I digress. This is the situation we are in, and I intend for us to navigate through it humbly, wisely, and well.

The situation, as I see it — and friends, I could be wrong — but I see the American people having a choice primarily between two unpopular people. We are gauging who is the least unpopular.

I hear you. There are good people arriving from all angles who love “their person”… Hillary Clinton… Donald Trump… even, for some, Gary Johnson, and for fewer still, Jill Stein. That is ok. I have complete respect for any who are passionate about the above. Unlike many, I don’t believe that all or most of any of the above’s supporters are ignorant, illiterate, racist, sexist, unpatriotic, or deplorable. I realize that’s not a popular thought. I also believe that to ascertain such about entire people groups is unfortunately a form of judgment.

But just to make sure I’m being real with you, I don’t have “a person,” so-to-speak; I don’t have a candidate that I am completely comfortable with as President, considering past behavior, current assertions, and all the consistent inconsistencies. Sadly but sincerely, my current, desired choice is thus “none of the above.” My challenge is that “none of the above” isn’t actually running. But I believe in voting — and so I will — but I’m not looking forward to it.

And so I come to the conclusion that prompts my plea to be real. Join me. Agree for a moment to put away the rhetoric and rants. Here’s the fact: assuming no unforeseen circumstance, either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will soon become the President of the United States of America. One of them will be inaugurated at noon on January 20, 2017.

For the record, regardless of victor, I will not be moving to Canada along with the every-four-year entourage that threatens such a ploy. No matter my comfort level or desire, either Clinton or Trump will be my President. And here’s the unconventional kicker: I have great peace with that. As a person who cares for neither, I have peace with either.

My peace does not come because deep down I believe that either Clinton or Trump is “not all that bad.” No, with hesitation that this, too, may seem judgmental, I do believe that both candidates are significantly, ethically compromised. I know people would like to have me rail on Trump’s nothing less than misogynist comments, Bill’s rampant infidelity and treatment of women, and Hillary’s handfuls of lies and chastising those women — and truthfully, it’s all relevant — that’s what compromises each of them. My peace, though, truly, comes from elsewhere.

I believe in a sovereign God. I believe in an omnipotent, divine Being that is totally aware of all that’s going on. I don’t like all that’s going on and I certainly don’t understand it all, but my lack of comprehension does not change who God is. For whatever reason, God has allowed this current scenario to exist. He is not surprised by the evolution and awfulness of this election cycle. He is not surprised by how we’ve gone after one another on Facebook and social media. He is not surprised.

And so I must ask what he wants us to learn…

Is he giving us opportunity to learn to scream and shout and shove our opinions down one another’s throat? Is he teaching us how to point out the glaring lack of integrity in someone else without first wrestling with it in ourselves? Is he hoping to divide us more and even justify the rants, raves, and disrespectful name-calling?

Doubtful. My sense is he always desires from us something better and more. I’m just afraid we’re missing it.

Maybe he wants us to look at things in a new way. Maybe he wants to confront us with our own arrogance and judgment. Maybe he wants us to think outside the box. Maybe he desires we come back to our first loves. Maybe even, as a nation, he wants us to finally focus on what’s most important and get off our political high horses. All those “maybe’s,” all that wrestling… well, it can be unsettling indeed.

So why then do I have peace?

Because regardless of what we do or how we act — regardless of all the “maybe’s” — God remains unsurprised. My trust is in him. Not in anyone running for President.

Respectfully…
AR