Archive

Voting In America


It’s odd how my life has changed. Eight years ago I was one of the folks wanting hope and change. By the time of the next election I realized I had received what I’d asked for and I didn’t like it.

It wasn’t for some of the obvious reasons. I believe that in America people have a right to love and belong with who they are attracted to. I believe in the common working man. I believe God created us all equal under the sun. I believe in equal pay for equal work. I believe in life.

It was the blatant divisiveness that shocked me. People I’d known for years seemed fractured. I know it isn’t a perfect country, but I had felt we were beginning to move in the wrong direction. From my little corner of the world I had thought we were growing to love and respect one another, for all our differences – warts and all. Had I been wrong? Something was changing. And I didn’t like it.

We lost our filter. You know – that thing that pauses us and makes us think before we act or speak. We didn’t respect each other. We didn’t care how we acted or what we said as a nation.

I began to reflect on what was happening and how it impacted my life, the folks around me and the country. Could I have been wrong all those years? Had I been looking at the world through rose colored glasses? After reflecting on this a long time I figured the answer was both yes and no. I had changed. The country had changed. It’s said with age comes wisdom, and wisdom is relative to where you have been and where you are at the moment.

I have never been fond of the two party system. It limits us as a nation. I’ve joked with my daughters that I had always voted for losers. Even if my candidates were elected they ended up being losers because they never lived up to my expectations. Perhaps I expect too much. Is that a bad thing? I figure it’s like a pole vaulter who successfully glides over a bar. The next time the bar is raised. Shouldn’t we always run the race of life to do just a little better than we did before?

Well, the election is over. It’s done. Half the country is either elated or disappointed. Time will tell if we as a country have chosen wisely. I’ll guarantee one thing. Our expectations will not be met. There will victories and losses. Like the pole vaulter running down the track there will be that one bar that we fail make. But you know something? That’s okay. We are America. With all of our differences - we are still America. We will rise in the air as we head upward toward that bar and we will hit that matt whether we are successful or not. And we will rise again, and again and again. – As long as we run together. Our journey down the track will never end.

I’ll leave you with this. It works for me and I guarantee it will work for you whether your candidate won or lost last night.

Love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your might; and love your neighbor as yourself.

_______________
Rick Algood
November 9, 2016

Archive


Return to eAlgood.com