104 What now?

Romans 13:1 & 2 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Well they won.  It matters not who won the election; they won.  This is being written on the eve of the election, and I can tell you that regardless of who won the election, they won.  Who won? The leaders of the big three parties; each of them won. 

          As a kid I could not stand the Three Stooges.  Watching three men, Larry, Curly, and Moe be violent with each other held neither amusement nor entertainment for me.  And watching, Tommy, Justin, and Steve, held the same appeal.  But they did win.

          Each of them ran a campaign based on the idea of ‘do not vote for the other guy as they are stupid.’  It was hard to hear beyond their rhetoric, as in their haste to tell you how bad the other guy was, they did little in telling you how they were a good choice. And this is where they won.  They encouraged us to act the same way; and we did.

          On social media, and in conversations, we pulled ears, and tweaked noses, and poked eyes.  But I did not see many issues being discussed.  I saw questions like, If Tommy, Justin, or Steve, is the answer, how stupid is the question?  That guy is an idiot, but they have nice hair. 

          In the end as a country, we have voted in the person that we detested the least.  And, if you believe scripture, the will of God has been expressed in the party that was voted into power.

          I know for me, that each of the parties had policies and positions that I supported and rejected.  Each of the leaders had moments of brilliance and absurdity.  And in the end, I voted for the candidate that I thought was the best.  I did make that choice prayerfully, and after a lot of consideration. But I wonder if it was really the candidate that I detested the least that got my vote. 

          Am I alone in this? I think not.  What else could you do but this?  We have had three men behaving badly.  I am aware that Elizabeth May was running in the election, and if she was given the media coverage, or was a serious contender for Prime Minister, she might be included in this post. (In 2004, I did vote Green as I wanted to see them become a political party with federal funding.)

So where do we go from here?  We will wake up this morning with the party that we as a country hated the least as being the party in power.  How do we live with that?  Oh, and if you did not vote, you decided to leave the decision up to the rest of us; why have you left so important a decision to others?.

          Can we get back to being civil with each other?

          Despite which of the three stooges we voted in, we have to live with each other and with our choice.  Can we do that as Christians?  We have to, we are commanded to do so.  

I served as a scrutineer, a representative of a candidate at the polling station tonight.  It was intriguing to stand with the other scrutineers from the other parties - and we were all nice to each other.  It gave me hope.

For me, if the man that I did not want to get into power, is in power, while it may be bitter, I will accept what has been decided.  The graciousness of that acceptance may take a while, but gracious acceptance is what I will strive towards.

          But will I stop there? 

          I hope not.  The candidate for my area who looks like she will get in, I hope will hear from me.  Is it enough to knock on doors, and post signs, and support her during the election?  As a Christian is it enough to simply mark my ballot and wait for the next election?  I don’t think so.

          She will hear from me.  There are policies and positions, from the other parties, that I want her to consider.  I want her to know who I am, and what I stand for as a person of faith. As for my fellow citizens, like you who are reading this, I encourage the same.

          I will also carry my country and its leaders in prayer.  Will you join with me?

102. How do we define success?

Mark 8:36 - What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

It was reassuring last week when I went to the local pizza place and saw what I think as a typical Canadian disagreement.  The order of pizzas was not what the woman who ordered them was expecting.  In the ensuing conversation, the woman ordering apologized for not being clear enough in her order, and the woman at the counter apologized for not getting the order right.  After a bit of an exchange it was decided that the woman ordering the pizzas would keep the pizzas – even though they were not what she wanted – and the woman at the counter would give her a discount.  It was a win-win situation, but not for why you might think.

          I was pleased to see such an example.  Most of the time, I see errors in services being used as an excuse to act tactlessly and gracelessly.  There is an offense that the person taking the order did not get it right and that it is a personal slight.  As well, the person taking the order insists that the person ordering had made the mistake, and the requisite implication of the person ordering having a lower than normal intelligence.

          This might be a strange example to focus on, but it works for me in its simplicity.  I seem to be inundated with messages of how to be successful in the world.  It seems to me that we have become enamoured with the idea of “no one fucks with me.”  I see it every day.  It is now not only acceptable to be rude to people; it seems to be the preferred way of being.  I see it clearest when I am driving, and probably so do you.  Road rage is contagious and spreading.  It seems acceptable to not only cut someone off but to give them the finger while doing so.  Twice in the past week, I have almost been hit by people running red lights, who seemed somewhat angered that I was in their way.

So I ask you, how do we define success?

I think for a Christian it is an important question.  Not that I think that we should not be successful in materialistic ways, but that we consider really what is more important.  Like the two women at the pizza place, what seemed to be important was not the pizza, but the being decent human beings.

          So, I ask myself, and invite you to do so as well.  What is success in your life?  We are told that in putting the Kingdom of God first, that success will be ours.  But when I read the scripture, Matthew 6:33, it is not the greed that I see so often portrayed, it is the understanding that the pizza was not important, but the being decent was.  There will always be pizza to order, but perhaps not the opportunity to be a decent person.

          Yes, I can have the home that is perfect, and huge, and not yellow.  And I can have the truck and the car and the motorcycle.  As well, I can have the other toys that I seek.  But what does that benefit me if in the process I lose my soul?

          When I first read this scripture, I read into a view of God that if I did not behave that I would be punished, I would lose my soul.  These days, and maybe because it is closer to when I actually get to meet with him, I view the passage less punitively.  It is not that my soul is taken from me, but that in seeking success, in seeking the world, that I give up what is more important.

          For me, as I look at my life, my success lays less in material possessions, but lays in who I am.  My success lays in being a good husband, in being kind, and thoughtful, and supportive.  My success lays in being a good father, similar virtues as a husband.  My success lays in being a good employer, kind, and fair.  My success lays in being a good neighbour, generous with what God has given me, compassionate to those around me, and willing to be the one to work for change.

          In considering success, I think of 1 Corinthians 13; that if I do not have love, I have nothing.  I see the women at the pizza place having both won.  In their exchange not only was the world a better place, they had the joy of that exchange to last the evening.  An even further win, a week later my world is still a better place.