The presidential election will soon become history. The debates, interviews and campaigning, will end, and we can breathe a sigh of relief.
Some will be happy their guy got in, while others will be upset their fellow lost. But whoever wins, let’s not expect a political leader to save us.
No president can heal shattered hearts, feed every hungry person, assure every child of a happy childhood. No president can eradicate misunderstandings between family members and religious groups.
A president can’t remove the sting of losing a loved one or prevent people from neglecting children, getting into fights and cheating others.
It’s dangerous to expect miracles from a politician. The president doesn’t control the sun and moon, the rotation of the earth or the change in seasons. He doesn’t send the rain to water the crops that provide our daily bread.
No matter who is elected, we’ll still grapple with viruses and a sluggish economy with businesses struggling to stay afloat.
Daily life will still be peppered with uncertainty about our health, worries about children, concerns about spouses. Some folks sadly will become addicted to drugs, others will drink too much and some will jeopardize their marriage by deceitfulness.
But don’t forget the wonderful things too, which politicians don’t control. The birth of babies, the happiness of weddings, graduations, bar mitzvahs and baptisms. And the small joys — a tiny frog on the window, a rabbit nibbling the lawn, a dog rolling over to have his belly rubbed.
No matter who is elected president, we still control our reactions, which means we can throw a childish temper tantrum because our candidate didn’t make it. Or practice the art of acceptance by reflecting on the words “thy will be done,” which means receiving disappointment with grace.
Fortunately, our fate is in much bigger hands. After all, there’s someone who loves us with all his heart, and will never stop. Someone who oversees everything that happens and has loved us from the beginning of time.
He called us by name before we were conceived — and even if everyone fails us, he will comfort us when we suffer.
John Henry Newman, a renowned 19th-century British preacher, said, “Life passes, riches fly away, popularity is fickle, the senses decay, the world changes, friends die.”
And he added, “One alone is constant. One alone is true to us. One alone can be all things to us.”
Presidents come and go, campaign promises fizzle and lawn signs fade. God alone is unchangeable, the fixed point in an ever-changing, often confusing world.
He hasn’t given us a pain-free existence, nor guaranteed an easy path through the tangled forest of life. But he has promised to help us when we stumble and walk beside us in the darkest night.
The next president deserves our respect as the leader of our nation. Still, let’s direct our soul’s deepest longings toward God, who alone can fill our emptiness. Let’s attune our hearts to our loving father, who never fails us and who alone can save us.
Lorraine’s email address is lorrainevmurray@yahoo.com.
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