An Emancipation Proclamation - Come Full Circle

I'm still dwelling on the events and aftermath of the campaign we have just experienced. Some real lessons worth "getting a handle on" while they are fresh in the mind. I hope I can adequately report and interpret them.

Yes, many lost an election because their candidate received less votes, but that is the way and why of our democratic process. That's what makes America so unique in our world. And when you win, it's not just one campaign's turn at bat, but everyone's new position on the team, whether in the batting lineup or in the field. When the one at bat scores, he does so for the whole team. In America we are all on the same team.

I'm not a real fan of "The View" for I believe many times the comments given for wise counsel to the viewers is very uninformed about the issues. I did pick up on the recent post-election segment when Elizabeth Hasselbeck shared what they reported was a change in her view. I beg to differ. When she expressed that she had fought hard for McCain, but now was "feeling good" about the outcome for what it said about the country's embracing (my word) the first black president, she was expressing the true Christian sentiment about how all should feel with such processes. Some comments made in reaction, like "oh, so you're saying we were right all along" miss the whole point of her sharing and deeper feelings about what has occurred. It makes me wonder if the "shoe were on the other foot", if her grace of acceptance and joy would have been worn equally well by the others. A report I heard of the occurances at a high school, where the police had to be called, also gives my mind an additional turn. It seems that black students, reacting to their candidate's win, went through the halls shouting, creating havoc, turning lockers over, etc., with cries that "we are taking over", had to have the police called in to bring order. Now, having joy over the win and expressing such is understandable, but to do so by "trading places with the perceived master" is not what America "coming of age" is all about. It's to be expected that there will be a new feeling of "arrival" that has been too long in coming, but I adjure my brothers and sisters of every color, that trading one oppression for the experience of another is not the answer to a nation becoming a mature example for the world. I've lived in other countries, and the seesawing of power brokers who took such approaches kept those countries in a constant state of conflict. May we not slide down that "slippery slope" of competitive conflict. We are ONE nation so let us be ONE!

Now, just another thought or two that occurred to me as I considered the election's results, and how it applies directly to me and you. I am not putting President Elect Obama on the same level as Lincoln, for he is yet to be proved in that vein, and needs our prayer that if such be his claim, we will help him achieve it for the good of the nation. It is interesting to note that Illinois was the ground of both their political initiations. Further, that the Emancipation Proclamation that Lincoln's administration set forth, now seems to have come full circle with a representative son achieving Lincoln's seat of leadership. Indeed, a reason for rejoicing. What was a proclamation has become, at least in this offering, a symbolic implementation. I say symbolic, for it is so far only one man's rise. It must now be modeled in every citizen's character and decorum of life, whether black or white or any other beautiful distinction that makes up the land we love.

Elizabeth, I feel good, too! Thanks for reminding me!

Be encouraged today, all day!