Answering The Call!
November 5th, 2008We are hours away from electing a new President and the air is thick with anticipation, eagerness, excitement, concern, cautious optimism and prayer. Go back a few months and the question posed was is McCain ready? Is Obama experienced enough? While I agree that our Presidential Candidates should posses some understanding of our military, economy, health-care, global and domestic relations and posses the ability to reach “across the isle” to create bi-partisan agreements I also think the Presidency is an “on the job” experience with an incredible learning curve. So, who is really ready to answer the call to become a President when they first enter office? I think both John McCain and Barack Obama are answering such a call. Additionally, I am clear they both possess strengths and weaknesses which can support voting for or against either! In a recent Time Magazine Article “temperament” was a criteria worth considering when selecting a President. Perhaps, the notion that a candidate is ready is truly subjective. For example, what if we all agreed that candidate “X” is the best prepared (ready) to lead our country and after one or two months or years in office it’s clear we are wrong. Did our criteria or rationale for selecting someone who is “ready” or “experienced” lead us astray? Nixon was for many the right man however, his character and integrity were called into question. Clinton wasn’t supposed to be the right person to answer the call. However, lower, middle and upper class fared well for several years. And we know his character and integrity were called into question. So, what makes us the voters so certain we know who is suited to “answer the call?” Were they infact the “right” people to answer the call? What made Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt or Moses the right people to answer their calls? Perhaps, there are occasions when we say someone’s not ready because we’ve overlooked their skills, abilities and experiences? Maybe we’re looking for a reason to discount them? Maybe someone told us we aren’t ready to answer the call in our lives and we knowingly or unknowingly project that message onto another? Clearly there are times when we are right. Some people aren’t ready to answer the call and need to let the phone ring or let someone else answer? But there lies the rub! If the phone rings and YOU don’t pick it up and nobody else wants to “answer the call” when does change occur? When do we stand on the courage of our convictions? When do we take a stand? When do we become the change we want to see in our world? Both candidates want and are committed to creating change! I applaud them for picking up the phone. I applaud their V.P. choices for picking up their phones. I wonder how many of us would be willing to put our butts out for the whole of America to smack with wet towels of insolence, insult, indifference, ignorance and fear? When was the last time you answered the call to make a difference or “step up” and you were fully supported? All were in agreement with you? And all had kind and nurturing words of encouragement? This fear of isolation and retribution is evident in the conversations I have with teachers, students, law enforcement and those who either answer the call or are fearful of taking such a call. Just for a moment, I invite human-beings in general, Americans in particular to suspend our political position and ask ourselves, if I had to serve me how would I feel? What would I think about myself? Am I ready to answer the call to lead my family, to speak out against injustices in the workplace, to speak out for the voiceless, to speak truth to power in my church, community, government? After answering these questions with humility reconnect and reexamine our subjective criteria for those who dare to “answer the call!” Then ask how can I serve those who do step up and out on faith?
Not a truth-Just a thought! I welcome yours!
“Share the gift you are with the world!”