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The longest presidential campaign in my memory has come to an end, and I am grateful. Pundits and pollsters are scratching their heads and wondering how it happened. I would like to say to them that you are bunch of ignorant hicks who are out of touch with the good citizens of the United States of America, but I will not. While it could be true, now is not the time for crowing. Now is a time for healing.
Over the last eight years, the division in our country has weakened the fabric of society. Much like an old pair of Levis, the denim is frayed at the seams and the knees are soft, white and transparent. It will take a delicate hand if they are to be mended. But mended they must be.
Over the last eight years, I have often thought about the slogan “hope and change.’ Like many Americans, in the early days, I remained hopeful that President Obama would unite the citizens of this great country, but that hope was soon ground beneath the heal of the community organizer. Hope was quickly lost and the coming change was far worse than anything I had seen before. At every opportunity, the presidential influence was used to divide the nation’s citizenry and to pit one group against the other. Looking back it saddens me, but I am determined to look forward with newfound hope.
It is easy in victory to look at the vanquished, and merely say “I won.” But, salting the wounds does not promote healing, and we must heal if our nation is to survive. The election results clearly indicate that the citizens of our nation do not want to continue down the same stony path of division. Therefore, it is incumbent on the victors to promote healing, to reach out, to lift up and to enlighten those bound to the path of division with truth rather than emotion. It is not an easy task, but true enlightenment is the only way to unite a people and preserve the blessing that is freedom.
The task is daunting, the path is long, but as my friend Bill Pruett often said, “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”
Until next time…