On election days there are big winners and big losers. I was one of the big losers. Last Tuesday’s results convinced me that America has reached a civilization turning point prophesied in the Book of Mormon, where when the majority of a free nation’s citizens choose evil, they are ripening for destruction.
51% of the nation’s voters chose to continue to live off the largesse of our incipient nanny state when they chose to keep Mr. Obama as our president. My fellow citizens of the People’s Republic of Maryland chose to play God and redefine, cheapen, and tarnish the sacred union of marriage between a man and a woman as a convenient earthly arrangement between two people of any sexual persuasion who are attracted to each other. They also chose to break up more homes and families by offering us more opportunities to throw away more money at more gambling venues. Should I have been surprised that nowhere in the public argument against allowing more gambling in our state was there mention of the terrible social and moral costs that gambling addictions wreak on us? Standing on my own soapbox of moral courage I exercised my divine, constitutionally-authorized right to vote against all these initiatives and candidates and lost. I had struck out. Or did I?
Actually, one of my most beloved candidates Tuesday night worked hard for what she wanted and was selected for a very important position. For the last 14 months she waged a bitter campaign against a long, lingering mysterious debilitating illness and her own raging fears about her past, present, and future. At times she may have given into despair, depression, and doubt, but she never gave up. She kept her eye on the prize and endured until the answers came.
So, on last Tuesday night, when all my candidates and initiatives lost, my daughter learned that she had been accepted into BYU-Idaho. She was a winner, and so was I.
And maybe there is still hope for our country.
Actually, one of my most beloved candidates Tuesday night worked hard for what she wanted and was selected for a very important position. For the last 14 months she waged a bitter campaign against a long, lingering mysterious debilitating illness and her own raging fears about her past, present, and future. At times she may have given into despair, depression, and doubt, but she never gave up. She kept her eye on the prize and endured until the answers came.
So, on last Tuesday night, when all my candidates and initiatives lost, my daughter learned that she had been accepted into BYU-Idaho. She was a winner, and so was I.
And maybe there is still hope for our country.
Thank you Leslie for your example of endurance and for giving us all hope for the future!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that last Tuesday's national election offered as clear of a choice as you suggest. My reading is that a Romney administration would have largely continued current policies that favor the taker mentality, only perhaps with less gusto than the Obama administration. While the spokesmen for the two sides might have seemed quite different, this was more of a matter of style than of substance, at least when it comes to actual policy matters.
ReplyDeleteLest we get carried away with defining this moment as the moment the country went over the edge, it would behoove one to peruse similar pronouncements from the FDR days. Perspective can help in moments that seem dire. I'm not sure that we're quite at the point where we are left to Mormon's fate of hopelessly trying to save a nation bent on its own destruction. The pendulum may yet swing back in years to come.
And, by the way, congratulations on your daughter's acceptance at BYU-I.