Turn Down the Volume.

(The views I express on my blog are my own and they do not represent in any way the members of Trinity United Methodist Church or the United Methodist Church, okay?)

Our nation is in the middle of an "election cycle" (that is what the "talking heads" call it) and the volume just keeps getting louder and louder. Candidates from the fringe, or candidates who have grown desperate, are using their "outside voices" rather than their "inside voices" (these are phrases the mother of a 3-4 year old will understand). I think the rhetoric is dangerous.

During the last presidential election some people were questioning the patriotism of our current President. Which is a dangerous road to travel. Can't we disagree with someone on policy issues but respect the other person? Not take that next step and attempt to question their love for the republic or their character?

A local candidate for Congress has been accused, I saw in a banner ad on the internet last night, of promoting "anti-Christian causes." Billboards accuse him of promoting abortion. I know the man who is being attacked and he is a decent, hardworking man who is a Catholic Christian. And doesn't deserve to be "shamed" by billboards paid for by some Political Action Committee funded by folks we may never know. Down in Kentucky the Democratic candidate for Senator has brought up an incident that GOP-candidate Rand Paul was involved in as a college student more than 30 years ago, and the Democrat is suggesting Paul -a Presbyterian, I've been told- is somehow anti-Christian.

I worry for our country. Some politicans are deliberately playing to the fears and frustration of people. Much of that fear and frustration has been born of an economic recession that is severe. Policies at the national level, supported by both parties over multiple administrations, led up to the economic crash. As did personal decisions we all made to spend too much on the wrong things. But by pouring the gasoline of extreme rehetoric onto the fire of people's fears and anger and frustration politicans are damaging the country.

It is striking. In Exodus 16 the ex-slaves are marching across Sinai and they are scared. Don't see how they are going to be fed. So they turn on their leaders. They turn on Aaron and Moses. So it is. When people are scared they turn on their leaders. We want someone who can fix this -right now!

Here is what I long for: I long for thoughtful leaders of both political parties who will work together to solve the serious challenges facing our country. I long for political leaders who will work together for the common good and not be driven by a blind desire to make the other party look bad so they can "win" the next "election cycle." We're going to have get honest about crumbling infrastructure (including bridges, highways, neighborhoods and broken, dysfunctional families) and try new and creative solutions to things like the crisis in education. We're going to have to get honest about the price we are paying in Afghanistan and in not setting appropriate limits on well-meaning entitlement programs. We're all going to have to sacrifice so America can be strong, can be great, again. There will be no long-term gain without short-term pain.

My Grandpa Owen was a Republican politican who spent most of his working life as Chief Deputy Treasurer in the Indiana Statehouse. Bill Owen worked for -and was friends with- Democratic governors and state treasurers. He was also a fan of two strong political parties.
And I hear stories about how Democrat Representative Tip O'Neil would battle with President Reagan over policy questions and legislation, and then they would sit down together as friends for a drink.

America has been -and can be- a strong republic where courageous men and women work together for the good of the earth. I am praying we'll all turn down the volume. Disagree with one another on policies or philosophy but still respect one another as fellow citizens of a great nation. Let's turn down the volume. Let's respect one another. And let's view the more extreme claims of some candidates with a healthy dose of skepticism.

The Streets of Washington.

This city is humming. You can't miss the energy and hope and goodwill in the streets of Washington.

Having decided several months ago to come out for the Inauguration, we arrived here yesterday evening. Travled here with our oldest son, his wife and their young daughter. We're "camping out" in another son's apartment. Just down a few blocks from the famous Ben's Chili Bowl and a famous section of the city that has been the center of the African-American community.

Today has been a quiet day. We watched the concert on the Mall from the safety of the apartment. Tonight, though, we walked about six blocks to a nearby Mexican restaurant.

After dinner I stopped and spent some time talking with the driver of pedi-cab. He is from Denver. Is here for the week. He said people are smiling...hopeful.

The new administration will make its share of mistakes. Barack Obama is human. But it certainly seems like the nation is looking to this new leadership for a new and better chapter. The challenges are great but God has given us the resources to overcome.

The way ahead is going to require time, patience and sacrifice. The only way to solve the challenges -education, global warming, the economic downturn, the collapse of the family- will be for all groups to work together. Recognizing that what unites us is far more important than the things that would divide us.

I'm praying tonight.

You need to know, though, that the streets of Washington are full of hope.

The Election: Can You Feel Your Hands & Toes?

Something has shifted in the republic.

Polls had steadily predicted that the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama was overwhelming the cause of Senator John McCain. Experts speculated that some Anglo voters, in the privacy of the voting booth, simply could not bring themselves to vote for an African-American for such a high office. So the polls predicted an Obama win but experts cautioned us that the results might be much closer than predicted.

By 9:30 or so in the evening, Eastern Standard Time, voting results showed that the citizens of the United States were electing a non-Anglo to the office of President. (Note: everyone refers to Barack as "African-American" but his mother was Anglo. So I'm not sure what criteria folks are using to designate him as African-American. Honestly, as the lines between the races continue to blur in America they are going to do just that....blur. We will all, as Barack said this week in referring to himself, be some kind of "mutt.")

Something has shifted in the republic.

As someone who follows politics closely, and who studied political science at IU, it is clear to me that something profound has happened. Voters have taken America to a new place, and none of us yet quite understand what this all means for our present and our future.

As a Christian pastor, who works very hard to keep any kind of political perspective out of the pulpit, writing this requires some degree of caution. However, it is wrong to let this moment in our history pass without some kind of comment.

I've noticed some things. I've noticed that a fair number of my Republican friends are very anxious about what an Obama presidency may mean for our country. They fear a sharp turn to the left. I tell them my sense is that the man is thoughtful, surrounds himself with strong people, and will do everything humanly possible not to put our nation "in the ditch."

I've noticed that even many John McCain fans sense a decency in Obama which they admire, and they see his candidacy as a good thing for our country. Even those who do not welcome an Obama presidency see his candidacy as a sign we are moving towards justice and equality racially. Many of us who lived through the civil right's struggles of the 1960's knew this day would come -but it has come with surprising quickness and even those "right of center" see it as a hopeful and good thing.

Something has shifted in the republic.

I wouldn't pretend to understand all the factors that led to Senator Obama's overwhelming victory. Certainly the economic meltdown and uncertainty meant that any Republican candidate was going to be swimming upstream. And, certainly, people are weary of a war on two fronts that has drained us of our treasure -in lives and dollars- while failing to defeat the Islamic extremists who attacked us on 9/11.

Do you know why I believe the American people have elected Barack Obama to the presidency? I believe it has to do with his repeated reminders that we are one people -despite the attempts of political experts to break us down into competing demographic groups. I believe his election has to do with his reminder that we are not a nation of blue states or red states but that we are the United States of America.

Our citizens have lived through nearly 25 years of the politics of division. People on the right were bitter and unrelenting in their attacks on the Clintons, and people on the far left have mocked and demeaned George W. Bush. Talk radio and tv has descended into shouting matches. Bill Maher is caustic, anti-faith, and hostile to middle America. Rush Limbaugh seems to have stopped thinking rationally and uses every broadcast as an opportunity to say one more outrageous, mean thing.

We're weary of it! We're tired of it!

So there is something in us that responded to the repeated statements of the tall, junior Senator from Illinois about being one people...about working together...about claiming one another. One political commentator says he watched Barack Obama speaking in inner-city Philadelphia to a rally made up mainly of lower income black families. The one comment that drew the largest roar of approval was Senator Obama's statement about being one people...working together...not being a collection of competing red states and blue states.

Paul, in Corinthians and Romans, reminds the early Christians that we are all a part of one body in Christ. There is this human temptation for the eyes to write off the feet as unimportant, or the brain to think the arms don't count. The early Christian missionary pastor reminded Jesus-followers that we are connected...we have been given one another as a gift from God. And, Paul says, each part is important. Especially the ones we think, at first glance, really don't matter.

"Can you feel your hands and toes?" Paul was asking. "Do you realize how connected you are to one another?"

Barack, although apparently a man of deep, personal Christian faith, didn't put it quite like this, but he was asking the same question: "Do you realize how connected you are to one another?"

Something has shifted. We are in a new place as a nation. It's a good time to pray...and prepare ourselves for the hard work ahead.