(Short on time this week. Here is a column I wrote on October 20th, 2016 – three years ago. I know there was a presidential debate last night. Here is why I didn’t watch three years ago and why I didn’t watch last night.)
I majored in political science and economics in college. Don’t go thinking I was some kind of over-achiever. It took me five solid years. The plan was to go to law school, become an attorney, and then hopefully a politician. I loved the stuff. Still subscribe to the Economist.
It’s Wednesday afternoon. The final debate is tonight. I’m working. Have a building team meeting at 6:30 and I’m meeting with a couple at 8:00. I’ll probably get home around 9:15. The last presidential debate is going to be on. I won’t be watching. I have better things to do. I’ve been a political junkie for thirty years. Maybe I will be again someday. Probably not. I once believed good government can change the world. I don’t anymore. But I believe God can and God does change the world.
I believe good teachers can change the world. So can coaches, nurses, students, carpenters, police officers, stay-at-home moms, and social workers. Servants can change the world too. Which means anybody can change the world because everybody can serve.
I don’t know exactly what it looks like for you. Here is what I’m thinking it looks like for me.
I’m going to do my best to be a praying, volunteering, donating, resource sharing, encouraging guy who occasionally eats lunch with his 4thgrader bringing along a lot of extra French fries to share with other kids before I visit somebody’s grandma in the nursing home after which I will write a few thank you notes because I believe being thankful is one of the coolest things a person can do and so is taking food to some homeless people and the neighbor I don’t know yet and speaking of cool I’m going to try to avoid gossip and avoid judging others and avoid complaining because gratitude is better than complaining, empathy is better than evaluating, letting a fellow driver cut-in during heavy traffic is better than arriving five seconds earlier to my destination where I will do my best to find goodness in the person I don’t understand and I will do the tasks nobody else wants to do and I will do kind things that nobody will ever see and I will hold my tongue unless the words ready to exit my mouth are affirming and life-giving because words have hurt me before so I’m going to be kind to myself and let those hurts go and forgive others and give to others too like tipping more when I go out to eat or paying for the mom and her kids behind me in the drive-thru at Sonic and giving compliments to others in front of others and giving grace and peddling hope and offering help because Jesus tells us to be light in a dark world and our world seems pretty darn dark right now.
May God inspire me to try, forgive me when I fail, and empower me to shine.
