Friday, September 18, 2020

Countdown Begins

I’ve been thinking about writing this series of blog posts for quite a while now. And even though I “write” about this a lot in my head - when I am trying to get to sleep or driving somewhere in my car - when I finally sit down at the computer, my brain goes a little bit blank. Plus, I am so fearful that I won’t get my points across the way I mean to.

Then, when I sat down last night, I looked at the calendar and realized that it is now or never. There are just over six weeks to the 2020 presidential election. I’m sure that things will continue to heat up between now and then. And come the morning of November 4? I can only imagine what is going to happen.

I don’t understand the whole process, actually. Hubby’s pretty smart on politics, government, and history, so he tries to explain it to me. I do research online. I send my brain cells back in time forty-plus years ago to civics class. I try not to stress. I pray a lot.

And even if I ever do figure it out – things like: What is the electoral college all about? What did our founding fathers really mean to do by creating this country? Why are there only two political parties? Why are there any political parties? What does the rest of the world think of the way we are acting? Do they still think of us as the greatest country in the world? Do they laugh at us? Why can’t we all be friends?

Okay, so forget about that. Who can figure out any of that?

Here’s the only answer I have. Paul Harvey eluded to it in his message I shared here last week.

It’s like the United States, maybe even the whole world, is a single giant organism which has been infected with an insidious bug. I don’t mean COVID19, though that could be just one creation of the bug I’m thinking of.

The bug I’m talking about silently penetrates its victims, worming its way into various organs, weakening the host organism in minuscule ways, totally unnoticed at first, until it has begun to grow to an uncontainable size, enveloping its host, changing the very makeup of the host. Think of a camp science fiction movie – The Blob, maybe. Who would have ever thought it would grow to take over an entire town? A state? A country?    

Like a cancer a hundred years ago, before chemo or radiation or safe surgical procedures. A death sentence. From the inside out.

My, this has become quite dark and depressing. I guess that’s why I’ve been avoiding writing about this. Let me give myself one more week to get it together. Check back next Friday and I promise to have composed my thoughts by then. 

2 comments:

Carol Stam Rehse said...

You are not alone. I am certain many of us feel as you do. We see what's happening and can't understand why. I am looking forward to your next entry because you are able to put into written words thoughts that are spinning around in my mind. Thank you.

Beth Camp said...

Dear Chris, We may all need courage and grace for these last weeks leading up to the election -- and for the months of November and December as we await, I hope, the peaceful transition to a new administration. I can only hope our election process will be fair, without corruption or riot, and accepted by all, even if the outcomes are not what we wish. Like the pandemic, in fact, compounded by the pandemic and its needed social isolation, our reactions may swirl around. Each day's news may add to the tension. For now, we can have faith in the election process and in the America so beautifully symbolized by the Statue of Liberty. Best, Beth.