Monday, October 10, 2016

Keeping the faith and believing in hope as November 8th draws near

On November 8th, unless something completely unexpected happens, we will be seeing the elevation to the Presidency of either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.  It's that simple; one or the other will be President.  As we go to bed, as a nation, and awake that next Wednesday morning, about half of us will be ok with the result and half of us will be upset.  When it comes to politics, our divided nation will remain divided.  The tumultuous past few months have given us every reason to believe that our next President will be a wildly unpopular human being.

I have expressed freely here, on MY blog and over at MY Facebook page my concerns about the election.  For the first time in my life, I am not excited about voting, but I WILL vote, am not excited about the two major candidates, but understand the issues and consequences, and am generally disgusted with the whole process.  With all that being said, this election once again proves to me, and I'm sure many others, that we take our politics more seriously than other important things, much more important things, like our faith in God, our hope in God, our trust in God and the importance of our faith in shaping and informing who we are.

Perhaps I am guilty of giving off this perception because even though I am a Catholic Deacon with a blog and Facebook page, I guess I'm only allowed to opine on things of high theological value, with every post being a mini Bible study or Catechism lesson.  I find that when one posts on Facebook or writes a blog post, many folks are ready to pounce, to demonstrate a lack of charity in their responses.

Now I've been guilty of this too especially in earlier comments about sports figures and coaches and I learned a valuable lesson from MY experience.  But recent posts, where I have shared my observations about the current election, have generated some of the worst responses.  Sadly, those willing to demonstrate this kind of uncharitable banter include brothers in the clergy, active members of the church, life-long friends. 

For my part, as a Catholic Deacon, I do understand that many of my observations lack the faith, hope and trust that obviously many believe should be part of everything I post about.  If I opine about a tough day at work, shame on me; if I don't like the way the Saints or LSU are performing, shame on me, if I don't like the weather, shame on me and now, my election posts must fit a certain criteria.

Since recent political posts have generated the most critical responses, let me be clear; when the election is over and one of these candidates becomes President, I know beyond any doubt Who reigns on the Throne and who is still in charge.  I know, despite this election, that God will not, because He cannot, withdraw His love for us.  Despite this election my faith will continue to be unwavering, my hope even more hopeful and my trust in God unshakeable.  What I have not done here or on Facebook is encourage us to pray more, fast more, be even more charitable, and be a person of great faith in ALL our words and deeds.  I wish I would post more that which clearly demonstrates strong faith.  I will confess, the nuances of a political campaign intrigue me and my penchant for sports commentary feeds an unfulfilled dream of being a sports commentator once upon a time.

In case you still don't get it, after this lengthy post, let me summarize; no one needs to be concerned about MY faith, MY relationship with God and the ministry entrusted to ME as a Deacon in His Catholic Church; even as November 8th gets closer and closer!

And my posts will continue to be MY posts and MY opinions. 

Thanks for your readership and understanding as I bid you peace!

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