Hope is the Thing With Feathers

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Emily Dickinson

After Wednesday night I began to think that I might be losing track of what is important. I posted my rant and spent the next day feeling a bit anxious. What I realized is that I might be getting too caught up in the outcome. Of course I am looking for change but I know that neither party can really affect true change. That has to come from within each of us as individuals and flow outward into our homes, our communities and into the world.

I don’t want to loose sight of what is most important in all of this and that is:

.... whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8

Stephen wrote this to a friend of ours and it seems appropriate for this conversation;

Due to a project crisis at work (what else is new), I was in the City until about 6:30. Overheard on the Embarcadero platform was a conversation between two 30-ish Caucasian women and a 20-ish African-American man. the gist of the conversation was their perceived reality which included the idea that within a few years, either Biden or Palin would be president because either Obama would be assassinated or McCain would die in office. Their recommendation was to vote for the Vice-Presidential candidate you thought would make the best president. How's that for optimism amongst the working class?

I wish candidates could take the high road and stay out of the mud, but when they do, they're perceived as being weak, not ethical. I'm afraid Obama is going to have to get his hands dirty. Maybe that's one reason he has Biden on the ticket, but McCain, et al, are going to do whatever they can to diminish him.

The irony is that the Republicans preach optimism, but when Obama talks about hope, he's criticized for being an empty suit.

I am not proud of my country. We have gone to war against an enemy who wasn't there, ignored the enemy who is there, turned our backs on the victims of genocide and allowed our own citizens to suffer if it enabled a corporation to benefit. The democrats are as culpable as the republicans.

While I'm old enough to remember John Kennedy, I wasn't attuned enough (I was 6 when he ran for office) to understand anything he stood for. I have since come to understand that he offered hope to a nation, was firm in national defense and was more fiscally conservative/responsible than GWB. He is revered today, in part because he was martyred, but what is wrong with a presidential candidate offering a little hope.

We're all adults; we know what's promised on the campaign trail seldom becomes reality, but I'll take hope any day. After all, according to 1 Cor. 13, there abides faith, hope and love. Well, I don't have much faith in my government, and I don't think my government has much love for me, so I guess I'll go with hope.