God’s Home in the Country

The sound of the crunching leaves below our feet was magical. Add to that the long beams of sunlight that pierced the air in front of me spilling across the deep bed of golden leaves, this was a “God moment” that I have needed.

There was no wind on the cool autumn day. The only sound came from the dropping leaves that came from high up in the maple trees and gentling tussling with each other to see who would land first on the soft carpet below. When you stood still the peace enveloped you completely. Then one final sound was added. A wood pecker was at work some where high in the forest canopy. He had found the occasionally feast on the side of a tree and was feasting. The tat, tat, tat in the stillness added another part of the hugely successful puzzle that we were putting together.
I am not alone in my magical stroll. My friend Eldon is beside me. The ladies have left us and we are savoring this together. Eldon and his wife Donna are the creators of this opportunity. A while back as they retired from an active working career they left all that they knew in city life and moved to live full time in “God’s Home in the Country”.

Why call this “God’s Home in the Country”?

Eldon describe for us the story behind it all.

Along time ago another Pastor was at the church that I was leading up to June 2008. The church at that time was in another setting and the congregation was different with different people than I worked with. Some of the folk that I pastored were younger then. The pastor’s name as Stevenson.

The Pastor tried hard to help as many people as possible. He tried to meet every need he could – even buying groceries out of his own family’s income to feed them.

One Sunday the Pastor rose to speak and in a gentle voice he announced that he would be leaving the church. Most of the congregation was in shock – no one knew why the pastor was doing this.

Eldon was a younger adult then and went to express his concern to the pastor. The next Sunday the pastor gently said that he had now decided to stay. More reactions surfaced. The next Sunday he spoke again and it was for sure – he resigned and finally left the church as a broken man.

The pastor went to drive a truck and work at odd jobs. From the rest of the story that I got from his wife and children he died a broken man. His heart gave out. His own children are distant from church of any kind. What they know of church and church people has set them off- shall we say. His wife is a bitter lady that tries to put on a smile through the disillusionment that she still feels. I was her pastor as well.

(Now I know that there will be emails from good and knowledgeable “church-ites” that will set me correct on what actually happened. All have a different feeling. Bring them on and I will add the correct version)

Back to my account…
Eldon listened and watched what happened to that pastor when he was much younger. Today he accredits this story to the basis of “God’s Home in the Country”. His concept that he felt God lay on his heart was to create a place where ministers can get away and be restored after facing hard times in the work that they do. Perhaps if Pastor Stevenson would have had this kind of care long ago a whole family would have been spared and the Pastor would have been able to face the struggles better.

“God’s Home in the Country” is for ministers to get away and be refreshed.

Where we were walking is made possible in that Eldon and Donna spend hours clearing the walk ways that flow through the beautiful trees.

I searched for words yesterday that would describe what I was taking in… I came up with BEAUTIFUL and then PERFECT PEACE… Today I think I have settled on “Garden of Eden” – the place God created for his first friends Adam and Eve.

The odd thing is that this was a place available to me for the last 10 years. I only came a few times in that I was too busy solving people’s problems and being in the middle of the “Pastor’s Stew” caldron. Maybe that is good though… there were times if I had come to walk in this blessed place… I may never have gone back to the caldron again – and nothing good would have ever happened in the ministry.

(Before some of you wondered deeply about my sanity and personal well being… I’m okay… I’m OKAY… it was a reflective moment that Eldon and I shared deep in the forest… I AM OKAY… and I dared to tell you about…).

We are blessed. Thank you, Eldon and Donna (and God), for a wonderful blessing yesterday. I hope these photos will speak more words than I have to speak today.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
PS – Soon there will be a video or two of a stroll through the bush land of “God’s Home in the Country”. Keep posted!

Celebrating and Continuing the Journey

Who are your friends? Who do you connect with? Why are they your friends? When are they your friends? How are they your friends? What reasons are they your friends?

As I was walking through the “Journey” over the last few days – and especially with the thoughts of the last post – I thought of one person that contacted me by one the Internet tools that I had looked in on. He is a retired teacher now. Along with the contact came a really old photo of me and some other guys in grade 5 or 6. There we were – old friends. The faces were familiar for sure. Some lived in the same area that we did – in homes that were not the best and a community that was kind run down. We were surrounded by “have nots” like us and never knew it. (you can guess which one I am below)
It was when I was in grade 8 that we moved to the area where doctor’s, lawyers and politicians has their homes in our city. It was an old and well developed area.

I was able to attend the same school with my same friends until the end of grade 8 when I would be done at that school. But my friends began changing quickly. In the new community I met the guys two doors down – Nicki and Andrew, Catholic kids that attended a Catholic School three blocks away. Five doors down was Stuart, a neat guy with similar interests to me. The four of us did stuff together for the rest of the year until the end of summer. In fact it was the summer time that usually connected us. Nicki and Andrew had to attend the one Catholic High School which was a long way south of us. Stuart and I went to the same school.

An interesting concept existed in the school system then. If you came from a certain school you generally went into a similar class that first year. The Classes were labeled 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E and 1F. At one point they added a 1G as well. 1A kids were generally from the area that we lived in. But because I had graduated from the other school, where kids came from a little less than perfect – the “have nots” – we all went into the 6th class down the alphabet. Academically, 1F were not as good as 1A. However after the Frosh Year(grade 9ers) there was another adjustment to the class room. Smart guys moved up to higher levels. Well that is not fair to say… it was more likely people that applied themselves to their school work, worked hard, and did their best that moved up into higher levels of classes.

Stuart was in either the A level class or B. He did well in Math and Science. My sights were on fun and the creative. I did okay in the studies generally but they were not my greatest love for sure. So “F” was my stream and we had fun. My brother was a “G” and my sisters were “B”s.

Stuart ended up teaching Math as a full professor at a major University in Ontario. Nicki, who had been a terrible nightmare for the Nuns at his school – hitting one in the back of the head with a raw egg – ended up as a Catholic Priest. Andrew his brother who was the “goodie-goodie” never missing mass or church services – ended up in the Navy and lived a Navy Lifestyle.

Four different friends that are far away from each other – too far to ever make a reunion possible. And if we did, what would we ever talk about? It all ended after High School or in High School… and definitely into University when we all went to four distinctly different area of life.

Sorry about that – a senior’s moment – wondering out into the school yard and forgot what I was saying…

My thoughts are about my friends now. Or in your case – your friends now…Who do we have?

Changing roles in late life can be disconcerting. When your friends move away you are left behind. When they still do the long journeys south and you do not – you are left behind. In the older senior’s life – this is definitely true – most have passed on or now in senior’s residences where contact is more difficult.

In reality at the end you are a little bit like you are at the beginning – you start school new each day wondering if you will make friends.

For those that Divorced or were widowed there is a whole new list of friends (or no friends) after a while.

For those that are married a changing list is available or not… maybe isolation with job changes.

Celebrating a Journey with its many turns and bends in and on it… is good – sometimes. But at times it feels like you are terribly alone. And maybe that is because you really are.

Yesterday…
Back to yesterday’s post and watching my mom sitting alone with her thoughts and her family moving so quickly. At 87 she has few friends around her now. The move to Peterborough was separation from her friends in Regina. Now some of them are gone. Phone calls still come… but not as many. People moved on with their lives. Time kept rolling and so did friends.

Where will I be at 87? That is only 23 years from now. How many friends will still be connecting with me or will the guys my age all be gone?

I have a new YEAR’S resolution now…not waiting for the NEW YEAR. I resolve to meet two new people each day. I figure that I will have 60 new friends by the end of November. At least I plan to. By the end of 23 years from now – there may be 16,790 new friends that look forward to seeing me… and when they have my Memorial Service what a party that will be – with the better part of 16,790 people coming together – woooiiiee…Holy Mackerel, Holy Cow, Hokey Mokey – what a party that will be. NO I WON’T BE THERE – but I will be with the Hundreds of Thousands that I have already me…shaking hands and hugging and doing all the stuff old friends will do…. Holy Mackerel, Holy Cow, Hokey Mokey what a party that will be!

I have been practicing that over this past week. It is amazing the reaction that is coming.

Today I will celebrate and continue the journey with a while new group of friends – that is my resolution.

How about you?

~ Murray Lincoln ~

Celebrating the Journey

As I sat beside the Football field my grandkids were playing hard. I was loving what I was watching. Just over from me was my mom – 87 years old and wrapped warmly in her green blanket on the cold fall day. In front of us was my 9 year old granddaughter running hard with all her padding on and the shinny white helmet bobbing.

Three worlds apart, three different journeys to say the least… My age is 64 and the years have been crammed full of many things – good experiences and not so good. My mom is the same. This past week was her wedding anniversary – the 65th I think. For 21 years now she has been alone. Many good memories and many not so good.

Emma bolts down the field chasing one of the boys on the other team. She has 9 years of memories – most are nothing but good. Three worlds apart. But before she is 87, she will see her great grandmother die, along with the rest of her grandparents, mom and dad. There will be hundreds upon hundreds of wonderful blessings coming her way. She may well sit wrapped in a blanket and remember the very old people in her life so long ago.

Today I dreamed of my own days of running and chasing another boy down the field as he carried the ball too. Great Grandma was smiling as she watched the fire of her great granddaughter.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said…
It seems as if the Deity dressed each soul which he sends into nature in certain virtues and powers not communicable to other men, and sending it to perform one more turn through the circle of beings, wrote “Not Transferable” and “Good for this trip only” on these garments.

William Bridges (in The Way of Transitions) quoted Emerson and then added…
FIRST, every journey is a round trip that does not end when you reach your imagined destination, but only after a return trip where you bring back whatever you gained and with its help transform here into what you have been seeking.

SECOND, the journey experience exists at every level – from that of the whole lifetime to that within every transition we make. It may even be that this “whole lifetime” is simply one of those little transitions within some larger cycle of existence.

THIRD, it is the being on the path – this way – that has the effect upon us, not the steps we take on getting to the path’s destination.
Wow! How true these words are as they sink in slowly.

My path that led me to the side of the Football field today to watch 9 year olds run like crazy… has been an interesting journey to say the least. I am on a path…not the one that I thought I would be on 55 years ago…but it is my path with all the hooks and crooks and smooth sailing stretches… it is my transitions…

For you…
Have you ever thought about the time you were 9 years old and what you dreamed about doing someday? Now look at what happened along the way. Would you change anyone area? Not likely – or if you did you would never have had one little bit of what you have now… it would have never happened.

Today with God’s help I am going to celebrate the journey one more time. Oh what a day it has been… and tomorrow will be even greater.

How about you?

~ Murray Lincoln ~

Twittering Two

Watching the MPPs of our Ontario Government had new meaning for me. These are folks that I have prayed for… and because of that they are people that I feel I seem to know.

There they were in the middle of some very important debates, each rising to the issue of the day. Or in many cases they were bringing forward issues from the ridings that they represent. I never realized how important the things are that they deal with. It is amazing what happens when you engage in prayer on behalf of someone.

I was impressed to say the least.

It was at that high moment while I was engrossed in what was being said that a funny noise seemed to come from my TV speakers. It was odd. It didn’t fit in what was happening. Like… it was an electronic failure of some sort – like maybe feedback? The person speaking stopped what he were saying and looked sharply to his left…then grinned… then tried to go on. But couldn’t because the Speaker of the House had stood and looked to his right. All of the pages were on their feet with the Speaker.

What happened? What could stop the Ontario Legislature and the speaking men about really important issues quit?

A “Blackberry failure” is the answer… a plain old Blackberry! Go figure… an MPP in the Ontario Legislative Assembly at Queen’s Park was caught Red Faced as he “Twittered”.

I shouldn’t blame Twittering on this noise…but maybe another Twitter kind of call or notification…or even a telephone call arriving.

Being caught in the Legislative Assembly while someone is scoring points with some of his constituents back home in front of their TVs… made the Speaker grin and offer words of correction. Fortunate for the OFFENDER the dude that was Twittering never was caught on Camera.

The Speaker’s words told the story. With a grin on his face and laughter in his voice he said, “I want to remind Members that their Blackberry needs to be turned off…”

Now an entire population that was watching this from all across Ontario, witnessing this lively series of events are people that think a Blackberry is something you can put on your cereal in the morning. In fact they might even think there is something wrong with my TV. Not so. A Blackberry is a Cell Phone that is REALLY FANCY!

The Twitter world has invaded the top law makers.

This past week I was riding with a Twitter. That is right with him the vehicle. He is driving and we are on a very busy street. The light changed and we didn’t move. I waited and the guy behind us waited. I looked at my friend to see if he had experienced a stroke or had died of a heart attack.

Nope! He was grinning from ear to ear – about to laugh out loud at a private joke. He was also looking down in his lap at his right hand where his Blackberry was looking up at him. His right thumb was typing quickly a message into the small keyboard on his unit.

“Hey dude… the light changed!” He looked at me embarrassed. I had caught him “red handed” Twittering to some body.

Now to make it even more weird, he and I had taken some time to be together. You know like have some quality time with each other and “speak into each other’s lives”. You know…like share the deep things of what God was doing for each of us…like ministers do together… like some of the pain and some of joys… blah, blah…BLAH!

He asked me some great questions which caused me to really think. I carefully began to open to him in this quality moment together sharing some deep stuff that I had been thinking of…

In the middle of my sharing my true feelings… the traffic light had changed… and he never moved ahead… he was Twittering as I was sharing my deepest feelings – AND NOT EVEN LISTENING TO ONE DING DONG WORD I SAID!

The TWIT has been Twittering and not listening.

After my friend was caught not listening to what I said he tried to show how concerned he was about me. That was funny. I could tell this dude anything – even the most outlandish thing and he would never hear anyway – nor did he care. So I basically shut down and waited until the quality time together was over…getting back to my garage was more important than sharing with someone that can’t hear. The piece of wood I carve listens to me better than a Twitter.

Yesterday…
As part of my classes and studies I attended a S.E.B. Trade show at our Evinrude Center – a community center/Hockey rink complex.

The dude at the table I stopped in front of was warm and engaging. He was entertaining to say the least. He shared with me all the advantages of his business. Great stuff – really cool to listen to him. Then he asked me a question about me and my plans. I started to tell him my story… then there was a weird sound from his pocket… he jerked a little… eyes fluttered slightly… shifted his weight to the left. I was losing him for sure… MAYBE A STROKE right there in front of me…God what should I do for the poor man?

He slowly reached in his pocket as he listened closely to what I was saying and pulled out his Blackberry that was making a weird noise… then said, “Sorry…” and began to talk to whomever…

I excused myself with a “Seeya”. Aint worth the effort to share anything important… most of the world is Twittering.

I left the place and went out to my bicycle to ride home. I looked up and smiled – there was a blue sky and God was smiling too. No… not really but I felt it. I talked to him on the way home. He listened.

I used to be bothered when God became so quiet when I prayed. Not anymore. I am delighted with his silence… it proves he isn’t Twittering but rather really listening.

A THOUGHT…
I had a really funny thought… at the next funeral I do I would like to slip a cell phone into the casket when I walk by to pay my respects at the front, at the time just before the Funeral Directors do their closing and the little bow. Then as the service progresses… at the right moment… just after the prayer…I will call the phone in the casket and listen to it ring and Ring and RING. It would be at that moment that everyone in the room would be grabbing their own phone frantically to turn it off. Their wives would be glaring at them… TOO FUNNY…just TOO FUNNY. FUNERAL DIRECTORS would be in a panic because someone had done something as stupid as forget to take the guys cell phone out of his pocket….!!!!! OOOOieee too funny!

In a really weird way – I could show the living that some day the Twittering will be over. But a Pastor would never do that – would he…? ;-0

~ Murray Lincoln ~

Are You A Twitter?

The title states it all… or rather asks it all. Are you a “Twitter”?

No No – I didn’t ask you if you are a Twit! - but rather a “Twitter”

This like everything else in my life is very new. Some records/information that I have read shows that it goes way back to last year… however it is more up to date than last year – it is not even last month… it is two days or even last week. It is growing by the millions in seconds. Hang on you have not seen anything yet.

To be a Twitter it helps that you would have a Cell Phone with Text Messaging…but you can work from a Lap Top or Desk Top as well.

Think of real life right now and what you are doing. I know – I know – you are reading this Blog…or doing your FaceBook or email replies that take a little time to construct ideas….or receive ideas. But what about that “feeling” you are having as you do what you are doing right now? That infinite moment that you can pause and sip the hot chocolate. That is a “Twit”… it is a “moment of feeling”… and now you can share that with people that know you – or don’t know you…

If you have used FaceBook…you will notice a line at the top, left side of the screen that is beside your photo… a square cartoon balloon with the words asking “What are you doing right now?” If you write something in there…for all your friends to read… you have Twitted and your are a Twitter.

Now you know that FaceBook is available when you have moment to open your Browser… then click on to FaceBook icon or goes slowly to the URL and click there to open it and then check out the latest info and Slide shows that someone forwarded to you…

WOW – How slow can you go? FaceBook is quickly losing its ZING. The new program called “twitter.com” could not be more simple… and super fast. I can let my “friends” know immediately what I am feeling at that exact moment…right down to 5 seconds ago. And they will look at the cell phone immediately because it just bleeped that they have a new message.

Now the really cool part is that you are standing at a Bus Stop in your weird world, suffering from Home Work overload, boyfriend/girldfriend problems and feel like $%#@@... you can Twitter a note… and every friend on your Twitter connection will know what you are feeling like at that EXACT MOMENT – even if one is in England and another is Japan – they will know that you feel yucky…or ecstatic…or hungry… or whatever.

For older folks that simply remember walking home from school and bragging about whatever you were doing at that moment – or where you were going to be this coming weekend – at a cottage – or a the farm… Your friend listened and then asked questions. Or maybe your friend would brag about what he is going to do. That is what happened to me as a guy.

My “sisters” were different. They walked with other “sisters” and would have melt downs…breaking into tearful and deeply emotional moments. Their friend would stop and look at them…touch their hand…hug them… ALL THAT WEIRD STUFF THAT GUYS DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT…and we walked on.

Now if you have that THOUGHT of the OLD DAYS… fast forward that 50 years to now…. the bragging, the melt down, the whatever is now broadcast in seconds to wherever your friends are right now…and if they are in England or Japan or Korea or ???? they can feel for you.

NEVER AGAIN will some one be able to say, “ I am sorry, I didn’t know,” If they are any kind of friend they would have had their cell phone on and immediately Twittered me back again.

AWAY Back in 1981 we lived in Hong Kong and needed to send a letter back home. We always chose to send it AIR MAIL because it took less than two weeks – and if you were lucky maybe even one week to get there. Oddly enough in those OLD DAYS a letter across Canada would take almost three weeks. That was 1981.

When I wrote the letter then… I had time to blow my nose and wipe my eyes many times before I finished writing the letter… and would have a whole new set of problems before the letter arrived at its destination… let alone when the answer to my letter would come back to me.

Do you realize how many Twittered Messages that I could send and receive in one week. “Doh123” is my Twitter name and it best describes my “Homer Simpson” feeling to the world around me.

I am a bit of a TWIT so I don’t really know all the ways you can use Twitter yet. And I don’t have a cell phone yet… so I Twitter with older slower folks using FaceBook or even Twitter once a day… the way we did back in the old days of a year ago.

Holy Mackerel, Holy Cow, Hokey Mokey…I can hardly keep up. What about you?

You will particularly need to watch the small video below…

But hold on… there is MORE! Some one has developed “12 Second TV”(see below) No kidding – you can video tape yourself for 12 seconds and then everyone of your friends can see what you are doing right now… then fire it up to the 12 second TV site… your friends can then see what you are doing RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT and for days to come.

If you check this one out… go to the link shown below… scroll down a little to the video area and there are thousands of mini 12 second clips to watch… about generally nothing… but WOW what can be done with this one…

Now I have Blogged on long enough with just over 1000 words today. A Twitter allows just 140 characters. I am a dinosaur.

But as to the “God Stuff” I try to refer to here… it is so cool. God has one step on this Twitter idea or even the 12 Second TV – it is prayer. The smallest one that I use is “HELP” and He always responds… in fact the Instruction Manual says, “Before they call I will answer” – no that is fast. Added to that is the fact that He promised that he will never leave me or forsake me.

God was the ORIGINAL TWITTER! Too cool.

Catch me on Twitter – I am “Doh123” or murray.lincoln@gmail.com

~ Murray Lincoln ~

Sources:
Twitter
A Twitter in Plain English
http://dotsub.com/api/smallplayer.php?filmid=3066&filminstance=3068&language=none
Uses
http://www.insidecrm.com/features/101-twitter-uses-052008/
Many Uses
http://www.techipedia.com/2007/the-many-uses-of-twitter/
What’s Twitter
http://www.cbc.ca/news/blogwatch/2008/05/whats_twitter_for.html
Related to Journalism
http://www.journalism.co.uk/7/articles/531439.php

12 Second TV
http://12seconds.tv/

Big Races Over

In three days time I have completed two things that I have never tried before. Wow – two new experiences that have left me a little numb.

Both of these are the same in many ways. Both took a lot of time to take part in and both appeared on TV for more than three hours. Both cost millions and many people were involved. In both cases there was a great rush to begin with and in the end there was a winner – kind of… but we are all sorting through what we watched.

Tada…
I watched my first ever NASCAR Race on TV last Sunday evening – all 334 laps of cars racing almost 200 mph around a small, half mile or so track.

Then last night I sat and watched the whole election results for Canada from the first announcements in our area to the completion when the victory/conciliatory speeches were given.

No wonder I feel a little run over today – pun intended.

Comparisons…

• NASCAR races are fast and always changing. Leaders are given points for every time they hold the first position in the race around the track. Elections are that way in the end.
• Elections are fast as well in telling you what people thought… so is NASCAR.
• NASCAR has winners sometimes that you think are going to win – but don’t in the end – the high level of expectancy is there and will be to the end results – so does the Election.
• Elections have a tremendous ‘what if’, ‘maybe it will’, ‘no it can’t be so’ – elements in them from front to back – plain old excitement charged with possibility – so much like NASCAR
• NASCAR covers almost 200 miles going absolutely no where and makes a tremendous amount of noise with crashes and spin outs and flashes of color everywhere… Elections are almost the same if you are a politician.
• For someone that dislikes cars going in circles and going no where…. He or She can identify with those that think politicians do the same.

The one difference for me is the feeling that I have after it is all over. I am drawn to pray for the Politician after the race is over – where the NASCAR racer does not invoke that same need. They race again next Sunday – the politicians – both winners and losers must go on and do as best that they can.

Family dynamics were changed last night as result of the elections. Many will need help to get through their next weeks and months with the changes that they underwent after Oct 14 was over. Truly they will never be the same again.

On the Side…
As I watched the NASCAR race it began with the pre-race stuff. It was then that something interesting happened. The spectator stands were jammed full of thousands upon thousands of people. It may have been an audience as big as any Super Bowl Football Game and a TV Audience to match.

There was an announcement asking everyone to remove their hats, and stand as Pastor ***** leads us in prayer. Then a Pentecostal Pastor – someone like me – stood there in his sport jacket and blue jeans and prayed one powerful prayer in the “Name of Jesus”. As he prayed the camera swept over the crowd and there was not one head raised or eye open – the whole audience was praying. Hokey Mokey! Holy Mackerel! Holy Cow! I couldn’t believe it.

Can you imagine that happening in Canada? No way! Not at our football or hockey games. Not even at our high speed road races!

They prayed to God for guidance and protection. It was a God moment that everyone there needed.

What would happen if we did the same thing at our major events…prayed…?

What would happen if we prayed before an election?

What would happen if we prayed for our politicians before the race, during the race, and after the race?

What if we prayed for the whole time a government is sitting – two to four years of prayer?

Can you imagine what would happen to our country?

Today I begin to pray for our new government. I pray for the individuals that won and will leave their families for weeks on end. I also am praying for our Canadians that ran but didn’t win… and their families.

WOW Murray… that is a lot of praying isn’t it? Yes – it can be. But God kind of directs as to who should be prayed for today – the “now” of today is His.

But there is an emotional toll in this work. Today I am tired but I need to begin praying… for men and women that are even more tired than me.

God bless Canada’s leaders and our Government beginning Oct 15, 2008.

~ Murray Lincoln ~

Sources to consider:
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/31/data/results_official.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/v5/content/election2008/provincial-results.html

Acting Badly

October 14, 2008 Election Day… VOTE!

In our area there is a wide range of ages represented in our political candidates as we go into this election today. There is also a wide range of opinions and attitudes.

The ages go from being able to be the parent to being able to be the daughter of at least one of the other candidates. There may be at least 20 years difference. This very much holds true in the attitude category as well. From youthful new ideas to the old party line – “They are bad – we are really good.” – or – “They haven’t got a clue – we are your only clue to good government.”

The youthful candidate stood and proclaimed that “Yes we can do it and make a difference.” The oldest candidate cuddled up to the idea that we need to vote for me in a “Strategic” way.

One older and well known community person that has been known strongly for her strong and vocal support for one party – loudly voiced her opinion about “Strategic” voting and said everyone should do it. But in doing so she added her personal dislike for the person now in the powerful place of leadership. Of course this is all in front of TV cameras and press hounds.

Stop for a moment in the middle of this muddle – and think about some hidden little people – young people that must be deeply affected by what is happening. They are the children of the candidates. (The youngest person running in our area is the only one that I think doesn’t have kids yet.)

Can you imagine how the kids feel when people hate their father or mother? In our area it will be the kids of two men that will be deeply affected. (The one older woman has grown children – so less affect I am sure.)

I feel for these kids and the emotional roller coaster that the family must be on right now. Their friends at school have to know that their daddy is trying hard to win an election… and maybe even picked up on the thought that daddy hasn’t been home a lot for 5 weeks of grueling handshaking and listening to people yell at him.

Mothers of kids with a daddy in politics are the real heroes. They guide families through the race course, rough channels of politics, and the weather of the weird world of political attitude.

You may have guessed that I am not political…but if I have to be something…maybe I am “a-political”. I really don’t think it matters who gets in – the problems are so big that come their way – that few will have a real new idea to deal with any of it. The difficulties that we face financially and socially are so big that the best they will do is to surf the waves of problems. That certainly makes more sense than trying to stop the wave or drain the ocean.

Political stuff takes a toll on everyone. After the end the 5 weeks of raging on and on…with your TV set almost hot by the many silly promises and subtle threats of our adults leaders… we are so glad to have it over with.

This P.S.(political stuff) also hits hard at the young and soon to enter the world of responsibility. My grandson is 13 and asked me one day not long ago, “Grandpa, who do you think will win? Who do you think is the best one?” We talked a while on the way to the Baseball Game he was playing in. He is very astute to say the least. One thing that he had picked up on was the fact that none of these folk in the P.S. were listening to each other. And each of them seemed angry at the others.

In our area a newspaper columnist stated a fact that is real. If the youth and young adult of our area came out and voted today – they would decide the election. Which ever way they went with their vote would elect our leader. But they likely won’t. Their apathy is very evident. They do not want what the older folk are yelling and threatening. (Reference here to the “Strategic” voting called for by the older lady.)

The youth are like a sleeping lion or tiger – if wakened they might just change the world we are in.

Election time has taught me one important thing – and this year is no different. People that get caught up in this P.S. act badly and turn off those around them – adults or the youth – and for that reason they stay away from voting stations.

Oh boy – do we ever need prayer for the people that run these races – either running in these races or running with the racers. We need to ask God for his guidance in these P.S. matters. Then if we have time to say just one more sentence in the prayer ask God to keep his hand on the family of our politicians.

I know what happens to the kids of Ministers in churches – when the P.S. is happening around and towards their dad and mom as leaders. It isn’t good. My friends, the politicians, have an even greater burden – and so do their families.

~ Murray Lincoln ~