Archives for November 6, 2008

As Democrats celebrated the historic election of America”s first African-American president yesterday, storms rolled across the Great Plains. Along with the rest of the storm chasing community, I”d been watching the system as it developed. It promised to be the year”s last blast, and hopes were high that it would be a good one. It turned out to be less than hoped for but better than it could have been. If I lived in Kansas or Oklahoma, I”d have been a fool not to go, but if I lived farther away–which I do–I”d have been a fool to make the drive. Glad I stayed home.\r\n\r\nLast night I tracked the storms with GR3 and GR2AE. Some nice supercells scooted along south and east of Oklahoma City. I”m sure they gave those who chased them a decent show, though they never produced tornadoes. Not a bad end-of-the-year play for tornado alley. I think it”s interesting that they occurred on the day they did. With Obama voted in as the new president-elect, stormy world conditions haven”t quelled the giddy response nationwide and abroad. Yet not everyone feels joyous. That”s true whenever presidential elections come and go. Quite a few of my friends are disappointed.\r\n\r\nMy attitude is, give it some time and let”s see what happens. I”m skeptical of hype, of overexpectations on the one hand and vilifications on the other, and the political machine is filled with such. Right now, the world is infatuated with Obama. But the world is still the world, and nothing in it has changed. The word “recession” still looms large, deadly enemies still conspire against us, causes continue to pit themselves against causes in the ideological maelstrom, and nothing leads me to think that any political figure is truly able to fix this broken planet. We can only do what we must. In the Bible, Paul tells us to pray for those in power, and Peter admonishes us to “honor the king,” whoever the king may be. The kingdom of God is altogether different in character from political power; it weaves the best and worst of human affairs into a higher agenda. That”s where my faith lies. It lies in Jesus, who said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” and who refused earthly kingship when it lay within his grasp. The true corridors of power aren”t in Washington, but in heaven. And yes, I really believe that. If your hopes lie in which political party has the upper hand, then right now chances are you feel either crushed or exuberant. As for me, I refuse to pin my star on election results. That has always been my stance as a follower of Jesus.\r\n\r\nOur country has turned a significant page in history. I have an idea that, like yesterday”s weather, once the model forecasts give way to the ground truth, we”ll find that our new president proves to be neither everything the liberals have hoped for, nor as bad as conservatives have feared. Obama is a remarkable political figure, but he”s still just a man. Not a saint, not a demon, but a limited, fallible human. I have mixed feelings about him, just as I”ve had with McCain, but I believe he will do his best. And I will pray for him.