So before I finally get off this computer and wrap up the night, I want to say a few things. I don’t expect anyone to actually read this, what with the alcohol and sobbing and such. But I’m going with it, regardless.

This loss is not McCain’s fault, or Sarah Palin’s fault. It is not the media’s fault; or the democrat’s fault. It is my fault.

It is my fault because for the last year I have come home after work and logged-on to political websites like HotAir (which I like very much).

I read the posts and sometimes make comments. Sometimes I laugh at some, and get pissed at others. I end up spending hours, much like tonight, absorbed in the opinions of others or the action of the day. Sometimes I’ve even been outraged.

But one thing I have never done, despite my intense interest in politics and, the seed of that interest which is a deep love for America, is to actually DO something about it. I have never made a phone call; I have never written a letter; I have never volunteered. In short, I have done everything I could, though spent vast amounts of emotive and logical and reasonable energy becoming informed about ‘the state of things’, yet never actually lifted a single finger to move my (our) belief forward.

I have read many, many comments tonight blaming McCain and Palin and voters of various states for voting incorrectly. The frustration is understandable and on the surface I partly agree. But then I realize how condescending my opinion is: that if only someone else had tried harder, or if someone else were as smart and informed as I, the outcome would have assuredly been different! I even lace a few curse words into my rant just to convince myself I really mean it. I don’t mean to say that none of you tried. I know you did. I mean to say that I didn’t.

So the choice remains, as it always has, in taking responsibility for my own state of affairs. The sun will indeed rise tomorrow, for God is both good and faithful. He has still given me breath to speak, even though I often fail to do so. And though I may not recognize them at the time, I will still have countless opportunites to right a wrong, voice my opinion, affect those around me.

I write all of this to say that politics and McCain and Palin and the Republican party are not, nor have they ever been, the salvation or assurance of this country. But that our great country’s salvation has always rested in the hands of her Creator, and its assurance has always been through the common voice we share in the simple, honest expression of living our everyday lives.

You have my word that I will do more than simply read opinion in the future. And you have my word that I will not fail to voice, either by word or deed, the great affection I have for this common notion of America. It won’t be fancy, and probably not very eloquent. But it will be real and honest and determined.

Today’s election is not the end; it is only the beginning.

America be forever blessed, and her people forever grateful.

God bless,
James

James OK on November 4, 2008 at 11:29 PM