BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING

October 20, 2017

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:6,7

As elections draw close, people are expressing their thoughts on campaign issues via letters to the editor, Facebook posts, personal conversations, and just about any means to convey their sentiments. Sadly, a sense of hopelessness seems to be the prevailing mood.

I find that we can be so fearful that "our" candidate will not get elected that we think that moving to a neighboring country is preferable to facing the future with the "other" candidate. Democracy is reflected in the right and responsibility to vote in an election, but democracy is no guarantee of who wins the elections. If our candidate is not elected we need to realize that we are simply in the minority.

I know that if my security, happiness and well-being are so tied up in the election of "my" candidate, then I better do some pretty deep soul searching. I need to find some roots that will allow me to live without falling prey to the anxieties and insecurities of the day.

America is a place where one can complain about the government and its elected officials without fear of a knock on the door in the middle of the night. It is a place where we hold elections and we have a say about those in power.

America, with all of her imperfections, is still the country that let me buy a house, send my children to college, buy a business and go broke, then start a new business. It allows me to take the profits of that enterprise and freely invest those profits as a reflection of my values.

If we can't support the country in which we live, we have the freedom to choose a new country, live there and do what we can to create a better place for future generations. For me, that country is America.