As I said, I did not give it much thought at the time. But, of late I have been reminded of this and other comments by other friends. I have seen a pattern emerge from all the various conversations and comments. And, I feel compelled to talk about this pattern. That said, I'm not really sure where to begin. My thoughts and memories are swirling around in my head right now, and I am looking for the thread to pull in order for all this to make sense. So, here goes.
What do you think of when you hear the word "Hope"?
Well, for me, Hope is something that goes with a situation, where the odds are against something good happening. Or, when something bad is happening and the odds of the situation being corrected are not good. To me, we need Hope when things look the worst, and we want (or need) to get beyond the situation that we are facing.
As a country, were we so bad off that we needed some kind of miracle? Why would we need Hope?
I think it is safe to say that there were a great number of people who were unhappy and/or disillusioned, and, that this was somehow attributed to our government. We then have to ask ourselves what is the root cause, if we want to understand the need for Hope; the need for Change.
Why were people unhappy and disillusioned? Well, if you have expectations that you will be rich (for example), and, you are not rich, you would probably be unhappy and maybe even disillusioned.
Aren't we a bit spoiled? Don't we in this country have so many more opportunities than those elsewhere? Shouldn't we be happy with and thankful for what we have? And, isn't it really greedy and selfish of us to be wanting more, given what we already have?
Moreover, haven't we been manipulated (see "Is the head dead yet" blog) into thinking that we are somehow being treated unfairly; because there are people who have more than we have? Haven't we been convinced that our neighbor has something we should also have? And, after all, who's fault is it if our neighbor has more than we have?
Now we are getting somewhere: it's the governments fault; at least in the minds of some people. And, it's the governments responsibility to make this right. This explains why we would put our Hope for Change into a single man.
Wow! What a brilliant campaign Obama ran! The media created the mindset, and the Obama campaign capitalized on this big time. If this does not send chills up and down your spine, you should read the "Masters or Servants" blog and the "Is the head dead yet" blog.
Are "we the people" so absolutely self centered (spoiled) that we can only think of ourselves (see "I Want" blog)? Seriously. Why are we so focused on what our neighbors have? Why aren't we focused on being thankful for what we have, instead of lusting after what our neighbors have?
This seems to me to be a root cause. And, the really sad thing is that this gives our "Masters" a way to manipulate us. All because we cannot get away from our envy. It's ironic really. People put their hope into a government that ultimately sees them as "Servants".
My hope is that people in this country will focus more on doing the right thing, and that people will be less envious and selfish. But, this is not something I expect (or hope) that the government will do. People have to make individual choices. I'm just hoping they make the right choices for the right reasons.
Why are people hoping for the government to do something? I think we have a second root cause here: the government is seen as the highest authority.
As Americans, we have a Constitution which spells out our God given Rights. These Rights are not given to us by the government. These rights are in fact to protect us from the government, and, ultimately from people who might use the government for their own purposes. These rights come from God, as "One Nation Under God". And, God is the highest authority.
Our money all indicates our collective "trust" in God. Yet, we put our hope and faith in one man? I can see now why some of the conservative talking heads make reference to Obama as a deity. I don't like this tactic, by the way. But, given the way the campaign was run, I can see the rationale for their position.
Do we really, as a nation, trust God? Well, if you read my "What are the odds?" blog, you will see that things are changing. And, I think this gives us the "why" for the question of why we would put our hope and faith into a single man or a government.
Based on the Rally (or Revival) in Washington D.C. Last summer, there are still those who have hope and faith. But, what about the future? I believe we are a very blessed nation, and that our trust in God is the reason for these blessings. My hope is that one day people will wake up to realize this fact.
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