It's NOT Over!

So, hopefully as soon as the election is over, we won’t be logging off social networks with a lump in our throats, feeling a heaving sensation in our chests from all the political dialogue to which we’ve been exposed. Honestly, I feel pain on a profound level when I consider some of the positions that my friends hold on volatile issues that have been discussed, but I can imagine they feel the same about some of mine. But, “I’m right!” No, I don’t really mean that. The extreme views and propaganda of freshly spun story lines and words spoken, yanked from their context, have been enough to make a person ill. The political spectrum’s right, left, and even the independent camp are all guilty.

No matter the outcome from the votes, we can bet the news media will take us through a short honeymoon for the administration of the POTUS, and those newly elected to the House and Senate. But, in no time, the onslaught of attacks will begin afresh. Maybe the hope of the media is to uncover inconsistencies that elected officials need to fix. Or, maybe it is a barrage mudslinging to the demise of a person with a different approach or perspective in solving the nation’s problems.

Yet, with all the intensity that this election evokes, an important question emerges:  If the candidate you want to win, WINS, will that really solve all of our problems?!!!

Of course it won’t! And, that’s not to say that great leadership doesn’t make a difference.

As I’ve observed the political process through my life, I’ve come to conclusions that often people make decisions based upon, "what’s in it for me?” Not always, but most of the time. I know that self-centeredness is what I see on a daily basis with my preschooler and toddler, and to be honest, real honest, I have to go to God, A LOT, about my own.  And no matter what policies a government puts  in place, it seems that eventually, self-centered people  are after a slice of the pie, for any benefit that can be acquired, free, from the governing authorities.

Capitalism is awesome!  Awesome as long as we all are upright, blameless, righteous, and just people. When the moral fabric of any culture crumbles, it doesn’t matter how well the political rails of the cultural train have been placed. Just to add, I don’t know of ANY founding fathers who laid a better foundation than the nation in which I currently reside. So if our governing officials stick to that foundation, we can expect a flourishing future. Yet, a necessity to experience a flourishing future we so desire is that citizens, on an individual basis, get in touch with a deep sense of righteousness and justice. That sense needs to be deep enough that it moves each person to responsible action.

So, my prayer is still, “God bless America.” PLEASE do, right down to the core of our being. Because what is going on in our hearts, the seat of our affections, motivations, and actions, is more important than any ideology to which we hold. Heart change brings awareness of our capacity for selfishness, and it can help us to know that with God’s help, we can do what is best for others, even if it costs us everything.

Amos 5: 24 “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (NIV)

Achievement Hunger

Watching the ’12 Olympiad from London has been quite an experience! I fast-forwarded through hours of recordings to see the interviews and the competitions that resonated with my temperament and personality. Once in a while, I saved a recording of the equestrian events or gymnastics for Sarah as well.  As I’ve watched returning athletes, like Phelps, May, Walsh, Bolt, etc…, I’ve contemplated about how they are able to win, and even return after four or eight years, and triumph again.  There are all types of components in being a ‘winner’, but what gives a person that intensity of desire of hunger? It’s that longing or desire that keeps a veteran competing, and helps a young athlete to rise to the occasion. That’s the theme that I’ve wondered about through the ups and downs of the games in London.  Disciplined and repetitive preparation, training, focus and even athletic ability all combine to make a champion, but an underlying, and even more important element seems to be a yearning to compete, and ultimately, win…

On a personal level, we all go out and, to a degree, contend in the marketplace. Some of us have a hunger to do what we do. There’s something deeper that drives us.  Yes, sometimes that drive is more passionate, and sometimes, unfortunately it languishes.

So, I’d like to ask a few questions and read your feedback. I’d love to write an entry someday with the thoughts that you have, since your responses may help provide expertise on the subject of that inner drive. What do you think feeds such a deep desire to win or triumph? Where do you think that get-up-and-go comes from?

Across the board, I think we’ve seen the athletes who lose that drive and the competitive edge, and all of a sudden, the medals and accolades no longer accompany their efforts. It happens in the work-world too.

I’ve also felt that the hunger and drive has an innate, divine quality. It is almost like a calling for each one of us. What do you think? I’d love to read your comments on my Facebook page about how to feed the desires that will help you accomplish and where you think that hunger comes from.

The Gift of Freedom (by my cousin, Lori Cameron)

Some years ago, I had a Cambodian student in my class. He struggled heroically with both speaking and writing English but finished with a C minus. In spite of his difficulty, he came to class every week wearing a big smile on his broad, beautiful face. I had warmed to him considerably during the term, so, when he stayed after class the last day—as he was inclined to do—I sat down and talked to ...him for longer than usual. Our conversation drifted to his home country, and he began—in his faltering English—to describe what it was like to live under the Khmer Rouge. I sat speechless as he described how people were driven from their homes and either killed execution-style or forced to march for days to slave labor camps where they were forced to work for the regime. He said one word of protest, one false move could get you killed. At one point, I stopped him and asked, “How do you LIVE in such circumstances? How do you survive?” He replied, “You do work the government give you, and you keep mouth shut.”

I could feel the strength leaving my body. My student then described his break for freedom. He said that Cambodians often rushed the Thailand border en masse, making it difficult for the soldiers to catch or kill them all. Some were caught. Some were killed. Some were severely injured, but many made it across safely. My student and the group he was in rushed the border under cover of night, and, while my student made it across unscathed, another man was shot. Once across, he helped the injured man make it to one of the refugee camps set up across the border where the American Red Cross was helping the sick and injured. The man was treated and lived. After some time, my student learned that some Americans had donated money earmarked for airfare so that some of the refugees could come to live in America. Against all odds, my student acquired a plane ticket and came to the United States. He said he lived here a while, got married, had kids, then decided to go to college and learn computer programming. He wanted to get a better job to provide for his family. I asked him later, “How did you feel when your plane landed? What did you do?” He replied, “I got off plane, got down on my knees, and kissed ground.”

I cried all the way home that night. I realized that sometimes I cloister myself into a tiny world of slights and imagined wrongs. Sometimes, I think I am the victim. That night, I realized that I lived in the greatest country in the world, and at times I hardly acted like it. I get impatient standing in line at the grocery store—a store filled with more food and greater variety than can be found most anywhere in the world. I get frustrated in traffic, but I’m driving a car with soft seats, music, and air-conditioning. I sigh heavily when my flight is delayed, but I can travel freely in this country, anytime I want, anywhere I want. I can speak my mind and worship as I please. I have an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I make my own choices and mark my own destiny. It seems to me that the people who come here from other countries—people who have fled civil war, famine, poverty, and oppression—are the ones who appreciate this country the most. They understand. They feel the contrast right down to their bones. We cling to our curmudgeonly ways.

When we start to cloister ourselves in our tiny worlds, we must stop. We must go the other way. We must make our world bigger. Make it stretch across the ocean to another place. Make it reach all the way to Cambodia—under cover of night.

Tomorrow is Independence Day. The liberty we have is a precious gift—given to us by God and by men and women willing to lay down their lives to keep us safe. I hope that in the midst of the fun, we remember that we possess the single most valuable thing a country can ever give its people, and the thing so many people would willingly risk their lives for—freedom. by, guest writer, Lori Cameron