I have also observed with some anxiety the process in which we elect citizens to serve. Regardless of whether or not your opponent is kind or mean...it is a divisive process. I have also observed that the "rhetoric" most voters are SO TIRED OF is our own fault! We won't elect "sensible"...we want you to tell us pie in the sky. That is what gets the cheers and the votes. Then we wonder why our elected officials are not keeping their promises. It would be impossible. The truth is, it doesn't seem to matter all that much. On a state level statistically only 25% of the people vote...a city election...11%. The sacrifices made by our founding fathers, the risks they took, the blood and lives lost for our ability to have freedom to choose and this is how we respond? I understand there is voter fatigue and many don't go to the polls because they are disillusioned. Well then, you deserve the government you have and you leave the 11% to work hard to overcome the imbalance. I need to qualify that I have been in the 89%...until now.
Our youngest daughter Annie is attending BYU and has one year left before she graduates. She is at a point in her life where she is trying to make some very important decisions. The greatest desire she has is to be exceptional and she is trying to decide between all good things. We had made plans to go to Boise for Memorial Day weekend and had decided to council with her when we were all together. It is important to note that everyone was there with the exception of Kendra and family as they are in Syracuse which is to far to come for a two day weekend!
Bob and Annie had found a quiet place in the home where she could receive the council and blessings of a loving father. Through out the evening Annie's siblings had joined in and the by the time I had arrived there was our precious Annie surround by the people that love her more than anyone else in the world. It was a sweet and tender moment for me. I listened as each of them gave the most profound and loving council. The only motive we had was to help her. There were no hidden agendas or power plays. No special interest groups or lobbyists. No money to be made. We simply wanted what is best for Annie. As I have pondered on that beautiful evening a thought equally as profound came to me. Family is the best and purest form of government. I have had this thought before but this experience gave it real color. If you want a great society it begins with great families. There seems to be more effort in protecting and defending our Party than our families. Our families are not here for the "Party"...it is here for us. Families, in all their diverse varieties, is the best way to govern and the harvest can be bountiful!
So what can I do? I'm not a fighter so I will not be doing that. What I will do is stand firm and be clear and I will do it with love and compassion. "Here I stand...I can do nothing more." Martin Luther
