Politics...

Elections were held for president of the United States last Tuesday, November 6th. While many of my friends posted many things on Facebook, some kind, some not-so-kind, I have refrained from all that activity. Not because I have no feelings on this issues. But because I much prefer a discussion rather that hot-headed noise that gets no one anywhere and tears up friendships.

Election day, when we got home from La Grange, we turned on the TV to see what was happening. The campaign race had appeared to be close between Barack Obama, our current president, and Mitt Romney, the challenger. We thought, as did many others, that this would be a long night of watching and waiting to see who would win with the possibility of it taking a day or two to sort out all those votes.

I was surprised at all the places that did 'early voting'. I have voted absentee before when we knew we would be out-of-town on election day. But this was polling places being open during the week prior to election day so that people could come cast their ballot and avoid the rush of election day. That just felt to me like a big opening for voter fraud. I don't know that it turned out that way but I was concerned about that possibility, especially in such a tense election.

The other thing that came of this election was Mitt Romney's presence as a 'Mormon'. It did open up for a lot of information to come out about the Church. A lot of it was positive press and that felt good. So many people feel we are a part of a cult and blindly follow the leaders. This could not be further from the truth. We are each told to study and pray to find our own confirmation of doctrines. Anyone who watched could tell there were many Mormons that were Democrats and not all are Republicans. There were also differing viewpoints on many ballot issues in many states. I found all this part fascinating to observe and the way it allowed me to share some of the truths about the Church with friends during the campaigning season.

However, on election night when we got home and turned on that TV it was already all but over. A few key states with electoral votes that swing the whole election were beginning to show Pres. Obama as the winner. It didn't take even until midnight to know Pres. Obama would be a second term president. We went to bed before Mitt Romney gave his concession speech and before Pres. Obama gave his acceptance speech.

I sat on the love seat in our living room watching this unfold. My feeling was an ominous sense of foreboding. I truly did not think anyone was going to beat Obama. I felt our nation should take notice that a lot of people were looking for someone else to serve as president and a close margin of people showed by their vote that they were unhappy and felt he was not the right person to serve as president. So I wasn't surprised at the end result. I was just almost depressed at the results.

My concern for our future is huge. I will commit myself to prayer for Pres. Obama and those who work with him that they will know and understand and do what is best for all the people. But I don't know if I will ever forget that dark feeling I had as those results were being announced over the TV. I hope we are ready for what is ahead.