Politics: From Rare to Well Done

Since the election this last Tuesday, I think some people have walked away with a few battle scars. Scars that were inflicted by friends, relatives, and co-workers of the opposite political party. I'm sure both sides have been pretty nasty and often over-zealous, so let's just go ahead and clear the air now. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Do that for a while until your blood pressure is down and then read further.

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Putting partisan politics aside is hard to do, especially when there is always a loser, and let's face it, America is pretty much split down the middle now-a-days. So how can we live with each other now after all the arrows have been flung and lots of judgments have been cast? Whether you personally like it or not, Barak Obama is about to be the next President and our national congress is a little more Democrat heavy than it was before. So what are we to do?

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Well, I'm glad I put the question in your head, and I also have an idea. In order to bring about a little more peace to your election weary mind, treat politics like steak. Some people like their steak so well done that its like a thick piece of beef jerky when it's taken off the grill. Others like their steak just barely seared on each side, nice and bloody and very pink. And either way we like it, we still manage to put up with seeing it eaten the other way - by our friends, relatives, and co-workers. The sight of it, either way, may make you cringe, but you just grin and bear it. For your own peace of mind, just chew your steak and not theirs!

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I liken a well done steak to conservativism, and a medium rare steak to liberalism, and then there are lots of medium-well independents in between. If you're a eat it while it's mooing kind of person, and happy that your steak just got voted favorite in 2008, please don't gloat. Be humble at the dinner table. And if you've been wounded during the steak flinging battle of the year, practice forgiveness, and if you really want to see change, or not so much change, then pray for those you differ with. And remember that God isn't into getting political converts. He's into changing hearts. So as you go back to the grill, no matter who you voted for, work on charity, humility, and caring for others, especially those you disagree with.

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Matthew 22:34-40 says, "...a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?' Jesus said to him, '‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.'”

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--Johnie