If you are a US citizen, what if the presidential candidate you vote for next week loses the election? Is all lost?
Nope. A power over the country much greater than any politician in office governs the land and ensures the advancement of every right idea.
Some voters get worried about the future of their cherished causes if the candidate they choose is not elected. Abortion, immigration reform, health care, tax strategies, and more are hot button issues that evoke heated emotions, at times, by thinkers deeply invested in debates on these topics.
In everyday terms, one doesn’t always get their way. The majority may not agree with his or her point of view. But that doesn’t imply all is lost.
A right idea survives and advances independent of majority endorsement.
All great causes started with a minority opinion. Jesus Christ was a minority. Martin Luther King was a minority. Mandela was a minority. The ideas they stood for were greater than the man that espoused them, and greater than the times they were in.
A right idea survives and thrives over time. It’s inevitable, for God is the power behind it. God’s influence and presence far outlasts and outdoes any politician or officer of the land.
So, if there is a great cause you believe in, and the candidate elected into office does not agree, take heart. A right idea that blesses all mankind is destined to bless all mankind. There is a power behind it greater than the president of the moment. That power will carry the righteous cause forward long after that individual leaves office.
And if the candidate wins who you voted for, well, I guess this discussion is moot!
The problem is, I find that no matter which candidate I vote for, there are perceived positives and negatives with all of them. If only I could pick and choose qualities from each, and blend them all together!
But until the electoral process figures out how to make that happen, I find hope in these words of Mary Baker Eddy about the longevity of the ideas Jesus Christ taught and preached which have waned and wavered in popular acceptance over the centuries…
“In no other one thing seemed Jesus of Nazareth more divine than in his faith in the immortality of his words. He said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away;” and they have not. The winds of time sweep clean the centuries, but they can never bear into oblivion his words. They still live, and tomorrow speak louder than today” Miscellaneous Writings, p. 99.
Ecclessiastes 5:8…marvel not at the matter…
Thanks Evan,
This helps, but I still struggle with Barack Obama voting three times against the Born Alive Act in Illinois… but thanks for the thoughtful well done piece today.
Thanks Evan: As always, your thoughts are so relevant and helpful. I need to send this to my husband, who is treatening to leave the country if Obama doesn’t win!
Thanks so much for your wonderful blogs.
Thanks for these thoughts. I love the thought that “A right idea survives and thrives over time.” This is imperative for all of us to remember, not just about which candidate wins but in everything.
Evan,
“The ideas they stood for were greater than the man that espoused them, and greater than the times they were in.”
Wow. There is a profound truth in that sentence that rung for me.
I think that what would be the best way to support our country’s leaders would be to keep our eye on those ideas that are greater than the person in office.
And you mention that if your candidate does win, this discussion is moot. I don’t believe that’s so. I have seen good ideas that an elected president espouses lose priority once in office. If we all support these right ideas and acknowledge that a greater power is truly governing, it will help that president follow through and press on in forwarding these important issues.
We musn’t become complacent just because an election cycle has come to an end. The prayerful energy needs to continue to sustain that person in office.
Those are my thoughts that were inspired by your blog. Thanks for the great ideas, Evan.
To above,
Aw, you are right about your point on if you candidate wins. True, if it’s the ideas espoused we’re interested in protecting and defending, then that defense and prayer must continue long after the candidate wins in order to support the idea and prevent it from getting lost to other priorities, as you mention. Excellent observation! Thank you.
Your Blog reminds us of the Grater Power and again reminds me trust in the Lord with all yor heart and love thy neighbor, enemies which we should not have as we are God’s Children. My thoughts with a spiritual sense, that small voice will guide my selection. Love conquers all. You see I see good in every one and I believe the candidates should have concentrated on what good they can do and should not express negative thoughts toward one another.
Your blog was so helpful. I have been discouraged that people have such double standards….I never thought a racist preacher, a former domestic terrorist and Hugo Chavez admirer, a Palestinian suicide bomber sympathizer (Rashid Khalidi), and the list goes on….could be the associates of our possible president. I never thought a possible president could actually write in his autobiography that he sought out Marxists because they were ‘edgy.’ No conservative could ever get away with this.
To have Obama say that infants who survive attempted abortions should not be allowed to live as they would cause the mothers to have ‘second thoughts’ is so dispiriting.
Must the above person be so judgmental? Reverend Wright has done so much good, and his words come out of frustration from his experience, something that you may never understand. He speaks many truths; America has done horrible things in its past, and we must own up to it. America is the first and only country who used atomic bombs twice to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.
As to his keeping company with these people, what would Jesus have said? Are you the pharisee that says, “he dares to eat with sinners”. What was Jesus reply?
Personally, I can’t understand how anyone who is a Christian Scientist cannot be for the candidate who tries to unite not divide, who essentially says the similar sentiment of Paul, that there is neither male or female, Jew or gentile, because we are all one in the sight of God.
Talking about double standards, isn’t Jesus’ message all about giving to the poor, and helping thy neighbor, and acceptance of all people regardless of labels?Wasn’t Jesus all about peace, and never raising a sword..a dove, not a hawk? Isnt this the platform of Obama and his party?