Thursday, September 20, 2012

Romney, Obama and 180 degrees


If a Jupiterian (is that a word?), a person from Jupiter visited earth during the month of August 2012, he/she/it would have lived an interesting experience.

One week he/she/it would have discovered that, according to the roar of the crowds in Tampa, that Mitt Romney has all the answers for America to move toward Utopia in the next four years.  And that the nation is cheering madly for him.  And that Barack Obama has no answers and no supporters.

The next week he/she/it would have discovered that, according to the roar of the crowds in Charlotte, that Barack Obama has all the answers for America to move toward Utopia in the next four years.  And that the nation is cheering madly for him.  And that Mitt Romney has no answers and no supporters.

180 degrees from one another.  Completely opposite messages, completely opposite platforms, completely opposite support.

Or so it would seem.  But look more closely with me.  Pull back the veneer, get out the magnifying glass and what we will see is an embedded, generally accepted, taken for granted message shared by both.

I know, I know.  Some of you are thinking I was in the August sun too long.  Yet the message is the same.

Ready?  “The answers to life can be found in this world.  The human spirit is enough to turn around all our problems to have a healthy, prosperous, enjoyable life.”  Granted, they have different paths, but the same message.

180 degrees from reality.

This world is broken and human beings have been trying to fix it with their knowledge and skill for eons.  How’s that working for us?  Tower of Babel, Roman Empire, Constantine’s hijacking of Christianity, Middle Ages, industrial revolution, atomic energy and on and on it goes.  The human race has developed an incredible ability to take what is good and break it.

180 degrees from what we really want.

The answers are available… but not from this world.  After thousands and thousands of years doesn’t it just make LOGICAL sense (beyond spiritual) to try something different?  That is the definition of insanity, you know.  But we have also developed the incredible ability to deny truest reality and keep trying to figure it out and fix it.

I wonder what the Jupiterian’s report to HQ would be.  Ponder for a moment what God says.

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” 1 Corinthians 1:25 (NIV)

“… so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” 1 Corinthians 2:5 (NIV)

 “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” Luke 16:15b (NIV)

 We live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)

180 degrees.  Will you join me in getting smarter by looking to the ONLY ONE with real answers?

Boldly, Herb

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4 comments:

Jeff said...

Well Said!!!

Jeff said...

Well Said!

Christian church Pittsburgh said...

This is an interesting reflection on political awareness, but shouldn't we take responsibility in our government? Surely striving to create a fair and balanced government is preferable to anarchy. And I'm not so sure the industrial revolution was a bad thing, on par with the Tower of Babel and other examples of human vanity. Just a few thoughts on your post, any Christian church Pittsburgh is of course free to disagree. Thanks for posting this!

Herb Shaffer said...

To Christian church Pittsburgh,

Yes we should take responsibility in all parts of life. My point is that we cannot look to those for answers to life's important issues. We must put it all in perspective, God's perspective.

Thanks for your comments.
Herb