I think what I really don't want is a repeat of election 2004. It was so disheartening. I liken this feeling to my third pregnancy after my second child died. It is hard to get invested and trust that everything will be alright. I kind of just want to curl up in a ball and not come out until everything is over. (Except to vote, of course. With my heart in my mouth.)
Yesterday I picked up my copy of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Faith and Practice. (For readers of this blog who are not Friends: Faith and Practice is the name of books compiled by each Yearly Meeting, containing pertinent passages gleaned from the writing of historical, as well as modern Quakers. They are intended to support Friends in living in the faith.) I opened to a section on "Belief" and found this, from the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, 1969:
As Friends we believe that love is the unifying force in human relations. Let us understand what brotherly love is and what it is not. Love is not self-seeking; it is self-giving. Love does not try to make up a deficiency in that of God in another from an overabundance of divinity in ourselves; it opens us to the divine Light in him and rejoices in it. Love does not mean agreeing on all questions of belief, values, or rules of conduct; it means accepting with humility and forbearance such differences as cannot be resolved by open and patient give-and-take. Love does not recreate our brother in our image; it recreates us both in relation to each other, united like limbs of one body yet each distinctly himself.So, what does this have to do with anything? It made me realize that, all other issues aside (and there is so much at stake in this election) the thing that is so striking in Obama is that he projects humility. That is something I can really get behind. The thing is, one can be humble and still kick ass. It is all about what's at the center. Obama may be ambitious -- how can you run for higher office and not be? -- but it feels as if a call to service is what's at the center. I believe that a good politician (in the good sense) is a community organizer writ large. And now he needs to hold true to that center, get out there, and speak Truth to power. With humility.
I am so sick of hubris. We need humility. We need decency. We need a human being for president.
5 comments:
Oh boy. I hear you. I just posted today, with some trepidation, about how Obama has to look strong because Americans value the appearance of brute strength over brains or, as you so beautifully put it, humility.
I feel as you do. I want it to be over already because investing in it seems so potentially painful. I don't want to lose again.
I think the Obama/Biden ticket can do both - they can be humble and bright and they can label the lies of their opposition. If someone has to go on the attack, perhaps that should be the role of Biden.
I think many of us are so desperately wishing for a clean campaign and we're conflicted because we've seen the dirty campaign win over and over.
I'm just about there in that fetal position with my fingers in my ears.
Great post, Suzy.
What's beating me down this week is the sickening feeling that Obama is going to lose.
He's not fighting back. He's responding. But his outrage is not enough. he lost his edge when he went on vacation, and then the GOP stole all his thunder. They have their own celebrity candidate now, and no one seems to realize that the governor has no metaphorical clothes. Shes an empty pantsuit.
Oh, sorry. I guess that crack was sexist of me.
The politics of distraction and personal destruction (and outright lies) seems to be taking hold for good. People remain stupid. They will vote their fears and their guts and not their brains or their hearts.
I feel defeated, and angry.
My hope is still in the young people -- those who do not have land lines and do not get polled.
Part of me wants to say, "Barack Obama, do whatever you have to to win this election. There is time to make it up. We need you."
Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.
Don't mourn. Organize.
Yes, a slogan. I agree with much if not all of what's been written above. But I'm sitting on my rear end. I'm asking myself what I will start doing so Obama wins. How can I help so we avoid having McCain and Palin and all their crooks win. When I say Barack, time to step it up, I'm not doing much myself. So how do I do more than just cast a vote. That is the challenge that faces me.
Suzy,
This is an eloquent post. I like the quote that you published, mostly because it goes into the subleties of a concept. I'm so tired of bumper sticker logic.
I liked your comment on my Obama post. You hit the nail on the head. Humility is a key difference. It seems kind of old-fashioned these days.
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