I have never before in my life felt so absolutely worn out from a national election cycle.
I've already voted. So, I'm thinking to myself as I sit here. That's always dangerous, ya know!
I can't give money. I'm already beyond my limit on that part for this month, the longest month in a very long time. It's still very nearly 2 weeks before I get paid again. Money's really tight.
There seems to be so much left to do, but (besides trying to write significant words--which I do seem incapable of doing these days) I want to be someone that makes a difference. I am not able, these days, to leave my home much, and not without assistance. That means that, for whatever consideration it may legitimately require, I must coordinate a minimum of two schedules. That's difficult.
I live alone now. I don't have my own family any more to coordinate schedules with, or for. The health is pretty fragile at the moment.
Yet, my heart wants to participate, to help.
Know what I mean?
So, I've been trying to think today of what I can do to "help the cause".
As I have said for a long time now, there is just so much I cannot do. It's terribly frustrating. It makes me feel useless. Moreover, it makes me feel like I am wasting the days (and nights) I have been given since my "life-ending event".
I am not complaining. I am frustrated. But, I think I may have figured out something that I can do to help my community, my party, and my President. If you are at all interested, please follow me just below the squiggledoodlethingey fold, and I'll tell you about what one thing, more than anything else, our President needs, right now. I can't do it. You can.
The most important thing I could possibly do to matter in this election I did, yesterday. I cast my vote. (Yes, it was a complete vote!) Now what?
I have run campaigns with my name on the yard signs, bumper stickers, ribbons, etc. As I sit here, right now, I am remembering something from a very long time ago.
It used to be that there was no such thing as "early voting". It used to be that there was not any such thing as "Motor Voter", either. Every election lived for the Election results. Every one. On election day, I would rise early, put on a suit (because I wanted to show respect for the process of democracy, and my grateful appreciation of it), and go to the polls and cast my vote. On that day, I was most proud of my status as "Citizen".
After casting my vote, I knew that the only thing left to do was to return home and wait until the evening news to begin watching the election returns come in. Sometimes, that would require hours, or even days. And, for as long as it took, that is what I would do. Literally on the edge of my seat, writing furiously in my journal, eating something, or nothing, or anything. The radio was faster than the television. Both would be on, nonstop.
And, the same feeling I am feeling today is precisely the very same feeling that would come over me then.
"What else could be done? What did I do that I should not have done? What didn't I do that would have added just one vote to the total? OH! If only I had one more day to make a difference! Maybe it would have made all the difference!"
Now, I'm looking at having 16 days in which I might be able to do something to help our President, and my party see victory on November 7th. It would be a victory for my country, too. Most importantly, it would be a victory for democracy.
But what I would most like to do, I cannot do. I think I've figured out what THE most important thing that could be done in these days actually is. I can't do it.
You can.
Were I able, I would make it my business to speak to as many people as I possibly could in each of those days, and tell them why I voted the way I did. I would be obnoxiously passionate in my testimony. I would not be embarrassed, feel socially unacceptable, or fear rejection by anyone. I would BE the face of my beliefs.
As our beloved Meteor Blades constantly reminds us, we are heard by our words. We are proven by our actions. What our President needs more than anything else right now, and throughout the remaining days of this national election for the soul of our country is a united testimony, from every one of us who believe that he is not the better choice, or even the best choice. He needs us to tell everyone we know that he is the ONLY choice.
I can do that with my words, but I cannot do it with my body. Can you? Will you?
Every challenge put before us in this campaign, from the beginning to this very moment has been more or less met, and countered. Money, lies, deception, deceit, disrespect, and outright hatred have all found themselves challenged. In many cases, they have been as overcome as they could be.
What will happen in the next sixteen days will surprise us all. As much as has been spent in the effort to purchase democracy from America, from the beginning of this cycle to now will be spent again, for the same purpose, in the next sixteen days. We cannot overcome the money, or even the spewing lies that are most surely to come.
But, the one thing we have always had on our side still remains. Our voice.
Now, we must use that one most powerful tool in measures, and to degrees that (in my opinion) have never before been required of American citizens. From the Court House, to the State House, throughout the halls of Congress, and even to the White House, we must testify the truth to all we know, and all we meet. Face-to-face, on the phones (Yes, I'm doing that, too!), email, and most importantly in personal stories of "Self", "Now", and "Us!", each of us (even those of us who have already experienced the privilege of voting) must find ways to engage everyone, and just simply tell our story in such a way that others will listen, and consider.
The President is a man. He is a very, very good man. The Presidency is much, much more. In many ways, and to many, many people throughout the world, the office of the President represents hope, and courage, and what could be aspired to. The Presidency is the entire history of our nation. More than our might, the Presidency represents to others across our planet a beacon of freedom. I've seen that beacon shine in some very, very dark places in my lifetime.
Democracy has proven herself capable of withstanding everything that has been thrown her way, with the entire world as witness. It is now time for American citizens to become that beacon. You can do that with your words, as I will try to do with mine. But, perhaps there is something more you could do.
Tell everyone you know that, regardless of party, or platform, or plank, President Obama has not only shown the ability to save our land (with just tons of help from lots of folks), but to lead our land back from the brink, and forward to the promise of tomorrow. America, with all her difficulties, faults, and contentiousness, still stands as our one, true hope. Tell someone why.
That one thing is what our President needs right now, more than anything else we might offer, no matter what.
"E Pluribus Unum".
It's not just a motto. It is the truth of 237 years. It is not available to the highest bidder. Tell them that. Tell them why. Every chance you get. Tell the employer who tells you how to vote. Tell the legislator who has sold out their oath for a pledge. Tell the lobbyist who would believe money matters more than the abiding truths embodied in a motto.
That is, I believe, what our President needs more than anything else right now. Will you help me do that? If we can collectively do that, we may learn what I believe one man already knows.
Please help me do that.