Knock, Knock. Who's there? Tex. Tex who? Tex two to tango!

Hello out there in bloggerworld on this brand new Thursday, March 4, 2010. We are still pinching ourselves about the Colorado like day we had yesterday. Cool, crisp, and nary anything to mar the view as far as the eye could see. I do know the pollen stuff is already active but I also know that some folks enjoy this type of weather much of the time but we'll take the ones we get and enjoy them as much as we can. Since the Sr. Pastor Search Team met on Monday night this week I surprised the Crosstrainer kids by showing up at the club meeting Tuesday evening. I haven't been able to attend in the last several weeks. Oh my, they were extremely rowdy and almost out of hand at times, but I will say that having a huge bunch of kids hugging on you and telling you how much they missed you is not a bad way to end a long, hard day. I had run to vote before going there and lost some amount of time trying to find a clothespin strong enough to handle the stench as I cast my primary votes. Sorry about the word picture but at this time in my life most politicians tend to reek of cronyism and corruption. I can see why this Tea Party deal has gained some traction. The two main parties may have differences in their stated philosophical visions but when it comes down to it, on a day in and day out basis, they pretty much all feed from the same trough.

Pragmatism usually wins out, however, and we end up voting the lesser of evils as opposed to standing up for our principles. My eldest son and I have had this conversation several times. Most of us pretty much rule out voting for someone we know who has little chance of winning. This is true even though they may be much more aligned with our views on the issues. This means that we end up supporting the feeding at the trough mentality. As someone pointed out the other day, they all eat together at the Senate or House dining rooms, they all enjoy the perks of office, they all end up doing what mostly they feel like will get them elected the next time around. And, because our system is the black hole for money absorption, they must have contributors to gain and stay in office, and the contributors must have favors and help and the cycle goes on and on and on and on. We are left with finding stronger clothespins each election cycle. That sure sounds gloomy doesn't it? I heard one person really excited about their vote for the Governor candidate they voted for. I voted for the same person, he won, and I'm still pretty bummed out about his past performance while in office. Sure, he was a known quantity, and he did at least give lip service to the conservative values we hold dear, but excited about it, no thank you!

My mom reminded me this week that my grandfather used to express similar thoughts but said he voted anyway because if he didn't he wouldn't feel quite right about expressing his complaints. I actually studied the people and their backgrounds, as well as looking at some of their responses to questionnaire information. This caused me to vote for some folks who garnered only a small number of votes. Why didn't they do better? The incumbent advantage will almost always trump any new comer unless the incumbent has messed up really, really bad. Hey, I think that's a decent readout on most incumbents today: They have and continue to mess up, really, really bad. I have an older brother in Christ here at the company and he has to put up with my soap box sermons on the current state of politics from time to time. Sometimes he throws up his hands and says he needs to get away from me for fear that some of my angst might just rub off on him. I always promise to try and do better in the future. All of this reminds us that we can trust God even when the politicians let us down. We can trust God even when they say one thing and do something else. We can trust God when it seems like the light at the end of the tunnel really is a freight train headed straight for us. That's right. We can trust God, period, end of story, and then do our best to live out that trust even when we have to wait in line to vote for a bunch of knuckleheads. Pray for me. You can readily see that I need it. Have a great day and may God bless each one. Amen. ......More later.