Thoughts on the afterglow

It’s just after 8 p.m. The fire in our fireplace has almost gone out, and my eyelids are heavy from hours of watching the election updates on channel 8. And then, a huge picture of Barack Obama appears on the screen: He has won the election! Barack Obama will be the 44th president of the United States. At first I was in shock–could I really have voted for someone who won?

Then John McCain’s speech was broadcast around the world. He was incredibly gracious. Regardless of whom you voted for, you had to have felt for the man. It’s obvious he’s dedicated his life to the U.S., and he was definitely not a sore loser.

He urged his supporters to get behind Obama and help him to make this country as great as it can be. It was, by far, the most inspiring concession speech I have ever seen. It’s unfortunate that his supporters in the crowd couldn’t be as eloquent and mature.

The booing was a bit over the top, not to mention totally disrespectful, not only to Obama but to McCain, as it was interrupting his speech and undermining what he was trying to say.

Obama’s speech brought tears to my eyes. Again, regardless of who you supported, it is inspiring to see someone who truly believes that this country can rebound, and that its people should be more involved in healing the wounds of the United States.

Obama was cordial about McCain’s position, and stressed that he looked forward to working with the senator in moving this country forward. Seeing all the people in the crowd–young and old, black and white, famous and anonymous–they all had an expression of pride and determination on their faces.

Where do we go from here? It’s obvious that people are incredibly divided. There is a huge spectrum from those who believe that Obama is a saint, to those that believe he is the antichrist come to end the world. I hope that the citizens of the United States can meet somewhere in the middle.

To those who idolize him, I hope you can realize that he has a very big job ahead of him. And, although he is clearly an intelligent and compassionate human being, he is still just that: a human.

He is also fairly new to the political machine, so he has a lot to learn. I urge the public not to fall into the trap of expecting too much from him, so that when he makes mistakes we fault him too heavily and end up despising him for being unable to take on a job that is too big for just one man or four years.

I am certain he will do everything in his power to advance this country into better times, but he will also need the support of Congress and the American people to accomplish that. We all need to pitch in and stay involved. Don’t become apathetic now that the election is over. The journey has just begun.

To those that didn’t support him, I hope you can realize that Obama is going to be our new president, like it or not. If you don’t enjoy the power of democracy that elected him, there’s always Cuba or China. Pitch in and stay involved in the issues that matter to you!

People give so much power to the president without realizing that most of the power they attribute to him really belongs to the judicial and legislative branches. Wishing that Obama will fail just to prove you’re right is silly, too. If he fails, so does this country.

I don’t think anyone wants that, so stand by the issues you support and make your voice heard through those that represent you in Congress and in local politics.

For those that somehow believe that Obama is the antichrist in the flesh, well, I have lots of things I could say to that, some of them psychological in nature, but let’s let that go for now. If you truly are that scared, pray for him! Pray that God gives him the moral fortitude, courage, strength and support to lead this country in the right direction. It is not Christian to be full of hate. So don’t be. I come from an incredibly conservative family, and I think I might have been the only one who voted Democrat this time. In fact, I’ve gotten some pretty sour comments from family, not to mention cold silences over this election. I know many of you out there come from similar backgrounds, and I just hope you don’t lose heart.

This can be especially difficult if you come from Christian families that believe voting Democrat is immoral. A pastor I know once said, “You are not going to burn in hell for voting Democrat.”

This was a very emotionally-fueled election, but keep in mind that it’s only an election, it’s over now and we must move on and work toward what is really important: fixing what is broken in this country!