Pre-Season

The audiobook I was listening to was, frankly, a little creepy. A tale of hidden worlds and creatures with formidable powers. It was not really a book I would normally choose. But the reviews were strong on the website where I purchased it. And since I was a monthly subscriber, I had my pick of two books each month. So even if I went wrong, I really couldn’t go very wrong.

I decided to switch to a different form of entertainment. My CD player wasn’t loaded, so I opted for the radio. At 4 a.m. on a Saturday morning on a backroad in West Texas, I didn’t have a lot of options. So I listened to country music and farm reports until the sun came up.

At that point, I opted for silence. Of course, now that I’m older I’m never blessed with complete silence. The tinnitus that plagues me projects a high-pitched squeal in my ear that only gets louder as other noise lessens. As I drove through the outlying communities north of Austin, I punched up the radio again and sent it searching for a station. I had to deaden the incessant ringing.

More country and western — not something I dislike, but I wanted something a bit more mellow. It was 7:15 a.m. and I bounced from hip-hop to country to talk radio.

And then, I heard a more classical tone. I brought the volume up and realized that I knew the song. Not by name. Yet it was undeniably the anthem of champagne makers where, in the television commercials, the clinking of glasses emit the sound of bells. You know it, don’t you? LAAA, LA, LA, LA. LAAA, LA, LA, LA. (Don’t laugh, I sing no better than I write.)

Convinced that I was hearing an ad, I settled back. And, the truth be known, I’ve always liked this particular song. But there were no words. And in a few moments, the announcer had given the time and the temperature and the next song was a Christmas song as well.

After about 15 minutes, I realized I had discovered an “All Christmas – All the Time” station. It was November 15. Immediately, I thought of the protest emails I had sent one of our local stations when they went all Christmas on December 1. Who in their right mind would want to listen to Christmas music for four, five, or six solid weeks — or more?

I punched “seek” again and rolled through my choices. Eventually, the radio bumped back into “The First Noel.” And I left it there. And for the next song. And the next.

As I threaded my way through increasing traffic, I found the familiar holiday fare to be uplifting. There was no association with long lines at retailers or heartburn over what to give that special some one. Instead, it was light and uplifting music that brought back memories and instilled hope.

Funny, isn’t it, how things that are so pleasurable can come to be burdens because of the context? Perhaps its because we choose to immerse ourselves in the challenging and difficult rather than allow something good to lift us.

So, no emails to radio stations this year. A pledge to listen to more Christmas music. And a promise to myself to allow the good to do good in my life.

Change has come to America . . .

With those words, President-Elect Barack Obama challenged a nation.

He acknowledged that change wouldn’t happen in a day or a year or perhaps even within a single presidential term. Finally, the election is over. It is my hope that reasonable men and women will leave their extreme positions that are intended to create distance and “market recognition.” Now is the time to come together. I just pray that we will.

I don’t agree with all of the plans that the new president has made. I didn’t agree with all of the plans that Senator McCain had either. My comfort throughout the election has come simply from the knowledge that God is in control of everything and that, with this wondrous assurance, my post-election plan would simply be to encourage others to pursue peace.

Peace, of course, doesn’t happen in a vacuum devoid of conflict. Conflict is its constant companion. It flickers around the edges of even the most serene moments. Conflict flares from the fuel of the slightest disagreement.

Yet, it is true that we can pursue, enjoy, and embrace peace in the epicenter of conflict.

I’m not certain of what “change” has come to America. I think we would be better served by our calculated efforts to realize the potential of the hope that has always been here and in every nation history has known.

President-Elect Obama, in keeping with my post-election plan, I want to encourage you to pursue peace. Not at all costs and not with eyes shut to reality. But pursue peace responsibly and through understanding of not only the issues, but of the interests of all people. May God bless you.

Masks

“What monster is this we’ve created?”

I find myself somewhat apprehensive about the coming hours. As polls begin to close on the eastern seaboard, the news media and prognosticators and the pundits will begin to mount their mound of predictions. And we will wait for what will seem like a span of time longer than even the presidential campaign to get the official results. Undoubtedly, those reports will come after accusations of wrong-doing and malfeasance and other election ugliness.

Yesterday, Senator Obama promised his audience that “change will begin occurring tomorrow.” Of course, in truth, change happens daily. But the change he talks about really won’t begin as the votes come in today. The serious change he has promised will come over long negotiations and perhaps bitter struggle over the next 4 years. He promises unity, but the potential for polarization looms pretty large.

And, Senator McCain told his followers that “the ‘Mac’ is back!” Obviously, that’s a literary reference to the Phoenix-like qualities of this Arizona statesman and a rallying cry that victory, even in the face of less than favored status in the polls, is close. Or possibly just a tie-in to an old fast-food commercial. He promises change as well. Yet, any shifts in policy he pursues will meet similar protracted battles and angry outcries.

Strange, this mandatory pursuit of change in politics. People want change, right? Yet we struggle in our personal lives to minimize change. And we minimize change because of our fear of what change may bring. “What we have, no matter how bad, could ever be as bad as what could be.”

So we’ll wake up tomorrow with a new leader. And if it’s my candidate or yours, we’ll all face the news with a little bit of dread. Because, in the game of politics, we require our players to wear masks. Unlike in civilized sports where masks are meant to prevent disfiguration and maiming of the participants, the face-piece in politics is designed to alter communication and block true meaning. And in such design crouches the potential of disfiguring and maiming us, the electorate. And that’s what we fear.

For none of us can be sure of the true nature of the one who will move into the White House in January. Two hundred years of free election have taught us to peer suspiciously behind the masks.

It’s too late now — maybe centuries too late. I just wish that once, the candidates would take off their masks and talk to each other as individuals who really want to bring about good for all people. Not a debate, but a conversation.

But the two-headed, masked monster is one of our creation. And one that is destined to frighten us until the game is changed. Oops, there’s that word again.