Forward

I've heard several people mention that it's too early after the election to be using the word 'forward' since it was the key phrase for President Obama's re-election campaign. Many have mentioned that the word will never be the same. Just as "Hope" and "Change" automatically take people back to the words of the 2008 election campaign, the word Forward" will likely be hard to disassociate from the most recent. We will likely visual the blue and red in the letter "O" for some time.

When we look at the definition of the word, it means "toward the front; in the direction that one is facing or traveling". As a verb, it means "toward a destination". When we move forward, we are leaving the place that we currently are and proceeding in a positive direction. We all look forward to something. It's what keeps us going.  Looking forward to 5 o'clock Friday gets many through the week. Kids look forward to their birthday, Halloween and Christmas and adults look forward to vacation.  When we look forward, we are assuming what that future will be like. We imagine the feeling of leaving work on Friday or boarding a plane fora sandy beach location. We don't know what it will fully feel like, we look with anticipation and desire.

Forward thinking motivates us. It invigorates our imagination and enlivens our senses. It is through forward thinking that our creative energies are released. Even if we are forward thinking and only can think of the bad, we don't know what that is going to look like but our imagination plays it out, creates situations and shows us details. Creativity and imagination are still at work.

It is through forward thinking that board games and chess matches are won, and how ideas and inventions are created. It's through forward thinking that fields are created to be harvested, how a house is built and how a wedding is planned. Most of our lives we spend in forward thinking...what we will wear to work tomorrow, what we will make for dinner, what movie we will see this weekend.

Forward thinking is critically important. If we didn't have it, we'd be stuck in despair with no way out. We'd fall into depression and inner chaos. The Bible is also forward thinking and encourages us to be as well.

It tells us "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

The ant knows that the winter is coming. It knows it needs to prepare and store up food. It understands being a forward thinker.

But the BIble also tells us not to fear the future. 

I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans to proper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.

Forward thinking. We HAVE a hope and a future! We have something to look forward to. Everyday, we can look forward to our future, forward to what God has in store for us. He tells us not to worry, that the birds of the air don't toil for food, yet they are fed.  This is NOT telling us to not work for food or to just sit back and do nothing. It is however, telling us that tomorrow is ok. 'Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself'.  Notice it says 'Worry". It doesn't tell us to not think about tomorrow or not dream about tomorrow. It tells us to not WORRY about tomorrow.

Right now there a lot of people, a lot of Christians and Conservatives (of which I am) WORRYING about tomorrow! Many are talking about stockpiling weapons and food. They are worrying about what the future is going to hold. We are told NOT to do this. We are told to be forward thinkers, but not worriers.  Worrying accomplishes nothing, but more worry and anxiety.  Through forward thinking, we will find viable solutions. We will find that the reward through forward thinking is much greater. The reward is more contentment, more happiness and more peace.

ACTION STEP
So, while the word "FORWARD"  may always remind us of this nasty, expensive campaign, reclaim the word. Remind yourself to be a forward thinker. Let your creative imagination work FOR you. Let  God fill your mind with new ideas, new visions, new opportunities. Remind yourself to look for the positive in the situations. Remind yourself that the future is bright....and go towards it! No Fear! 

10 things I've learned about politics

10. I've learned that, just like people will take little segments out of the Bible and distort them to fit their belief systems, they will do the same in politics. They will take one line out of a speech or debate and twist it to mean what they think it should mean. The politician will go back many times and say "That is NOT what I said" and prove that it was out of context, but the commercials blasting the person will play over and over and the other person's supporters will use it in every single argument.

9. We all believe what we want to believe. No matter the truth and facts presented to us, we like to put our blinders on.  I've watched debates on Facebook, where when facts are presented, the other person simply stops talking. The blinders were put on and their head was buried in the sand so they don't know the truth.

8. There will always be people who shouldn't vote. The way our nation is set up, a person with a felony is denied the privilege to vote. I think we should let them vote. But, we should take away the right to vote from all the stupid people. If you are voting simply because of a person's race (black or white) or their religion, or strictly based on their party and not their policy, you are too stupid to vote! If you are voting for someone thinking they are going to make you rich or pay your bills, you shouldn't be allowed to vote! Maybe we need to have a high school degree or GED in order to vote. If you haven't finished school, haven't done all the required courses in civics and government, how can you be allowed to vote in something you don't fully understand??

This lady might not be the best to vote. She seems to have voted, thinking that her mortgage and gas would no longer be a problem. The way she talks makes it sound like if she can't pay her bills, she can just call up President Obama's personal line and he'll fix it all for her.

On the other hand, this family probably shouldn't be voting either! This is NOT America's finest at least I hope.

7. The electoral college is an archaic method and needs to be replaced. The system was put into place by the founding fathers as a way to help the smaller states be held as equal as the larger states. The problem is that it does not truly give each of a chance to 'have our voice be heard'. When you hear the saying 'every vote matters', it isn't necessarily true under the current system. It defeats the purpose of letting us, the citizens, have a right of who we want to be our president. I truly believe that we can likely end up in this election with one of the candidates walking away as the winner of the popular vote, but losing the election because of the electoral college.

6. The best candidate is usually in one of the 3rd parties, but with our 2 party system, it makes it hard for them to ever win an election. 

5. Both the democratic and republican parties have become so corrupt that voting for either party is like voting for satan himself!

4. Elections bring out the worse in people. Friends can be totally split apart during the election season. Thank goodness that the big elections only come around once every 4 years!! I'd probably be pretty lonely if we had the big elections every year. We all, including myself, have an opinion and we all think we are right! 

3. For the most part, we all truly want what is best for our country. While there are some who vote for other reasons (see #8), most people love their country and want to see it succeed. We may not all agree on what is 'best', but we all want it. 

2. All the political ads WILL come to an end! I was thinking the other day, wondering what the commercials after the election will be like. It seems like it's been awhile since we've seen anything BUT political ads!

1. No matter what happens, life will go on. It may be altered drastically and we may have to find new ways to earn income and provide for our families, but the day after the election isn't the Apocolypse, although I have a feeling that it's going be feel like it!