Aftermath

For the first time since college, I did not watch election results. I was in the mountains backpacking with Thomas for 2.5  days. (Backpack log to follow.) I didn't learn of the results til just outside a Waffle House outside of Greenville at 10:00AM Wednesday morning.

While I was thrilled that Hilary Clinton had lost, I was disappointed that Donald Trump won.

My daughter came back from the SAT's on Saturday with a quote from Thoreau (a passage on the SAT) which essentially said :

The fate of the country does not depend on how you vote at the polls -- the worst man is as strong as the best at that game; it does not depend on what kind of paper you drop into the ballot-box once a year, but on what kind of man you drop from your chamber into the street every morning.

In other words, (my interpretation), if we as a people live our lives correctly, the country will be taken care of, including having good choices at the ballot box.

What we had this year is the two major candidates who reflect who we are and how we live as a people. Think on that for a bit. Angry, immoral (or amoral), bigoted, sexually immature, animalistic, liars, and cheaters.

We need to pray that the president-elect gains some humility and will seek advice. As yet he hasn't demonstrated that he will.

But we will go a long way for the future of the country if we as citizens reform our own lives.

One other (final) point. I have gotten many emails throughout the election season saying I need to vote for Trump because this priest or that priest gave a homily or talk saying so. ("Hilary is evil, Trump is just bad"). The problem is that politics is mostly in the realm of the laity. We should follow guidelines on voting from the Church, but how to play the political game is the laity's. So many people hid behind the cassocks of clergy to justify a vote for Trump. I still don't believe there was any justification. I hope I am wrong.

Oremus pro invicem!