Piles of Dust, Elections, and Mangers

Was it really so long ago?

It was only a couple of short weeks ago that the United States was embroiled in a vicious election. Romney and Obama were locked in a hard fought race in which both was trying to get elected as president. Supporters for either side spent countless hours campaigning. Facebook news feeds were filled with political rants and memes designed sometimes to point out the good qualities of their candidate, but more often the evils of the other.

Every headline in every newspaper, print and electronic, was dominated by the campaign and what either side was doing.

Today, two weeks later, I did a Google search on both candidates. This was the top result for Obama

And this was the top result for Romney

Where has the fire and fervor gone? I thought this election was going to divide the nation! People were threatening to secede from the United States of America! The policies of either party were at the heart of the American electorate!

Not impressed face? Twilight movies?

How is it that the two men whose every move was being watched by this nation are reduced to this?

Did Obama ask to have his picture taken with the 16 year old silver medalist, making the face she's famous for, then in a moment of realization think "What am I doing? I'm the leader of the free world!" Did Romney, reaching his hand into the giant tub of buttered popcorn while watching sparkling vampires, think, "Maybe I don't make very good decisions."

Or could it be, that though we had built them up to be something huge, something larger than life, they are still just regular, ordinary men who do regular ordinary things?

I wonder if when God handed Moses the Ten Commandments and he had written that whole thing about not having other gods, if He had the American political process in mind.

The truth we see now is that these aren't gods, or even anything slightly better than mere mortals. They are, like us, walking, breathing piles of dust. When God expels Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden, He gives them this reminder:

By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return. - Genesis 3:19, NLT

That goes for presidents, candidates, and us, too.

We're dust. Big, walking piles of dust.

I don't think God reminds us of that to demean us. Instead, I think its a reminder of perspective. We're mortal, and that's ok. We were created to live on the earth and enjoy the earth, and when we try to make ourselves more than that, or make others more than that, we're bound to be disappointed in the result. 

And I think the collective human consciousness knows that. It's evidenced in just how quickly we forget that we had set these dust piles on pedestals. Instead, we go back to concentrating on the things we really regard as important: peace, hope, joy, and love. We long for family gatherings, seasons of Thanksgiving, and celebration of the one who was born in a manger in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. 

What an interesting place for a king. Not just that it was lowly, but that it was dusty. The Lord of all creation who had formed man out of dust was laid in a manger in a stable filled with dust. A craftsman amongst materials, a potter amongst his clay, humbling himself to become one of these dust-people so that he might save these dust-people.

Why?

So we might truly know peace, hope, joy, and love.

That's all He's ever wanted for us. Remember who you are. Eat, drink, and be merry. And live life abundantly. Know the peace that passes understanding. Be filled with eternal hope. Experience unbounded joy. And above all, love God and love others. 

Human endeavors come and go. Elections which seem so important a couple of weeks earlier are forgotten and even the candidates go back to normal. It's as if something innate within us is constantly calling us back to being dust. But not just any dust - dust that is loved by a creator who rolled around in the dust of a manger just to be closer to us.

Fighting Facebook Trolls

If you want to believe the best about humanity, stay off of Facebook.

The trolls live there.

I'm actually not talking about the brightly colored 90's toy. Not even the grumpy old thing that lives under a bridge on Dora. This troll is much more insidious.




The Internet troll.

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory comments in an online community with the intent of provoking an emotional response. It comes from the word "trolling" which is the act of dragging something along and hoping to snag something. That's what an internet troll does. They snag people with the various rude, offensive, or oppositional remarks. In other words, they're jerks.

But Facebook, as especially seen during the election, has given way to a new sub-species of the Internet troll. They are no longer anonymous. In fact, you probably know them well. Maybe it's your second cousin. Maybe its a former classmate or coworker. Maybe you share a pew with the at church. Maybe you even like them in real life. It's so hard to tell who is a Facebook troll in real life.

But on Facebook, they totally change. They're like a were-troll. They turn into this whole other creature, capable only of infuriating you and making comments that cause you to question whether or not you want to keep living on this planet.




Generally, their harsh, crazy, mean, inflammatory comments are distributed without regard to the actual topic of conversation. Reason and logic have no roll in what they post. And while they post with varying frequencies, it always seems like their posts are the only ones you see. And while the classic Internet troll is fully random and non-discriminate in who they troll upon, Facebook trolls are more pointed and focused.

Let me introduce you to the sub-species of the Facebook troll.

1) The Political Troll




I mention this troll first because it has been the most recently common, though since the election has ended, it has been receding into the black abyss it came from.

These trolls can support any political party, including third party, or even anti-political forms, though this may be another sub-species (see below).

These trolls are known to inject political comments into everyday, plain conversation, thus derailing normal human interaction. Example:

Me: I like peanut butter.
Troll: Jimmy Carter invented peanut butter because he's a democrat and he's awesome.
Other troll: Republicans invented jelly. You'd be nothing without us.
Me:

2) The "I hate what everyone is talking about" troll

These may be related to the anti political troll mentioned above. When a topic comes to the forefront of the American conscious, this troll is quick to be sick of it, attempting to destroy any conversation about it and return society to the things they want to talk about. Example:

Me: Excited to watch the Super Bowl!
Troll: OMG! I'm so sick of people talking about football! It's not even important. There are kids dying in Borneo.
Me:

3) The "you didn't ask for my opinion but I'm giving it" troll

One of the more common trolls, they feel the need to interject their wisdom in every single subject, whether they know what they are talking about or not. Example:

Me: I saw a deer on the way to work. It was pretty.
Troll: Deer are so overpopulated that their very breath is causing CO2 emissions to rise. You should have hit it with your car.
Me: I just said the deer was pretty.
Troll: Why do you hate our planet? I thought you were a Christian.
Me:

4) The "it's all about me" troll.

This troll posts in two different ways. Sometimes they comment on your status, turning the conversation's focus to their own life. But usually, they don't have the time to mention other people's statuses, because their own life is way too important. Very rarely are these posts positive in nature. Example:

Troll: At Starbucks. Had to park next door because the lot was full. My life is terrible.
(5 min later) Troll: UGH. Line is taking forever!
(5 min later) Troll: Of course they made my drink wrong. HOW HARD is it to tell the difference between a venti soy latte and a venti soy cappuccino?
(5 min later) Troll: I have a headache.
Me:

Once you identify a troll, there are several steps you an take.

1) Ignore them. Just keep scrolling. This is generally the best method as confronting them usually only provokes them.

2) You can try to confront them. You will lose. They are like the zombie apocalypse. You can maybe destroy one, but there will be five more where that came from.

3) Stay off Facebook. But don't do that. There are still good people on there. We can't let the trolls win and have them overrun the interwebs!

4) Remember who they are in real life. These are good people with good hearts who in the light of the midday sun don't suck the life out of everyone they meet like they do online. It's just when there is an open web browser in front of them that the darkest part of their soul flies out through the keypad.

5) Check yourself regularly to make sure you haven't caught the virus that is obviously spreading through the population. Are you showing signs and symptoms of Facebook trolling? If so, shut off your computer, and seek immediate help. The best therapy is to find reality and get a grip on it. And if someone you love has become a Facebook troll, remember who they are away from their computer, and that Jesus died for the trolls, too.

An Election Perspective

Yesterday, I stood in line for an hour to cast my vote. For months, I had been hearing about the different candidates, some of what they would do to make things better, and mostly how the other guy would screw things up. I had been bombarded with tv ads, political posts from friends on Facebook, and more mailings than I could count.

I spent some time yesterday morning before I went to the polls doing my final research on each candidate, including the overshadowed state and local elections. I scribbled the names down on a scrap piece of paper, folded it up and put it in my wallet, then headed to the early voting center.

Walking in, there were half a dozen people trying to hand me the slate for their political party. I told them I already had my "cheat sheet" in my wallet. Standing in front of me were two older women, clutching their GOP slates. Behind me was a man in designer jeans and a sport coat, trying to get reception on his phone so he could send out some emails while he waited in line.

There were a bunch of mothers with babies in strollers, people on their work lunch break, twenty something's with tattoos and piercings, hipsters, suburbanites, immigrants, and veterans.

Each of us were there for our own reasons, with our own slate of candidates, our own opinions, and our own hopes. One lady came out of the voting room smiling and said, "God bless America!" as she put on her "I voted today" sticker and headed to the door.

When I actually made it to the voting machine to cast my ballot, I pulled out my scrap paper with the names of my chosen candidates. It took about 30 seconds for me to punch in all of the names, double check to make sure I did it right, and cast my vote.

When I walked out, noticed the line had doubled in length from when I had arrived. Someone along the way asked me how long it took. When I told them an hour, there were lots of groans. But no one left.

I got back to my car, and NPR came on the radio, in the middle of more political news reporting. Apparently it wasn't going to stop just because I had voted already. I turned the radio off.

As I drove back to my office, I reflected on what it meant that people were so passionate about all of this political stuff. I even found myself in these last days before the election was over, growing increasingly passionate.

I think what it comes down to is hope. There is nothing scarier for people than an unknown future. Will I lose my job? What if a loved one, or even I, get sick? What if a war starts or natural disaster strikes? We don't have control over these things. But with our vote, we can help choose who we want to be in charge in these situations. It's a bit of a security blanket we can hold on to as we face uncertainty.

I think that's ok. It's ok to want some certainty or to feel like you at least have a little control over what is happening. But we also cannot forget that regardless of who is elected, we already have hope. We follow the One who thought up and created this place and these people. We are children of the One who holds the future in the palm of His hands. We believe in the One who, though the earth may shake and the mountains fall into the sea, His right hand will hold us fast.

If your candidates win, be glad, but remember where your hope truly lies - in God and not people. If your candidates don't win, don't worry. They aren't really in charge anyways.

This Election is Different

Maybe it's just me, but this election felt different.

Both sides, Republicans and Democrats, have been battling hard to gain important political positions in the House of Representatives, the Senate, and of course, the Presidency. And there is always vicious name calling and accusations, and claims that the accusations are lies. But this felt different.

For a while, I couldn't put my finger on it. I mean, I've always noticed the political ads on TV (and quickly tired of them). I've always seen my neighbors and friends and relatives put political yard signs out in a vast array of voluntary political advertisement for the candidate or issue of their choice. This isn't new.

But still something was different.

To be fair and transparent, I can get passionate about some political issues. There are certain candidates that I think would be more qualified than others. There are issues that I hold strong convictions about. However, because of my occupation, I have decided to remain publicly neutral on most things. I know that's not always the route that my colleagues in ministry go, and I'm ok with their choice to be vocal on issues they believe in. I choose not to be, because I serve in a setting full of Republicans and Democrats alike. I have friends and relatives on both sides of the aisle. And my number one goal in life is to share with all of them the love of Christ. I'm not willing to alienate any because of my stance on a political issue. Whether that would happen or not, I'm not willing to risk the gospel over it. That's just my stance, my opinion.

But this election has been different. And it's because of Facebook.

It used to be that it was fairly easy for me to remain politically indifferent in the public sphere. It's a rare occasion for someone in a public setting like my church to push me on my political views. Even if they go into a political rant, I can generally just nod my head, smile, and brush the conversation off.

But now, Facebook. Every day for the past two months (at least) as I have gotten on Facebook, I have been bombarded. Not by ads, but by my friends and family. The people I know and love. They are speaking their collective minds about their political opinions and agendas and opening cans of worms that used to stay closed. Debates between friends of mine who don't even know each other have leaked into my non-political posts. I have had to remove comments, and in extreme situations, disallow people from even being able to post on my wall because of politically divisive comments.

And then there are my friends who want nothing to do with politics. They rant about the incredible volume of political posts and how they can't wait for all of this to be over. Surely, this is not a new sentiment from previous elections, but it is definitely heightened.

Because of Facebook, I now know where almost every single person I am acquainted with stands when it comes to politics. I am surprised and sometimes even appalled at how some of my friends think. I can't believe their views are so different from my own. These are people who in some cases have helped form my identity and I have looked up to my entire life. Can I even have a rational conversation with them when these are the beliefs and convictions that they hold?

Things that were once hidden and private convictions are now publicly displayed for the world to see, and our human nature causes us to shy away from those different than us, further dividing ourselves, and pushing us towards those with whom we feel we belong.

And yet somehow, my calling is to preach the gospel to all of these children of God. How? How do I unite them together as the church? How do I convince such different people that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female....Republican nor Democrat....but that we are all one in Christ Jesus?

I guess what makes this election different is that every ad I see and every Facebook comment I read now reminds me just how fallen we are and how far we have to go. Not that I am already where I am supposed to be, but I know where God has called me to help lead people. I'm on the same journey, and the path looks a lot harder than it did before.