Election Day

As we face a new presidential election, I am haunted by the inaugural address of John F. Kennedy in 1961, especially the ending phrase of the speech, which set the tone and purpose of his administration: With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.

John F. Kennedy was not a perfect man, as indeed neither was Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, or Nelson Mandela.  It is easy for us in hindsight to "see" the faults of our leaders -- Thomas Jefferson owned slaves; Benjamin Franklin liked women, etc.  Kennedy was, like the rest of his family, politically ambitious, morally ambiguous in some areas, and so forth.  But his inaugural address clearly gives us what was important to him -- the values that drove him forth and that lay at the core of his being. 

What motivated both John and Bobby Kennedy was not ultimately power, but power to serve, power to do the right thing, both in this nation and in the world.  Like other great leaders, they were not about self-aggrandizement, whatever other faults they may have had.  They were about justice, about the triumph of truth, and the dignity of their fellow men.  Kennedy stated at the opening of his address his core belief that "the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God." 

These are the rights he pledged to defend, as "heirs of that first revolution...., and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed."

Kennedy also spoke to the world that day as well as to our own country:  [Let us] remember that those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside....if a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

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As we examine our presidential choices, to me, the issues they debate is not as important as the drive that propels them to seek office --- what are they about as human beings, not as politicians?  What are the core issues that define their souls?  We cannot tell what issues here and abroad will face us in the coming days, and we cannot demand from our leaders the wisdom of Solomon.  What we can demand from them is a passion for justice, a determination to put the rights of the poor and defenseless ahead of those of the rich and powerful, and an acknowledgment that "here on earth, God's work must truly be our own." 

I need to vote, as nearly as I can, not only for "one nation under God," but for "one man under God." 
And it will take a lot of prayer on our part to discern that one man.