Blessings and Demons

So I'm at the Liberty game tonite.  They didn't win, but I don't go just for the win; I go for the game.  On the way back, my child Amit calls.  Amit's birthday is September 11, and we usually go to the US Open.  He's trying to find a wife and I'm trying to pay my mortgage off in 15 years, so we haven't had as much disposable income as in past years, but we talked about going.  He really, really wanted to go, and even though the seats were $100.00 more than the limit we agreed on, we decided we'd get them.

Then he decides we'll have to drive.  It occurred to me that year before last when we went, Amit was styling in a Mercedes (on display at the Open), and I didn't have any car.  This year, we're trying to decide whether we'll both drive our cars, or whether he'll drive us both in his Mercedes SUV.  I was thinking about how things change, and how much material blessings we've both enjoyed.

And I was thinking about sports.  Like I said, Liberty tonight, US Open tomorrow night, Liberty again on Saturday -- looking at my schedule, one might think I was into sports.  One would certainly not believe the host of illnesses, orthopedic conditions and injuries I deal with.  (Sidebar:  this conversation in my head was before I came home to my copy of USMS Swimmer magazine, with an article on training with chronic illness).  But the net result of my thoughts is that I was happy and grateful.  Zipping through NYC in the evening,  Chrystal Rucker blasting ... I was having a Thank You Jesus Good Time.

And then I saw it.  I rolled up on a Jeep with a Romney sticker on the back.  Now, NY is a mostly Blue State, but NYC is about as True Blue as Duke is (not politically; that's probably a phrase that only Dukies will get.  But NYC  -- well, it's one of President Obama's best fundraising cities).  A Romney sticker here is something of an anomaly.

But I completely lost my mind.  I rolled up on it, and suddenly I was yelling, "You're an A-HOLE!!! OH. MY. GOODNESS!!! YOU'RE SUCH AN A-HOLE!!!!!!"  Mind you, my window was open, and I didn't know whether theirs was open or not.  Thankfully, I had turned my Jesus-praising Gospel music down...  I caught myself, mostly because there is a very real possibility of physical danger for people who yell obscenities at other people in NYC.  Somewhere, I was aware that my actions were not reflective of the Jesus I'd just been praising seconds before, but I didn't stop, I just toned it down.  I went from "You're an A-HOLE" to "Man, your friends must really hate you!  They've totally messed up your car!"

And I felt a rage inside of me.  Sure, the rage has been fueled by listening to Mr. Ryan spin the truth.  The rage is fueled because it brings back memories of living in the South when white people put you on an uneven playing field and used the results not as indicators of their treachery, but as more fodder with which to debase and degrade you.  The rage is certainly fueled by a Congress that has a stated goal of defeating a black president, but will use the results of their collective sedition as "evidence" that the POTUS should not be re-elected.  The rage is fueled by the fact that my mind draws a direct parallel between the folk who are at the RNC and the folk who were in lynch mobs and who were in the crowds as the dogs and hoses were turned on people....

But that doesn't excuse my behavior.  My ancestors went through things far more blatantly oppressive than these, things that equally affronted human sensibility, and they reacted not with uncontrolled rage, but with unmitigated dignity.  Why, I wondered, did I react in such an uncontrolled manner?

And that's when it hit me.  The only thing that could make a person behave that badly is a dark force.  I believe America has come face to face with evil incarnate, and that is in the persons of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.  They've taken evil upon themselves as a cloak,  Now that I've recognized it, I've got to watch for it.  Scripture tells us that satan can quote Scripture, and I saw that later this evening as Mr. Romney joked about making money and not wanting to go to hell, too... With that simple statement, he brings the question of faith front and center, appearing to  mock those who would question his Mormon faith, while simultaneously appealing to the greed of the "evangelical Americhristians" whose favor and votes he seeks.  His deception and redirection in this statement are akin to that of a magician -- he's an ideological magician, and I fear that people's critical thought processes will be re-or mis-directed by his twisted words.

But I've gotten off topic.  The topic was blessings and demons, and I wanted to talk about how I recognized both tonight.  I'm grateful for just waking up and breathing air this morning.  I'm nowhere near to being a Biblical literalist, but the stuff that's going on in our political system right now is demonically creepy,

I pray enough Americans will open their eyes. I pray that I can exercise enough control to not behave like the demons we need to battle.

Gotta go.  Long day tomorrow:  contracts, politicians, and then the Open.