Premonition of 2012

It’s finally here. Soon it will all be over. Soon...but not too soon, or soon enough for many. We still have many months to endure. Many months of ravage and hysteria. Many months of pain and torture. Many months of such agony that any survivor will plead for the end to come swiftly. Yes, the end of 2012 holds the final nightmarish events. Hold on, what? No, I am not talking about the end of the world, the Mayan calendar, Planet X, or Armageddon. Nothing of the sort. I am referring to something even more atrocious and nauseating—the 2012 Presidential election.

I never thought I would live to see the day that an election lasts longer than the commercial Christmas season, but this election has. We joke and complain about stores gearing up for holiday sales before school starts back, but this election gave us televised debates almost a year and a half before the election! Are any of the first contenders still around? (Don't answer that—I am not that interested.) It would be so easy right now to turn to any of the lamentations we have in Scripture and wail in anguish with our brothers and sisters throughout time, “How long, O LORD?” We could, or maybe should, as long as we don’t plan to make a lifestyle out of it. I am amazed how many people I meet who seem to prefer wallowing in misery. These are folks who are far beyond “the glass is half empty.” No, these people who look at the glass say the glass is cracked and leaking and the water will probably be a cesspool of E. coli. There is no pleasing them! Yet, I must not be haughty in my judgment, because I seem to want to take up residence there in that frame of mind from time-to-time myself.

So, how is it that we get there, and, more importantly, how do we stay out? I have noticed that I tend to be crabby and disgruntled when I am around others like that. I find myself snippy and condescending when I listen to radio programs and television hosts who imbue these emotions. I find myself lacking hope and well-being when I read articles that lack hope and positive messages. Humph...I wonder if there is a correlation to this? Since this is a new year, one that many want to fill with dread and doom, I think I shall approach it with a different attitude.

I think this year, as people come up to me and say, “The world is going to hell in a handbasket,” I think I may respond, “And though the wrong seems oft’ so strong, God is the ruler yet.” When someone spouts, “The End is near,” I think I may retort, “And he shall be called, Immanuel, God with us.” This year, I think I am going to look for all that is good in the world, because there are enough who so eagerly point out the bad. This year, I resolve to see that the glass isn’t half empty. I will see that, actually, it is overflowing, more than enough for me and everyone else. This year is going to be different, because I am going to make it different. I can’t change what others want to believe, but I can keep them from changing what I believe. If I were to make another resolution, it would be to recruit others to join me in changing the course and outlook for 2012. After all, 2013 needs a good foundation to be built upon. Godspeed, Tim