Wednesday, 7 November, 2012:
I’m not a political activist, pundit, or powerhouse. That’s why after voting yesterday, I wrote that the precious freedom to vote is of less significance than the precious truth that we are human.
This morning, 51.5% of voters are euphoric (to varying degrees) and 48.5% are despondent (on various levels) based solely on their personal answer to this single question:
Who did you vote for?
Several hours ago, the political map of our country looked like this:
For entirely non-political reasons, I hate this map. Everything about it screams division and dissent. The non-United States of America.
I prefer this map:
A person has to really scrunch up their eyes to pinpoint “my” place. The color scheme has an artistic air about it. The division lines are faint, more like the marks on a master blueprint than the “cut” lines on a butcher diagram.
This map is even better:
This one is better yet:
And this is the best of all:
I vote because I can. Because I have been given that right. Because voting matters – on a temporal level, that is.
But I am not a pinpoint on a blue/red electoral map, defined primarily by my political leanings or judged by my voting record.
I am, rather, a pinpoint in a vast, immeasurable universe. I breathe because I live. I have been granted that miracle. Pinpoints matter – in spite of their smallness – solely because they are defined by their imago Dei and judged by undeserved grace.
The real question (for today) is not Who did you vote for?
The real question (for beyond days) is Who do you live for?
Breathe 
Very well stated Crystal! I was thinking about the map of all the galaxies and the speck the earth is, and how overwhelmed I am that God created galaxies beyond what we can see or dream . . . and that this very same God loves each of us – His unique creation.
Yes, Sue. If I could have found a good image of the universe, I would have included that. But earth itself is enough to put me in my rightful place – not in a demeaning way that lessens my value but in a humbling way that increasingly clarifies my belovedness. (Mac is telling me “belovedness” is not a word. That’s how much he knows…)
Absolutely!! Love this—-who do you live for? Whoever takes the oath of office deserves our respect, honor and prayers—because he is working to respond to all of our very human problems—-and he’s only a human himself. But thank God for the imago dei, which is the source of our only hope. Thanks for these good words, and for all the MAPS!! You’ve contextualized it all beautifully.
Ah yes – the joy of maps. All of that time and space of creation compressed onto the flattened page. I suppose in one sense it’s constricting. But in another sense – to visualize all of the time and space right in front of my eyes – it’s rather magical.
hi babydoll i love to read what u write keep up ur creative thinking luv u anita
Hello friend! I love that you love to read this. It makes me joyful. And also makes me miss you both. True story.