A Day at the Races- It Came Down to a Coin Toss!

Thousands flocked to the Sam Houston Racetrack to partipate in the Senate District #7 Democratic Convention. It was pretty chaotic and long, hard day, going from 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Each delegate that was elected from the precinct meetings in February was given a chance to send to the June State Convention a delegate and an alternate, with most precinct votes based on Obama or Clinton.

We waited all day to place our votes within each precinct. Three of our Clinton delegates had to leave during the day, which left us with three Clinton and seven Obama supporters. The top vote getter got the state delegate seat from our precinct- an Obama supporter. There was a 3-3 tie for the alternate. A Clinton devotee was named the alternate as the tie breaker came down to a coin toss. Ten hours and it all came down to a coin flip!

Amazing also because this was my first try at politics beyond just voting. Why did I wait so long? I would be complacent if my candidate was elected and just disgusted if mine was not. One thing is for sure, this 2008 race has got tons of people fired up and in the process already. The more idealistic you are, the more you are likely to get hurt or at least disappointed. Of course, idealism works- people want to think the best of their candidate.

With churches, the same is true. People are pretty idealistic when joining a faith community. They are thinking the best of their new church home, hoping and believing that it will work for them. If the church doesn't somehow measure up to their expectations, expectations usually formed by the church's own self-presentation, then it is easy to become disillusioned, a disillusionment, by the way, often experienced by new clergy who realize that a community of faith is not all it was cracked up (read: presented) to be.

There is a line in the Serenity Prayer that comes to mind: "...that I may be reasonably happy in this life..." Balancing our expectations with reality is the way of wisdom, and the art of becoming happy within reason is perhaps what St. Paul meant: "I have learned to be content in all things."

It is easy to enjoy the excitment of this political season, and the hope it raises. The joy in finding a new church or going to a new pastoral assignment is also wonderful, a gift and a vessle of God's grace. Hopefully, our political hopes and the grace of the new can and will draw us closer to the One that we cannot do without- and the One beyond our wildest dreams.