What a crazy couple of days it’s been. I don’t quite know what to make of it all.

I went to bed last night… well, this morning really, believing that it would be a week or more before we knew who won the election, only to be surprised this morning with news of Kerry’s concession. I have to say, Kerry gained my respect, or at least a level of it, by his actions today. He was well within his legal right to hold off on conceding, to drag his heals and wait for all the provisional ballots to be counted… even ask for a recount. But rather than pushing his own agenda, hanging  selfishly onto his ambition to win and dragging the country into another drawn out legal scuffle, he did the gracious and honorable thing: Stepped aside and let the winner be the winner, from the beginning. He scored some points with me with that one. Not enough to convince me to vote for him next election. He wasn’t that good. 🙂 But he did score some points.

Work was rather crazy the last couple of days, especially today… I’ve never seen so much activity over an election result before. I’m actually used to the election just being one distraction of many during the day, not the whole focus of the day. And I’m definitely not used to my coworkers getting excited and celebrating wins for conservative issues or candidates. Wow, was that a weird experience! We had a staff meeting in which the president talked all about the election and how the outcome of the various "victories" will impact the future. I sat there, almost in shock. I kept having these crazy flashbacks to where I was 4 years ago. How different my situation was then!

I was working in tv post production at Paramount. The only, and I mean only Republican in my department. I tried not to discuss politics. But because the people there were so incredibly bored, and detested their jobs, they looked for anything that could distract them from their work… politics was great for that. Eventually it got out that I was one of those "right-wingers"… perhaps they just decided it had to be thus, because they already knew I was going overseas as a missionary. So I was constantly bombarded with questions and accusations. How could I support this or that in the Republican platform??? How could I be for Bush??? And against gays and against women’s rights and against…. yadda yadda yadda…

I think I handled it all quite well, actually. But that was only because God poured out His grace over me, and helped me keep my tongue in check… or in cheek, as the case was at times. 🙂 He gave me the grace to have a sense of humor about it all… When you get down to it, it’s really all rather funny to me — and fun! — to watch and listen to liberals go off on the evils of conservatism and how virtuous their views are. I think that’s why I love "The West Wing" (tv show) so much. So often liberals trip over the truth, claim it as their own, without ever realizing 1) God came up with it first; 2) it doesn’t fit with the rest of their beliefs (pluralism at it’s weirdest); 3)even when they portray Truth as "evil" or "intolerant," their very arguments prove the rightness, goodness and wisdom of it; and 4)–and the scariest to them!– often it’s actually conservative values their espousing. They get it "right" more than they will ever know… amazing. For more on this, see my Democrats just don’t get it post.

When I was younger, political debates really frustrated me. My oldest sister, Paula (whom I love dearly, but don’t agree with hardly at all when it comes to politics) is a dyed-in-the-wool liberal. A Flower Child who never grew up — and never intends to. I would get so frustrated and flustered trying to talk politics with her. Not only can she talk/debate circles around me, but her passion and conviction are incredible forces to be reckoned with. As were the passions and convictions of my coworkers.

However, my coworkers weren’t my oldest sister — that is to say, I didn’t have a need to impress them or be liked and respected by them the way I did my sister. So I felt free to just smile and say, that’s nice… but it didn’t change my mind. I felt free to choose not to respond, not to defend my position (which I’d not felt with my sister, for some stupid reason). And I felt free to take time in thinking through, and giving voice to, my convictions. It made for interesting work days leading up to the election, that’s for sure.

Then Florida happened… have you ever noticed that since 2000, people refer to Florida as if it just appeared out of the ocean in November that year? It "happened". Florida. Happened. (insert dramatic music here). And I was at fault. I never figured out how I was, but my coworkers were convinced of it….

It was quite a ride, those recounts… and then came the accusations that Bush had stolen the election. Stolen Florida….
Poor Florida. First it "happened", and then it was "stolen".
And it was all my fault….

As I sat in the conference room today reflecting on those experiences four years ago, I marveled at how different things are for me now. TV Post was NOT a happy place to work. No one, not even the boss, liked their jobs. Morale didn’t exist, there was lots of gossip and backstabbing… it was a dark, dark place. My work environment today, on the other hand, is just the opposite. Everyone I work with now seems to enjoy their job. There’s no gossip or backstabbing, at least none that I’ve heard yet — and by now I would have heard it. You’d be amazed by what people tell temps! — and there’s a spirit of gratefulnes and humility that I’ve rarely experienced at a job — and sadly, even within many ministry teams I’ve been a part of.

I’m still completey mystified as to what God has in store for me at this current job. But today I was grateful just for the chance to experience, and celebrate, an election victory with coworkers who share my political bent