Obama & McCain: Big Difference or No Difference?
What is the most important thing to keep in mind as Barack Obama and John McCain fight for the U.S. Presidency?
Democrats who are fearful that McCain might win now that he has the highly appealing Sarah Palin as his running mate need to keep in mind that God is in charge. If God is in charge, the right man will win.
Oops! Did we just give a clue as to who will win the U.S. Presidency? Will it be the man who is more to the right and less to the left of the political spectrum? Such an interpretation would certainly make sense given the general direction of the U.S. population in the years since Ronald Reagan campaigned for the Presidency. Reagan said government is always the problem, never the solution ... a belief which has taken deeper and deeper root in recent decades with their daily government-caused chaos.
But then again, the leftist Barack Obama talks constantly about change. The only change in government that would really be change would be to reduce its size, cut its programs, lower taxes, lay off bureaucrats, and reduce the tax burden of Americans by at least half. Is Barack Obama honestly interested in bringing about such truly fundamental and freeing change?
It doesn't seem so. He campaigns for new government programs, more bureaucrats, and heavier taxation. The only "change" he seems to want is Democrat dictatorship in place of Republican dictatorship, forcing on the country programs favored by the Democratic Party in place of programs favored by the Republican Party. This is not change. It is substitution.
Here is what Jesus Christ says of substitution:
To substitute is to ACCEPT INSTEAD. If you would but consider exactly what this entails, you would perceive at once how much at variance this is with the goal the Holy Spirit has given you and would accomplish FOR you. To substitute is to CHOOSE BETWEEN, renouncing one IN FAVOR of the other. For this SPECIAL purpose, one is judged more valuable, and the other REPLACED by him. The relationship in which the substitution occurred is thus fragmented, and ITS PURPOSE SPLIT accordingly. To fragment IS TO EXCLUDE, and substitution is the strongest defense the ego has for separation. The Holy Spirit NEVER substitutes. (ACIM Text Chap. 18)
Because there is no spiritual benefit from substitution, maybe the right candidate will win after all.
But most importantly, it makes no difference who wins. No matter who wins, it will not be the end of the world, nor will there be out-of-this-world joyous happiness. Because politicians cannot create such conditions. Only an advanced spiritual teacher can "take you out of here." Only a preparation device such as that given by Jesus Christ, A Course in Miracles, can help train your mind to be ready for life not of this world.
Unless you are totally enlightened spiritually, your world is a place of pain, sickness, suffering, and death. If John McCain wins the American Presidency, your world will remain a place of pain, sickness, suffering, and death. If Barack Obama were to win the American Presidency, your world would still be a place of pain, sickness, suffering, and death. No government made up by human consciousness can solve the conditions created in the first place by human consciousness. Human government is the problem, not the solution. The attempt to have human government, not Divine Government, is what placed you where you find yourself.
So what can you do ... just be happy no matter who wins the election? That's not a bad idea. But why not choose total happiness even before the election is won by one or the other of the candidates? Why not realize that the seeming two candidates are really one ... and wish them both the perfect outcome directed by the Holy Spirit's vision?
Where the ego perceives one person as a REPLACEMENT FOR another, the Holy Spirit sees them joined and indivisible. He does not judge BETWEEN them, KNOWING they are one. Being united, they are one BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SAME. Substitution is clearly a process in which they are PERCEIVED AS DIFFERENT. One would UNITE; the other SEPARATE. NOTHING can come BETWEEN what God has joined, and what the Holy Spirit sees as one. (ACIM Text Chap. 18)
Walking the earth, Jesus kept his attention and focus far above politics. Knowing taxation is a form of slavery, his disciples had a natural temptation to resist paying taxes. Jesus told them it wasn't worth the pain to resist, basically saying, "Go ahead and pay the taxes. Your real kingdom is not of this world." In other words, any resistance takes your mind off the real world.
Jesus knows the Holy Spirit's power is so far superior to any human-invented political movement, so totally assured of success, that it really doesn't matter who appears, in earthly perception, to be in charge.
"The Emperor is in charge!"
"Yeah, sure!"
But He who is in charge has a wonderful surprise waiting for those who stay happy no matter what goes on around them on earth. Human politicians promise a utopia they could never deliver for they live a dream and dreams deliver only chaos. But Heaven's promise is beyond all earthly dreams.
Yet Heaven IS sure. THIS IS NO DREAM. Its coming means that you have chosen truth, and it has come, because you have been willing to let your special relationship meet its conditions. (ACIM Text Chap. 18)
So during this election season ... and forever afterwards ... let us keep in mind the prayer given to his modern-day disciples by Jesus Christ:
"Today I let Christ’s vision look upon
All things for me and judge them not, but give
Each one a miracle of love instead......
....Amen.”
"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)
Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City
