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I don't really want to contemplate the future of our country under another four years of "conservative leadership" (and yes, those are sarcastic air-quotes). Or more of the kind of leadership that exudes hypocrisy and expects the world to do as we as say and not as we do, a country that is more afraid of terrorists wearing turbans than the ones who wear suits and neckties, profess to follow Jesus, and wave the American flag whilst gleefully cleaning out the treasury and then in the ultimate insult, they mortgage our future to foreign creditors to gain even more for themselves.



This is not the future I want to wake up to on Wednesday November 5th. I don't feel real good about how all the election process is going to go but I do know there are a lot of good folks devoted to watching the proceedings very closely for any unusual activity this time around.



So, What if hope actually wins?



What if on November 5th we wake up to find the nation had the courage to step beyond our fear and prejudice and rejected the fear based for the hope centered?



When I look at the picture above I don't see what the neo-cons like to describe as the Messiah. To me what they mean to say is that we are helpless and weak and looking for someone to solve all of our problems for us. I have lived long enough to know that person does not exist. What I see is just a guy that represents a new idea to a whole lot of folks. There are people in this country who recognize this moment as an opportunity to reject, to transcend the awful mess we have made of ourselves, our country and our world. To find the courage to forgive ourselves our own trespasses as well as forgive those who have trespassed against us and boldly step out of the dark places we find excuses for in ourselves while claiming to be fighting for the light.



My partner posed the question to me yesterday as we were engaging in our usual Sunday morning, coffee and laptops, perusing our favorite reads about the election. She said "What will we be doing when this is all over?".



Hmmmm...What shall we do after rejecting the status-quo?



Good question.



What would I do with my time, energy and passion if I no longer were blogging about how much we need to change? I guess the obvious answer would be to spend that time being the change I want to see in the world. Like most people who hold a progressive view of life I already do a number of things, mostly on a small scale, to sustain the environment and promote a more peaceful and just world. I try to look at myself with an objective eye and determine where I can challenge myself to do an even better job of making more of a positive difference in the world at large.



The idea of this nation having the guts to choose hope instead of fear really revs me up and gets me excited to re-dedicate myself to making that idea a smashing success.



But what would I do in a country that was ready to re-invent itself?



I will be finding ways to bring my post-corporate vision of capitalism with a conscience to life and bringing my considerable powers of persuasion to bear on the idea that people should be able to make as much money and be as affluent as they wish to be as long as they do it with ethics and compassion.



So, for all of you right-wingers out there who think we progressives can't tell the difference between a Messiah come to save us and a call to save ourselves...I ain't mad at ya...but I suggest you get out of the way because the times they are a changing.



Here is a little poem, maybe it's a quote, that I love.

This one is for you America, and the America we can be if we simply choose to be.



What if you slept, and if in your sleep you dreamed,

And what if in your dream you went to heaven and there

Plucked a strange and beautiful flower, and what if when you

Awoke you had the flower in your hand?

Ah, what then?

Samuel Taylor Coleridge



What will you do if Hope wins?