If Jesus Worked on a Political Campaign

On my way to work yesterday, I heard this story on NPR about the people who have given up their regular lives to work for Ted Cruz campaign.  Some of them are no doubt retired.  But I was struck by the one man who gave up his job for the chance to work on the campaign.  I was even more intrigued by the woman who sounded so breathless with wonder at the fabulousness of her candidate.

I felt a swirl of emotions.  My first thought:  I have never felt this way about any candidate ever, that I would give up a full-time job to work for a candidate.  Part of me felt sad about that--but a larger part of me was thankful for my groundedness that helps me to realize the folly of placing all my trust and hope in the political system.

I thought of the yearnings that people have, on full display here:  that yearning for deliverance, for a Messiah, and for a vision of a future that could be better.  And of course, my mind went other places, and it's not too far a stretch for a brain like mine to think about other messiahs, other scenarios.

I thought of my resolution to write one Jesus-in-the-world poem per week, and I knew that I had my subject for the week.  This morning, I wrote a first draft--hurrah!

It's been a good writing week:  I've written 2 poems this week, I've written blog posts of all sorts, I've sent packets of poems out to journals, and I've done some revisions.  I've also spent some time reading some of the short stories that I wrote in the past few years, since I also submitted a story or two.  I've been doubly pleased, because it's been a week where I also had some grading to do, and of course, the ever-present administrator week.  In short, I've felt balanced in ways that I don't always feel.

Hopefully I can maintain that balance for the weeks to come.