Monday 4 February 2008

"Always winter, never Christmas" - that's the phrase C.S Lewis used to describe his mythical land of Narnia in a state of perpetual frustration. All the hardships of winter, never the joy of Christmas. Forever waiting - never getting. What a drag!

I guess its not so much "always winter, never Christmas" as "always campaigning, never elected" in America just now. Whether its election pundits, news reporters, the candidates, or even the electorate themselves it must seem like one heck of a long haul. Pounding the pavements, clocking up the campaign miles, fixing that vote-wining smile and kissing all the necessary babies. Every night its back on the campaign bus or the plane and on to the next crowd of fickle voters. Never a moment's peace. And all this with another twelve months to go before a new President takes up office in the White House. How do they do it?

I suppose its all to do with change, really. When people sniff the scent of change in the air - it gives a new kind of energy, even for the long haul. If the light at the end's bright enough, it doesn't matter how long the tunnel is.

When people signed up to follow Jesus as disciples there were times when it seemed like he did his best to put them off. He warned them about rough roads to tramp, homeless nights to endure and the price they'd have to pay. Hardly the stuff of which travel brochures are made! It didn't seem to put them off though. Most of them stuck with it, through thick and thin. They wanted something new, and they were prepared to cling on for dear life to get it.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall inside one of those campaign buses. When the cameras are switched off and the blinds are drawn, do you think the politicians are still smiling and dreaming? Perhaps they are. I suppose the real test is whether you can hold onto the dream when no-one is watching.