What are we waiting for?

Many people have expressed their fears, their anger, their frustrations, etc at all that is going on right now in the country. There’s simply too much to list, and even if I did list it, it would be out of date instantly – already overrun by a dozen new things for people to feel anxious, fearful, and distraught over. And that’s the point. The strategy, if you want to call it that, is to flood the zone. To keep throwing a ton of things at people to the point that no one can keep up, responding seems pointless, and that we all just give up and throw in the towel.

Ezra Klein has a video podcast that I recommend. I saw this podcast the other day and I felt hopeful from watching it. I encourage you to watch it too. This was Klein’s take on the first two weeks of the new administration.

The key take away quote for me was when Klein said, “He’s acting like a king because he is too weak to act like a president.”

The other key take away from Klein’s analysis of the flood the zone strategy. The sum of it is that while such a strategy exhausts the opposition, it is also exhausting to maintain. It is not sustainable. That is good news. My biggest concern though is how many people get hurt in the process of it all collapsing.

Which leads me to a larger observation. I don’t know if it’s because so many people are trying to respond or react to everything going on, or if it’s exhaustion, or not knowing what to do, or something else, but it seems like everyone is waiting for someone to come up with a strategy.

We all seem to waiting for someone mythological figure to rise up with “the strategy.” We’re waiting for an opposing politician to have the answer. We’re all waiting for direction.

I’ve got news for you – that ain’t happening.

I don’t know when we as a society decided that we didn’t have it within us to vision what we wanted the country to be like. I don’t know when we gave up our responsibility to cast a vision, to dream, to create a better nation. I don’t know when we thought the people in Washington were smarter than the rest of us. I don’t know when we thought only elected officials can possibly give direction.

I don’t know and I really don’t care either. Here’s what I do know – we need to stop with these assumptions.

The people in DC, or any capitol are not more special that anyone else. They don’t have special visioning skills.

As a Gen Xer, I remember the old school house rock video where we learned how government worked, or at least how it should be working.

Remember that? Did you notice the key part in there? That the ideas came from the people who informed their elected representative of the idea. The people weren’t waiting around for some special idea from their elected official from on high. When did we reverse the direction of that?

I’ve worked for elected officials in the past. I’ve run campaigns. And here’s a truth about every politician – they are just as uncertain as everyone else. They have flaws like everyone else. They put their pants the same way as everyone else. That doesn’t mean that what they do is unimportant. Hardly. It means that we do them and ourselves a disservice when we make them into something more than they are. And by doing so, we also diminish ourselves. That’s not fair or right for anyone.

So what are we all waiting for? What’s your vision for the country? For your community? For your neighborhood? How about your church? Your work/business? Your family?

You have the ability and capacity to share a compelling vision, to work at it, to invite others into it. Talk with people about your vision and ask them what their vision is. I’m willing to bet that you will find overlap with what you are working towards. Now you aren’t working alone. You have a partner. Keep talking, keep visioning. Keep expanding the circle.

Stuff is going to happen – stuff that you don’t have any control over. Some of it will be terrible, I feel pretty safe in saying that. But don’t ever let that stop you.

What are you waiting for? I want to hear your vision. I want to know what you are passionate about. I want to see how it matches with my vision and passions. I want to find partners that I can work with on a vision for the nation and the church that leads to thriving people and communities and churches and more. I want you to know that you can do this. And you should.

So what are you waiting for? Don’t worry about making it perfect. That doesn’t exist anyway. Cast a vision that is better than the current reality. That shouldn’t be very difficult given the current situation. And don’t feel shy or ashamed of your vision. Share it. Yes, there are going to be some people who criticize and complain. So what. Move on from them because there are plenty of other people who are thirsty for vision. You work with who you can. And you build. And you create. And you bless. And you lift up. And you keep going. And you encourage.

So what are you waiting for? We need you.