Dear Mr. President,
I know you are a busy man, but the beauty of the internet is that even a fledgling blog by an unknown writer can be stumbled upon by the most powerful man in the world. My parents' generation would've reminded me that you put your pants on one leg at a time like everybody else. Likewise, today I remind myself that you surf the internet just like the rest of us. So I will write this post as if you will actually read it. Because maybe you will:)
This will not be a critique of your actions as President or a list of phony suggestions to avoid the round of musical chairs that is predicted to leave the Democrats in the unfortunate position as the last ones standing on November 2. I won't pretend to have anything new to say on the subject that you can't hear ten times a day on MSNBC, Fox News or
The View. I am a voter without allegiance to either major party and I like it that way. I've voted in three Presidential elections and have always come out on the winning side. Although there have been many times that I have questioned or flat out disagreed with your decisions, I still greatly admire and respect you as a person and have been saddened to see what a difference two years can make in the fortunes of a President.(Full disclosure--I also felt bad for GWB toward the end.)
Consider this post to be a friendly word of encouragement from a stranger who cares. I taught the poem below to my oldest son last year when he was four. I prayed that the time we invested in that process would yield priceless returns to him through the years when these words shaped his internal response to life's adversity. At the time I thought the poem was for him, but I now know that God wanted me to internalize its message as well. Don't Quit. It takes a second to say, but a lifetime to live out.
Although my life is challenging, I can't begin to comprehend the toll that our current political climate has taken on you and your family. Please don't quit, Mr. President. You are the hero of my generation, the answered prayer of my parents' generation and the historical baseline for my children's generation. But more important than that, you are an involved black husband and father which makes you part of a team that can't afford to lose any of its members:) Keep fighting the good fight. Those of us who really care will support you when you're right and respectfully let you know when you're wrong. None of us can predict the future: Two years from now the pendulum may swing back in the other direction. Or not.
In the meantime, all you have is today, so be encouraged, Mr. President. I'll be praying for you.
Don't Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
- Author unknown
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