Unless you've been living in a cave for the last several months, you doubtless know that yesterday was Election Day in the U.S.  Although final results for some races are still pending and no one know just yet what the ultimate outcome will be, it appears that, at the very least, part of the fabric of the U.S. Congress will change, along with the governorships of several states.

    Some people are delighted with the results; others may be weeping.  Still others may be neutral or, alternatively, resigned to whatever happens.  Either way, elections force us to consider, among other things, the nature of power.  While power seems intrinsic to positions of political prominence, focusing solely on the means of power that may attend a particular office misses the point.  Fully expressed, power is not about aggrandizement but humility.  And rulers are not elected to serve themselves but those who put them in office.

    True power recognizes that undergirding this often bewildering world is an order, an order which no human being made.  An order that expresses a larger presence, a bigger reality, a fuller picture.  We did not make ourselves, nor do we live solely on our own offices:  we're contingent, woefully contingent. Hence, it is the wise ruler who grounds his/her work in humility and service.  And it is the even wiser ruler who acknowledges that, in the big picture, he/she is as evanescent as the ocean sand.

    Bottom line, all ye who aspire to political office, recognize your place.

    For it's really very, very small.