Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 312

But the LORD said to Samuel: 
“Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature,
because I have rejected him.
Not as man sees does God see,
because he sees the appearance
but the LORD looks into the heart.”

According to New Yorker Magazine, "Only five elected American Presidents—John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, James Garfield, and Dwight Eisenhower—were bald or balding. Considering that 85% of men older than 50 suffer hair loss, that’s an astonishing record." 

When millions of Americans vote in a closely contested election, the slightest factors -- even appearance -- can make a difference. If most of the electorate is ignorant or illiterate, appearances make all the difference. Americans want good looking, married men with a winning smile, and hair. A successful presidential contestant should be combative, confident, and unapologetic. He need not speak intelligently of complex issues since the electorate doesn't pretend to care about complex issues. His wife should be easy on the eyes, not dowdy or frumpy. 

As candidates take to the airwaves, we hear the Lord's advice: 

"Do not judge from his appearance.... 

Not as man sees does God see, 

because he sees the appearance

but the LORD looks into the heart.”

Our Constitution was written with the Jeffersonian confidence that educated, well-informed men would vote. Women, children, the poor, and slaves were not given a voice in the young democracy. Since that time, that small electorate has expanded intentionally. We can suppose each party made the concession expecting new voters to vote their way; we should not suppose they included women, the poor, or former slaves because it was the right thing to do. Hardball politics may appeal to certain, select ideals but it doesn't believe in them. 

Voting has become an ideological expression, which is highly divisive, especially as we vote less out of economic issues and more about social issues. We don't ask our candidates how the government should spend its money on issues of defense, health care, infrastructure, or education. We ask which minorities they support; and, "Do they support my minority?" While an ideology urges us to pay attention, ask questions, and participate, it does not drive us toward unity, fellowship, and communion. The losers are neither satisfied nor placated. 

And so we ask the Lord to guide us with that Spirit which 

"...blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes."

God's Spirit is less predictable than the weather; the most sophisticated pollsters are often wrong. God's Spirit may choose to punish a nation for its sins with corrupt, unworthy, and inept leaders. Or it may hear the pleas of the faithful and reward them with better leaders than they deserve, for "the LORD looks into the heart" and guides us through these chaotic times.