The Big Vote

I vote myself to be blameless

"What is truth?" asked Pilate.

Jesus gave no answer.

The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of."

But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

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Somehow the news had escaped me. When I woke up from a bad dream this morning, the world was abuzz over the Big Vote. "Vote on what?" I asked, scratching my morning beard as those around me most fastidiously put on their Sunday finest.

"The truth! We must vote on the truth today!"

I was incredulous. "Vote on it? How does our voting on it going to alter the truth? You can't vote the world flat!"

"Yes, but we must vote it round or it shall not be! Voting decides our future!"

"The truth decides our future whether we face it or not."

"Exactly! That's why we must vote on it!"

When I told them I had no interest in voting, they hissed at me like a den of angry snakes. They accused me of all their crimes: saying I was naive to evil and not understanding what it takes to correct it. From their mental madhouse I cannot escape.

Since each person claimed enlightenment, no vote was hidden. Here are a few I saw:

A truthless man voted himself to be deemed truthful. A devotee of evil voted evil to be called good. A coward voted himself to be savior. A loveless man voted that love is not enough. A worldly man voted the world to be his. A broken man voted the world to fix him. A childish one voted for any but him to make the world good. And everyone who voted deemed themselves holy and purveyors of truth.

Seeing I still had not voted, they hated and despised me, saying I was allowing the world to fall into chaos and ruin. When I told them their voting did nothing to fix it, they voted me of having delusions of grandeur and granting myself undue importance. "You merely wish to shape the world to your own point of view, just to make your self-serving ass look good!"

To that I said nothing, which in their naive and wishful minds made it true.

Let's vote this war to be righteous
so we can stop worrying about it

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And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that Jesus had answered them well, asked him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"

And Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

"And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."

A voice voted against that, saying, "How will love solve anything if my neighbour does not love me back, what then? What is your answer?"

But Jesus gave no answer - and the silence confirmed the doubting man's doubts.

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I don't need love to have a future!

A man with no ears came to lecture me on the ways of responsibility. It was interesting because even though I answered him, the entire conversation was with himself.

"Why do you not vote? You must vote, my son, if you want to make things right! We must show others the truth!"

"I'm a real liberal. Real liberals don't vote. The truth is within us already."

"Today, I'm a good man! I voted to fix a world that cannot be fixed! Who can ask for more than that?"

"Uh, that means what?"

"I see you lounging here, doing nothing while I provide answers to our problems!"

"False answers don't count."

"Have you no ears? One must provide answers to all problems or one's words have no meaning! I am obligated to save you! I am your Guilty Hero, feeling the guilt of having never fixed myself."

"Voting your life to have meaning is not the same thing as giving it meaning. Only love can do that."

"I still see you not voting. You, sir, are a fool not to do as I do! You cannot change the world with mere words. Now, why do you not give me your words to answer my questions?"

"Maybe you should ask yourself why you ask the questions."

"But you must tell me about love! We each must pretend not to know how to change the world! It's what makes my voting meaningful. Tell me how love can heal the world!"

But what the man with no ears failed to hear was the sound of his own voice. His was not a call for love, so why would anyone answer?

A lesson for us all.

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