Crossroads, 2012

The Obama Road..or, the Romney Road

Imagine this…

You’ve been traveling on a particular road for some time, and you now arrive at a crossroads. From where you stand, you have only two options: travel back down the road you’ve been on, or, take the new road..

You can see both roads. The road to your left (the road you’ve been on)  has been difficult to walk on..mostly uphill, lots of potholes and sinkholes, several dangerous cliffs on either side and lots of  fallen trees that slowed your walk.

However, the road was very attractive; very pretty trees, lots of birds singing happy songs all day, beautiful flowers and colors along the road. In fact, one of the features of the road which made it so attractive to you was the beautiful colors all around.—colors that were never on any other road you’ve traveled.

Now you consider the road to your right—the new road. The unknown road. From where you stand, you can see part of it. It looks smoother and better maintained than “your” road. The new road appears to be a more level and straighter path. From the little bit of it that you can see, the new road  looks like a less dangerous way—you can’t see any of the potholes or sinkholes that you know are along the entire length of the road that you’ve been on. But, you hesitate, because this road is brand new, it’s mostly unknown to you. You step a little closer to the new road..and now you can see a bit more of it. There are lots of green trees, flowers and birds (just like “your” road). But, something is different..what is it?

You stare, intently at the new road. Then, you see it; The new road is a little “blander” than your road..a little less colorful, a little less “pretty”. But at the same time, the new road is also a much straighter, more level road—you can’t see the end of it, but from what you can see, it definitely follows a better, safer, more logical path than Your Road.

So now you have to make a decision. You ask yourself “Which road do I take.? The road I’ve been on is familiar to me. I like the look of My Road—the pretty trees, the blue sky,.

I like the warm breezes and the singing birds in the pretty trees. But—I’ve barely survived walking on My Road. I encountered life-threatening dangers at almost every turn in My Road If I stay on this road, what’s next? What hazards might I encounter further down this road? And, am I certain that I’ll survive?”   You sit down to think, and pray, about your next move.

In a while, you start thinking about the New Road, you ask yourself: “What about this other road? From here, I can see only a small part of it. I don’t know where it will take me or how I’ll fare once I’m on it.” So you step a little closer—to get a better view of the New Road. Now you can see more of it. It does look better than Your Road.—although, at the very beginning of it, you can see some potholes and a few fallen down trees. But farther down—you can see a clearer road. You can see a straighter road without the dangers of Your Road. It even looks like the sun is shining brighter as the road goes on.

You’ve got yourself a conundrum, for sure. Do you stay on Your Road, knowing that it’s been a hard slog, every step of the way.—and in all likelihood, it will be just as hard (or worse) if you continue on Your Road? You think about it logically: “Why would I consider the possibility that My Road gets any better, based on the condition of it so far?”

Then you think about the New Road:” Well, I can only see a small part of the New Road from where I stand now. But from what I CAN see, it’s definitely in better shape—better maintained, and safer than My Road. And it looks like the New Road only gets better as it goes on…”

Now it’s decision time.

Stay on Your Road, which you’re very familiar with, and keep trying to walk around all of the potholes, sinkholes and fallen down trees. (but, it is very pretty—and colorful)

Or…

Take the New Road, which may not look as pretty and colorful as Your Road. But, from what you’ve seen of it, looks like the better, safer route.

Decisions…decisions……