Perception and Presumption

I discovered something interesting today. The title of this blog was determined before I left for work this morning. I have another weblog in which I post daily devotions. http://biblebog.blogdrive.com Now, those have been printed and determined in advance, they are ready when I get here, and today the topic that the Scriptures addressed was also presumption. Since I don't believe in coincidence, I see a theme.
We are surrounded by presumption, we get consumed by presumption, and we get disappointed frequently when our presumption is based upon an unrealistic perception. What can be terrifying, though; is what we agree to, or don't see coming due to our presumption based upon our perception. We view everything in life, not necessarily as it is, but always tinted by our own experience or understanding, which of course vary amongst individuals. I have had to assess and reassess my political perception throughout the years. I am considerably older than when I was first caught up in political presumption, and I of course, have changed my perspective. I like, most Americans can tell you exactly where I was when President Kennedy was shot in Dallas. And, I like most Americans was deeply affected by that tragedy. But, I had three personal issues with the situation, that I knew was different than most other Americans. One, my maiden name was the same as his, so therefore, I was pretty excited as a young child starting school to have the same name as our President. The second concern I had, was that the man they arrested got shot in a police station. How can that happen? He was surrounded by policemen and I was told, along with the rest of the baby boomers, that if someone wanted to hurt you, go find a policeman. Well, he was surrounded by dozens of them and killed. My third concern, was also from a child's perspective. Those Kennedy children were my age. They had lived in the White House most all of their memorable lives. Why, when their dad had just died, did our nation take their home away from them? And so for several years, I was of course a diehard democrat. And I mean absolutely no disrespect to President Kennedy, but the reality is, his presidency is held in memorial, more for the way he died and what he had said his goal was, rather than what he did as president. And the truth of the matter is, by his early death, we don't know what his accomplishments would have been, including the keeping of campaign promises. This perception is based on what might have been and what was prevented from being, not really upon the president that he was.
Now, those are the thoughts of a five year old that was as politically astute as any kindergartener of the day.
Now, I am grandma of kindergarteners, so hopefully my perspective has matured.
The democratic party has changed dramatically. Actually, I noticed it, shortly after I became of age, politically. I knew, as the democrats became more extreme, I couldn't stay in the party, but I also knew my perception of the republican party was not based upon presumption, and therefore would be unable to become any part of that party. The one democrat that really opened my eyes, was our former president. He gave us NAFTA, how republican! That was his predecessor's project. Does any republican remember the first President Bush's comment regarding the one world and new order? And where does George Tenet connect in all the dots? Why, in 1999 did George Tenet dedicate the new CIA building as the George H. W. Bush building? And, now that George Tenet's son is a senior in high school, it is time to focus on those family values held so dear by the current party of power? By the 1990's I couldn't see the difference between parties. President Clinton imposed welfare limits, cut the deficit, and by his White House antics caused many to reallign their party affiliations. As a matter of fact, what was so "democrat" about William J. Clinton, besides his wife?
And so, now that I am not 5 and like the other middle-aged baby boomers, that realized 25 years ago, we needed to do something. Now that we are all living out the fact that the previous generations are going to "tend to themselves first." It is my perception that the prevailing presumption of humanity is to ensure one retains a lofty enough perspective to always blame the other party.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child