GoodWordEditing.com - Latest Comments in What I Learned from Government - it’s time to stay engaged

Re: What I Learned from Government - it’s time to stay engaged

Sam Van Eman — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:45:04 -0000

marcus, your post is clear, pointed, assembled and memorable. i like to read pieces like this.

Re: What I Learned from Government - it’s time to stay engaged

Sally Ferguson — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:40:02 -0000

Marcus,
I find comfort in the thought that the ship won't move without the oarsmen. If our ship were able to steer into the waters by itself, that would be dictatorship!

Re: What I Learned from Government - it’s time to stay engaged

Ellen Weber — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:52:17 -0000

Great sailing metaphor. Let's hope the light house is beaming strong with a change in government here - so that we can begin to move through the choppy waters ahead together! Thanks Marcus!

Re: What I Learned from Government - it’s time to stay engaged

Erica Hale — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:11:56 -0000

Be engaged....Amen! This is a fascinating and thoughtful piece, I totally agree that we all need to be active and engaged...otherwise, we are giving up our power and ceding our rights for no better reason then that we don't want to take the time to be involved. Great post!

Re: What I Learned from Government - it’s time to stay engaged

B. Currant — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:12:36 -0000

That stuff about the Roman ships and their relationship to the word "government" is simply fascinating. (What can I say... I love words, history, and the history of words.)

Re: What I Learned from Government - it’s time to stay engaged

goodwordediting — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:28:03 -0000

Robert, Israel elected a king for life. We only elect people for four years. There's comfort in that sometimes.

Ray, good to see you again here! And I'm glad you're hearing the radio messages up there. They play on nearly 1000 stations across the country. No agenda except to offer encouragement to people on their way to work.

RLP, glad I could help fill your head with more trivia or questionable value.

LL, the analogy breaks down at a certain point, but you are definitely onto something about the economic crisis. Is it possible that massive consumer debt could weaken an economy? This stuff doesn't seem like rocket science to me.

Re: What I Learned from Government - it’s time to stay engaged

L.L. Barkat — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:29:16 -0000

And in our government, there are really multiple pilots. Which, in a way, is both comforting and scary. Comforting because it differs from a dictatorship or even a kingship where one person really does exert excessive control and vision. Scary because it means that when we get ourselves onto the rocks, it means that a whole lot of prominent people pitched in to steer us that way.

Still, the "common people" have a lot of power when it comes to how we're ultimately steered. Yes, I even consider the economic crisis when I say this. In other words, maybe when we embrace the thought that we can live on the edge of our finances and buy more than we could ever pay for on credit, maybe we too have created part of the problem.

Re: What I Learned from Government - it’s time to stay engaged

Real Live Preacher — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:57:07 -0000

I did not know that! thanks.

Re: What I Learned from Government - it’s time to stay engaged

Ray Fowler — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:19:18 -0000

Good words on staying engaged in life. On another note, I was driving into work this morning about 6:20 a.m. when I was pleasantly surprised to hear Howard Butt come on the radio talking about Laity Lodge and thehighcalling.org. And I'm up in Massachusetts!

Re: What I Learned from Government - it’s time to stay engaged

Robert Hruzek — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:11:44 -0000

You make a strong point here, Marcus. Ultimately WE are responsible for who we choose to govern us. And yes, they answer to us. But we DO have to become engaged enough to demand the best from them.

But there are times I despair of the democratic method. Wasn't that how Israel chose Saul to be their king? Because they liked him, not because he was qualified.