Yes, he IS MY president

I have a problem with the whole “Not My President” thing.  To be clear, I didn’t vote for President Obama, nor President Elect Trump (or Hillary).  But for the past 8 years Barack Obama has been the president of this country, and in just a few days Donald Trump will be the president of this country. By extension, because I am an American, President Obama has been my President, and in a few days, President Trump will be my president.

            

         Have I agreed with everything President Obama did? Absolutely not. Did he do some things that I think were beneficial for the country? Of course he did. Do I agree with everything that Mr. Trump has put forth during the campaign? Not in my strangest nightmares. Does he have some good ideas? Definitely.

          

              To put it in perspective, I was in the Air Force, and many of you have had jobs. I never had a say in who the commander was of my assigned unit. There was one there when I arrived, often there was a change of command ceremony while I was there, and nobody ever asked me for input. In fact, at one time I was appointed as the commander of a squadron, and I don’t remember that there was a vote before hand, but I was still the commander. And our military is the strongest and best in the world, because people learn to work together, and to follow the orders that are handed down from commanders that they may or may not like.  

  (And unless you own your own business, you probably don’t get much input as to who the boss is- that doesn’t mean that he or she is not your boss.)

       

           Even in the church where I serve today as Pastor, there is an election every year to vote in a new church board. Is everyone happy with the results? Maybe, maybe not. But we the church body learn to work together. I’ve never heard anybody say “that’s not my board”. And the church congregation can certainly vote to release me and call a new pastor, but in the meantime, I do serve as the pastor. How foolish to say I am a member of the church where he has been called to be the pastor, but he's #notmypastor.  It's divisive and disruptive to the well being of the church, the community, and the people who are interested in serving  and loving God,  loving and serving others. 

          

        BOTTOM LINE:  The duly elected president of the United States, whether or not I voted for him, whether or not I agree with him, is my president. If I am so strongly opposed to the process, I can work within the system to change it, or I suppose I could find a country that wants me, renounce my citizenship, pack up and move.  But when that happens we all lose.

         

          I didn’t vote for Obama or Trump, both of them have been or will be my President. I was born in 1951 so there have been 12, going on 13 presidents in my lifetime. Each of them is my president. I couldn’t vote for some, didn’t vote for others, and did vote for a few. Like the person or not, agree with policies or not, as an American, I am privileged to be able to say “Yes, he IS my president!”