Thoughtful

There is a unique quality missing from the public discourse today. It is the lack of depth, the lack of thoughtful discernment. Today's discourse runs the course of denigration, combativeness, pettiness. I'm not sure when this started. But it seems to be getting worse.

A couple of weeks ago I began a book called Thomas Jefferson: the Art of Power by Jon Meachum. The book can be a bit tedious to read because it is filled with quotes from Jefferson's letters, notes, journals, and the language used is quite foreign to ours. It feels effusive, yet the thoughts and ideas are quite extraordinary.

One of the fascinating stories in the book is the presidential election when George Washington was leaving office and the election was heating up. According to this book, it was nothing like the elections today. Candidates did not "run" for office, but were nominated by groups or societies. These groups would function as the voice and advocate for the candidate. Whatever running platforms were published were done so via the newspapers and these advocacy groups. By the way, back then the electoral college would elect the top three candidates, with top two  being elected as the president and vice president, without regard to party. In this election for example, John  Adams (A Federalist) won and Thomas Jefferson (A Republican) came in second and was consequently the vice president. I find this a far better, and more fun, option than we have now.

Anyway, as Jefferson was being courted by various groups and individuals he was hesitant to respond. He was at the end of a 2 year hiatus from public service and was reluctant to leave Monticello for the "hurly-burly" of national politics. When a good friend named William Cocke was trying to tempt Jefferson out of political retirement, Jefferson responded with this insightful quote:
"For well I know that no man will ever bring out of office the reputation which carries him into it."

I wonder if our current leaders would understand the wisdom of these words and conduct themselves differently if they could internalize this truth. Perhaps the reason we have such shallow leadership today (and I am referring to all the parties involved) is that they spend so little time in reflection, so little time reading and studying the classics. Jefferson spent years under the tutelage of a pastor and a lawyer, he read voraciously about philosophy, law, history, the sciences. He was a student of politics in history and other nations. He strikes me as a thoughtful man. And this was at a time when the future of the nation was tenuous at best. Dangers lurked for this young nature both internal and external. Yet he found time to THINK about the higher thoughts, the higher callings.

Dallas Willard has said that we don't need smarter people, or busier people, but we need deeper people. All I can say is Amen, and Amen.

Godspeed to you out there who take the time to think, to meditate, to travel the lonelier paths.
Don