Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Message in a Bottle

By 7:05 this morning I was in the voting booth and in a matter of just a few moments - after carefully checking to be sure my selections were correct - my votes were cast. It occurred to me as I sat to write this post, that casting a single vote is much like casting a message in a bottle into the sea. You can never be sure upon which shore either the message or the vote will wash up.

Ocean currents and the final spin of an election cycle can conspire to cast either one upon a friendly or hostile shore and it's only later that you can be sure that your message was received at all.

But just as you cannot control the great gyres of ocean tides and currents, no single person can control the destiny of our country at the polls. Acting together, though we can, as a community, move the US back towards the brotherhood of nations. Unlike the message in a bottle, which could float on the ocean without ever coming ashore, each vote - if there is any justice - is counted and tallied and comes to rest on the rolls.

Tomorrow, we'll all know upon which shore our votes have grounded.

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