Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

Along with many others, I am processing results of the election today – an election that is more final than I thought it would be – and didn’t go the way I voted.

First, why did the presidential candidate I favored, Kamala Harris, lose?

Well, it’s too soon to deliver the full diagnosis, but Ruth Marcus, writing in the Washington Post this morning, produced what I view as solid analysis:

“I don’t think this was about Trump prosecutions and Trump as victim.  Maybe, but I suspect this was more about voters’ anger and unhappiness about their own situations, and about their own perceptions of themselves as victims, including of an elite that disdains them, than it is about Trump himself.

“We are an angry and divided country.  A country where too many people are willing to blame immigrants for all sorts of woes.  A country that is furious about prices that are not still rising at unacceptable rates but that are too high.  A country where too many people somehow find this strongman with his authoritarian impulses attractive as a leader.  A country where — and I think we have to consider this as well — too many people are not able to countenance the notion of a Black woman as president.”

But beyond commentators like Marcus or my personal perceptions, one of the best ways for me to process this or any other election is to look at the Bible.  That’s because I am a Christian.

For a Christian, the Bible provides a prism through which we should view life, as well as election results.

First, the definition of the word “prism,” which most of us do not use very often. 

It means this:  “Used figuratively with reference to the clarification afforded by a particular viewpoint.”  In other words, look through a prism and see something real on the other side.

In this case, prism clarifies how Christians can view this election.

Further, my wife pointed out a great Psalm – Psalm 10 – yesterday, which helps in this regard.  So, I read it a few times.

Here are the words, which can stand on their own:

Psalm 10

Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

In his arrogance, the wicked man hunts down the weak,
    who are caught in the schemes he devises.
He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
    he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
In his pride, the wicked man does not seek him;
    in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
His ways are always prosperous;
    your laws are rejected byhim;
    he sneers at all his enemies.
He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
    He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”

His mouth is full of lies and threats;
    trouble and evil are under his tongue.
He lies in wait near the villages;
    from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
    he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
His victims are crushed, they collapse;
    they fall under his strength.
He says to himself, “God will never notice;
    he covers his face and never sees.”

Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
    Do not forget the helpless.
Why does the wicked man revile God?
    Why does he say to himself,
    “He won’t call me to account”?
But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
    you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
    you are the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked man;
    call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
    that would not otherwise be found out.

The Lord is King for ever and ever;
    the nations will perish from his land.
You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
    so that mere earthly mortals
    will never again strike terror.

As important as elections are in our democracy, it is critical to remember this salient fact:  Whatever happens inside or outside of elections, God is still in charge.

And I take solace in that reality.