12/11/2008

It had to be seen to be believed. In the front row of Senator Barack Obama's victory rally was a group of young women, the type you would find at a rock concert. Wonder and adulation written were written on their faces in large letters. So quintessential were they that the camera returned to them time after time. Any television editor would be glad to have them as a cutaway. If you ever wanted to spice up a news report, cut in your worshipers.

Without doubt, Obama's speech was a winner, technically. I'm sure he will satisfy a lot of Democrats, and infuriate just as many Republicans, and I am not taking sides here. But did he deserve such adulation?

In New Zealand, the electorate has soundly ejected the long-ruling Labour Party and given the National Party the reins of government. National's winsome leader, John Key, also gave a good speech, though not on the same plane as Obama's. Key's speech suggested to many that he would be the answer to most of the country's problems.

An organisation I know something about has also been electing a new leader, a younger man with a better flair for communicating with the constituency. He has been seen as having numerous other fine qualities. Again, he might be the solution to some problems, or the visionary for the age.

All three events took place at about the same time, so the parallels were persuasive, and the lesson too. It is good to have a good leader, but not good to rely on him too much, or to have too many high hopes. The reasons are simple.

Human beings are fallible and imperfect. Given the right circumstances they will default. And circumstances abound, some of the them driven deliberately by evil people to test the leader, or overthrow the system.

All humanity and its puny endeavours are under the watchful eye of the Creator of the universe, who can and does intervene, from the tsunami to the temperature; from the environment to the economy. His reason is to get our attention so that we seek the real Messiah.