Senator McCain

Long live the mavericks

by Ken Sehested
26 August 2018

I have disagreed with US Sen. John McCain on a whole range of issues over many years. We see the world in profoundly different ways. (And I say this without the slightest hint of having a fraction of his stature.)

However, he is numbered in a rare breed of politicians of his generation—or mine, or any in my memory—who has displayed more character and integrity, the willingness to be guided, more often than not, by moral principle rather than profit or political expediency.

Which is why he has the reputation of being a political maverick. (And, likely, why he has requested that our current president not attend his funeral.)

The testimony of his life is an instruction, to me, in humility. Namely, there are people as intelligent and/or compassionate and/or convicted as me (maybe more) with whom I differ on important matters.

This does not mean I double-clutch my convictions. It simply means there will always remain a bit of slippage between my vision and God’s.

The implication is that the conclusion of the human drama is not in my hands. The presumption that any are anointed to make history turn out right is the source of all violence, and it is the devil’s own lie.

Long live the mavericks.

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©ken sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org