Pollsters and Prophets

 

Pollsters and Prophets

 

I thought the weatherman was the only one who could wrongly predict and still keep his job. Weather forecasters are notorious for missing the mark. Although, with scientific advances, the odds are getting better. If in doubt, look out the window and be your own prognosticator.  If you live in Montana, all you have to do is wait five minutes and the weather will change.

 

Pollsters are a breed of their own. They come out in droves during an election year. Using all the savvy technological tools, they attempt to sense the drift of the electorate. Unfortunately, their tools deceive them time and again. After this past week, many have egg on their face, crying foul as they stand in the unemployment line.

 

Prophets have a long and honorable history dating back to biblical times. It was a dangerous job often ending in persecution or death from those who disagreed. Modern day prophets have it far easier. One can shout from the housetop fresh revelation from heaven without fear of reprisal. Unfortunately, many contemporary seers have found themselves barking up the wrong tree. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around to cast the first stone.

 

Predicting the future on any level is tricky business. Humankind has an inmate desire to know what the future holds. That way we feel more in control and can run from a future we don’t want. It takes a person of integrity to own up to a wrong forecast, election miscall or a word of the Lord that came from wishful thinking.

 

It was Alexander Pope, the famous 18^th century English poet who coined these words: “To err is human, to forgive divine.”  Let us forgive those who lead us astray.