An Rx for the negative

It is now less than 90 days before the United States picks its next president. A cacophony of polling reveals the two major party candidates are widely disliked and unpopular with the electorate.

The victor may be the one who successfully can make the most mud stick against the other. Oppo-research, unearthing dirt against your opponent, may be the one indispensable part of political activity at the highest levels.

You and I, despite any protestations we may make, respond to negative advertising.

A phrase was coined in 1969 that may be useful. Coined by the late columnist William Safire and spoken aloud by former vice president Spiro Agnew, these words were used to condemn members of the media and protesters against the Vietnam War:

"In the United States today, we have more than our share of nattering nabobs of negativism. They have formed their own 4-H club -- the hopeless, hysterical, hypochondriacs of history."

Agnew was disgraced due to a bribery scandal that predated his time as vice president and he was forced to resign his high office in 1973. If he had been able to hang on, he might have become president when Richard Nixon resigned 42 years ago this past week. Disgusted by Nixon's failure to issue him a pardon, Agnew died a bitter man in 1996.

Spiro Agnew is gone, but his long-ago phrase survives and is still relevant. At about this time every election cycle, the long knives come out, reputations are shredded and the achievements of a lifetime are turned into cannon fodder.

It is a mystery to me why anyone would subject himself or herself to such treatment. But people do.

Wealth is not the reason; Trump and Clinton already are loaded.

Fame is not the motivator; both are household names. Power is the true aphrodisiac, yet the price of such pursuit is so costly.

I once considered a career in politics, interning in the office of a Pennsylvania congressman on Capitol Hill one summer. Someone has to do it, but that person could not be me.

The squalor of politics, what it takes to win, was on full display during that summer of 1979. If you are not willing to trash your opponent, it seems you cannot emerge victorious.

Too high. The price is too high. We hate the ugliness, but we respond to it. We are willing to believe the negative almost every time.

Years ago a song was recorded by Elvis Presley and covered by the Gaithers and by Emmylou Harris that speaks to the need for a retreat from the good, the bad and the ugly -- from what Agnew, in his alliterative fashion, called the nattering nabobs of negativity, whether they be members of the media, presidential candidates and their surrogates, or something that may pop up on your Facebook feed.

The second verse reads this way:

"Where could I go, oh, where could I go?

Seeking a refuge for my soul.

Needing a friend, to help me in the end.

Where could I go, but to the Lord?"

An Rx for the soul, an antidote for negativity, may lay in words taken to heart: "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things" (Philippians 4:8). An antidote may be surrounding yourself with those who see the sunny side of life -- not Pollyannas, but people who have been through adversity and yet choose to see light rather than darkness. An antidote, an Rx, may be found in a labyrinth, where walkers follow a path of introspection, which is the great journey of any life. Such a labyrinth can be found on the property of the church I now serve as pastor. You are welcome to use it anytime.

Find your prescription, your antidote, now. The ugliness has only just begun, I'm afraid.