Maybe all politicians should be required to hold a baby each day
Clay William Osborne is quite the gregarious fellow.
At not quite 4 months of age, he smiles a lot, especially when his gray-bearded Pop Pop is making faces at him or is spluttering raspberries onto his fat little belly.
He’s also quite the active young sportsman, waving his stubby little arms and legs, and producing squeals and shrieks that indicate a genuine happiness at being alive in this world.
When young Clay William is ready for sleep, he becomes as trusting as, well, a baby, preferring to take his morning, after-breakfast nap on someone’s chest rather than in his well-appointed crib.
Last Saturday morning, I was incredibly blessed to have him take his morning nap on my chest, 90 minutes of pure grandfatherly joy as as I felt his soft breath upon my arm and stroked his downy head, even more hairless than my own.
My bliss at having such a moment of joy and intimacy with my grandson was tempered, however, as I thought back to the morning news stories I had read just before I became a combination mattress and pillow.
Heat waves across the northern hemisphere, wild fires burning everywhere.
Horrific gun violence in every part of the nation with the number of Americans dying from gunfire on an average day being higher than the number of soldiers killed in the war in Ukraine.
The middle and working classes seeing their paychecks shrinking and their retirement funds depleted with each passing week.
The future viability of Social Security in doubt. Infrastructure crumbling. Women rights being pushed back into the19th century. Gridlock in Congress.
And, perhaps most disturbing of all, a deluded traitor and seditionist who ought to be locked up in a federal penitentiary hinting he may again seek the White House as millions of his cultists cheer.
What kind of world, I wondered, is young Clay William going to inherit?
A couple of decades ago, a slogan for everyday living became very popular among Christian young people: “What would Jesus do?”
A wise old attorney who I respected greatly once framed the idea in another way. “Bill,” he told me, “before you decide, before you act, imagine your momma is watching you.”
Well, I’d like to add another mantra to guide decision-making, from the highest political leaders to those of us who vote to put those leaders in office:
“What’s the best decision I can make to ensure a better future for my grandchild?”
No grandchildren? How about your children? Or nieces and nephews? Or, and this might be best, “What’s the best decision I can make to ensure a better future for all the children of our planet?”
Nothing you can do, you say?
Not my responsibility, you claim?
One person can’t make a difference, you answer?
Tell that to Clay William Osborne. He, and all the other children, deserve better.
Bill Poteat, who has three grandsons with a granddaughter on the way in December, may be reached at wlpoteat@yahoo.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Politicians need to think of what's best for future generations
