Last week, I did what, apparently, a lot of folks in Farmville are doing now that the Vice Presidential debate is looming.

I got out of town.

But I got back just in time to find out that the deadline for this piece had come and gone. To most folks, that might not be such a big deal. To this old newspaperman, that was like a death in the family.

Thank goodness for friendly editors who are willing to give extensions.

Kind of like the grace of God; maybe not as good. But we do see grace in how we treat each other. The Jesus most people may see will be the Jesus you show them by how you live, what you say and how you say it.

We need to remember this especially in an election year. It is way too easy to get so caught up in political rhetoric and the ways we think our candidate is so pure and the other candidate is so evil. Kind of like Jesus telling us in the Sermon on the Mount to take the plank out of our own eye before we can help someone with the splinter in their own.

In the 146th Psalm, we read: “Do not put your trust in princes, In mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; On that very day their plans perish.”

A good reminder that no matter how noble and lofty one’s political talk may be, we all have a limit to what we can do. Our favorite political people can only do so much. But in the end, it is God’s grace that takes our poor human efforts and cleanses them and uses them for God’s greater purposes of doing justice and loving kindly and getting people to walk humbly with God and each other.

The reason for my lateness was study leave time in New Mexico. Out in that dry and dusty, but beautiful land, I was reminded: “A tourist passes through a place. A pilgrim lets a place pass through them.”

I certainly felt that out there in that incredibly beautiful place, with its sunsets of such a vibrant color that no photograph could completely capture it. So it is with all of us. We are all passing through this journey of life, and the love and grace we feel has been given to us to share, and to be made new in the sharing. With all of the turmoil of a political year, may we be kind to each other and let the grace which has touched us be seen in how we deal with each other. Especially if they don’t vote like we do.

Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson is pastor of Farmville Presbyterian Church. His email address is robin216@embarqmail.com.