Wu, Weiner, and all the other Weirdos

Wu, Weiner, and all the other Weirdos. . .

What were these wackos thinking? . . .I'm sure that is the question a lot of people in this country are wondering.

People in high places have engaged in outrageous personal misconduct, polluting the air waves with filthy communiques and consortia, meddling with staff members, hurting family members.

In all honesty, however, anyone rich or poor, famous or obscure, is susceptible to the same perverse fallout that these and other high profile people have succumbed to.

Everyone of us wants to be successful. We want to have influence. We want to make big decisions and move influential people.

Yet when anyone steps into the role of king, kingmaker, or kingpin, human beings quickly realize that they have taken on something beyond their scope to manage.

We cannot predict in advance how others will react to our decisions. This burden stirs up great anxiety in our minds. Sometimes, we do not have the faintest ideas as to what we should do, yet we either push ourselves or we face pressure from those we serve to do something.

The stress literally impinges on the human soul.

Couple the growing strain on our time, ability, and resources, the high profile positions and pay cannot satisfy the deeper needs that every human spirit struggles with. All the perks, all the name-dropping, all the connections do not begin to compensate for all the demands forced on us.

Pushed from one side by increasing demands and on the other side by decreasing return in our onerous commitments to the high callings we insisted on taking upon ourselves, it is small wonder that we human beings with eternity in our hearts look for satisfaction elsewhere, or at least a temporary release from the strains and troubles which we have created for ourselves, which we will not relinquish, for fear that we would lose a source of great joy or lose the esteem of those we hoped to impress, including ourselves.

This chronic escalation of trials, strain, and despair most certainly weighed on the two Democratic Congressmen recently slammed in the press for sexual improprieties. The source of their troubles originates in their desire to be big people making decisions, yet once they faced the humbling reality that they took on duties beyond any person's capacity, they insisted on trying while compensating for weakness and weariness in wicked, worldly ways.

Let their misconduct and fall be a lesson to us all. Pride does come before a fall, but it is a climb precipitated by a desire to do good, be great, and have something more than what one had before.

The real question we need to ponder: how does the human soul escape this desperate dilemma of seeking great things for ourselves without being overwhelmed in the process?