Trust The Vote

Spring reminds us that after every winter, something living comes back, and I tie that renewal to the trust that holds our communities together. I walk through why I still trust our elections, why I want evidence before I believe fraud claims, and why hope is worth protecting.
• spring as rebirth and a reset for perspective 
• trust as the hidden force behind roads, planes, and public life 
• respect for local law enforcement and the risks they take 
• why I trust local election workers and the safeguards I have seen 
• the damage done when we repeat fraud claims without proof 
• suspending judgment and asking for documents and facts 
• how distrust threatens hope and the fabric of a democratic republic 
• choosing to vote with gratitude and pride 

Whatever you do, go out and vote. 
Say hi to them and be nice to them.

Transcript

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Springtime Renewal And Gratitude

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Welcome to Life Notes with Sheldon, where we talk about ways to get off the sidelines and back into the game of life as your best you.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

They said that uh when they were coming from Colorado, uh, they were coming to Kirtland, and uh the people told them, Oh, you're going to Dirtland. Uh they called Dirtland this area. And if you've been here very long, you can know why in the wintertime. But I said, just wait a few weeks. It's gonna be really pretty and green, the farmland down by the river. It's going to be a pretty thing to see. Um, so I hope you're enjoying this beautiful spring, unusually warm weather that I love. Springtime for me has always been a sign of rebirth, regeneration, and almost a promise of the resurrection, uh, both uh speaking um religiously, but also the symbolic resurrection of the earth and the cycle that it goes through, and that after every winter comes springtime. Unfortunately, in a world that is crazy and unpredictable, we can count on certain things. The beautiful seasons here where we live in the four corners are one of those things. So I'm grateful to be here. I'm grateful for this time of year, I'm grateful for springtime, and I'm grateful to live in the United States of America where we live, where we call our home for our rich and inspiring legacy and history.

Why Election Rumors Feel Dangerous

SPEAKER_00 1:56

And, you know, as we approach um more of the time where we get to have elections, which is an amazing uh right, we get to visit about um some things going on in the world that have me concerned.

Trust That Keeps Daily Life Moving

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Now, first of all, let me preface this with we live in a system of that is based on trust, right? Um when we drive down the road, we have an almost perfect trust. I hope we don't have a perfect trust. We have to be defensive, but um we have a trust that the other drivers are going to drive in a way that they aren't driving in our lane, that they're not going to be a head-on collision, that they're going to follow the laws and they're going to follow the guidelines enough that people can drive safely and get to their destination. And it works impeccably. I mean, yes, there are crashes. Yes, there are tragedies. Yes, there are crashes that are true accidents, and there are those that you could have been prevented. Um, texting and driving, uh, distracted driving, certainly driving under the influence. These things are horrible and horrific and and horrible crimes. But uh, you know, by and large, it really is a wondrous miracle that people can be driving 40, 50, 60, 70, in some places 80, 90 down freeways and highways and get to their destination and count on people in the next lane, not running them off the road, following the laws, people hauling trailers, making sure that they are chained properly and connected. And by and large, we we we do this amazing thing called driving and we do it safely. We get to our destination against all odds when you think about it. You know, turn people loose in these things, send them 60 miles an hour with a small yellow ribbon, uh, you know, um, with as a guideline to stay in their lane. And and it happens, and it happens because of trust. Trust is what allows us to drive, it gives us the um confidence to be able to get in a car and go. We have the trust that someone else is going to do what they should do. Um when we go on a plane. Certainly, there's a tremendous amount of trust in our amazing system of transportation, transportation authority, uh, NASA, the the air traffic control, the immense, when you think of the organization precision that has to go into making sure all of these airplanes arrive at their destination in almost complete safety and reliability, it is a marvelous wonder. But when we go on a plane, certainly we have trust that whatever company we're flying with maintains a rigorous, rigorous maintenance schedule, that that plane has been maintained, that they're not putting it into the sky unless they know that it has been maintained and that it's ready to fly, that the people who built those parts and components and put them on, and that the mechanics that put it together and inspected it did their job. We have trust. We instill trust and we give trust as an earned gift for these things, and therefore we are able to fly confidently and with relatively few incidents. So our country and our system and our world largely runs on trust. What other systems do we trust? Well, we certainly trust our law enforcement and our local law enforcement in the Four Corners area has given us no reason not to. We have wonderful chiefs, wonderful commanders, wonderful leaders, and wonderful people who go out and literally risk their lives on a daily basis. You know, we see people pulling over, uh, we see law officers pulling people over to just look at their license and and and you know investigate to make sure that they are not causing trouble, make sure that they're obeying the laws. And we often take for granted that they are putting their life in imminent risk and danger by doing this. We see the worst happen all too frequently when people try and run, when people try and hide, when people uh do horrible things to law officers who are by and large just trying to make their communities better, trying to make their living, and trying to get home to their families at night like everyone else. And we trust that they will make good decisions. We trust that they will guard that weapon properly and use it with restraint and as they have been directed to do by protocol. We trust that they will use their authority in an honorable way. And I can say that they largely do it. So we have a wonderful community of law enforcement. We have wonderful organizations. They are involved in the community. You'll see our police chief marching in a parade, you know, and you know he's involved in community service, but he's also out there ensuring the safety of what goes on. And you can tell the heart that they have, and we have that trust there.

How Local Voting Builds Confidence

SPEAKER_00 6:58

So I want to talk to you about something that I have also come to trust and have no reason to doubt. Every time there is an election, whether it's national or local, I go to the Performing Arts Center in Kirtland, New Mexico, near my home, and I place my ballot. And I have never, ever, ever had any reason to doubt whether it would be placed as I did it, whether there would be any corruption, whether there would be any malfeasance. And the reason why is because those are local election workers. I know those people. I see them. They're vested in their community. And they would never risk their freedom, they would never risk their reputation in doing something insidious or doing something illegal. And I know that there are safeguards to prevent it. One time I put my paper in wrong and they like stopped the whole system. Everyone freaked out. Is this okay? Is it going to ruin the system? I really didn't mean to do it, and I felt bad, and I was hoping that my ballot was cast. But man, they are on top of it. It seems like they have an abundance of election workers. You know, every section, they make sure, hey, you know what, you can't have your phone, I guess, in camera. I had a listing on the thing. I wasn't taking pictures, but they remind you they are proactive from the minute you enter and the minute they check and verify who you are. And that's the reason why it's done locally. I've never had any reason to doubt. Never, ever, ever. Now, does this mean that it's the same in, say, St. Paul or Chicago or Dallas, Texas, or Phoenix, Arizona, or Salt Lake City, Utah, or Oklahoma City, or Arkansas, or Mississippi? Is the same thing happening there? Can I have that confidence there? Can their community members have their confidence in their election officials and their election process? Well, it largely happens on a community level. And do we believe that our community is so different than any other community out there in the United States? Aren't we just a microcosm? Aren't we just a representative of the larger whole, these small communities, these districts? And do we believe that because someone is of a different political party, that they will naturally be corrupt enough to risk their reputation and to risk their freedom in malfeasance with election, in manipulating an election, in fraudulently changing a ballot or casting it in the wrong way? Have we seen evidence of this? I will tell you that I have not seen concrete evidence of major election fraud or even minor election fraud. And I know there have been some cases, I have not seen evidence in anything that compels me to believe or even remotely convinces me to conceive of the thought that our elections are not sound and that our ballots are not cast in a way of propriety and legality.

The Cost Of Doubting Without Evidence

SPEAKER_00 9:58

Now the risk in believing otherwise, friends, the risk in believing otherwise without evidence is the damage to the trust that we have. The trust that we have that in any area of the country, in largely all areas, there are small communities much like ours. There are local election workers much like ours. There are processes, there is complex machinery to prevent fraud, to prevent corruption. And some could argue that it's largely impossible to do on a large scale. We hope. Trust is the power that gives us hope. Trust is the power that allows us to drive down the road in peace and confidence. What if someone told you that you can no longer trust drivers on the road? That you can no longer trust anyone to stay in their lane, that you can no longer trust people with autonomous vehicles, that that vehicle may veer into your lane at any given time. Wouldn't you want to see evidence of it? Wouldn't you want to take a drive yourself and make sure before you stop driving or before you stopped believing in the safety of our highways and freeways and our byways and our country roads? Wouldn't you want that? So I ask you, wouldn't you want the same if someone came to you and said, our elections are corrupt, they are rigged, they are fraud-ridden. Before you jumped on the bandwagon and decided either not to vote or decided to just believe this propaganda, wouldn't you want to see some concrete proof in the same way and for the same reasons before you stop trusting? Now, my purpose isn't to convince you in either way, but my invitation for you is to suspend judgment. I once had a friend who invited me to do this in every aspect of life. He said, if I could invite you to do something, Sheldon, I would say to suspend judgment. When we judge, when we immediately jump on a bandwagon, good or bad, right or left, wherever it is, we abdicate our responsibility and our freedom to investigate, to compare, to contrast, to explore, and to find out for ourselves. And so I think before we diminish trust in our national systems, in our nation, in the very fabric of our democracy, when you think of the very thing that makes us a democratic republic, it's our right to vote. It's free and fair elections that we have had for hundreds of years. Do we only believe that it's been fraudulent and rigged for the last two years, or the last four years, or the last 10 years? Or do we believe that it's always been? Or do we believe that it is now? Do we truly believe that? Because I do not. I do not believe that, and I refuse to believe that unless someone can refute it with cold, hard, evidential facts, proofs in the pudding, baby, and where is the proof? I haven't even seen the pudding yet. And if you have it, I would like you to show me. You can reach out to me on social media, on a website, on a phone line, a smoke signal, whatever your preferred method of communication is. I'm asking you to let me know. Show me the documents, show me the investigative research that suggests that our elections are no longer fair, that they're rigged, and that it is corrupt. Because, you know, I just don't believe that that exists in other branches of our government largely. You look at our national parks, you look at those wonderful park rangers. Have you been to a national park lately? Have you seen how wonderfully manicured, how organized they are? I've been to Yellowstone, I've been to the Grand Tetons recently. I plan to go to Arches soon. I hiked the Grand Canyon a few years ago. I'm going to have a soupai in September. We have incredible national parks. We have rangers. We have organizational systems. Do I believe those are somehow corrupt, fraud-ridden? No, I don't, because I have not seen the evidence. Think of our game and fish wardens. Our law enforcement all over the country. Do I believe that just because law enforcement is in a different area or with different beliefs or political preferences in mind, that they are corrupt just because of that? Think of the danger and the audacity in that, friends. Think of what that does to national trust. If we don't have trust, we don't have hope. And if we don't have hope, what do we have? Hope is that final thread that can hold us together when everything falls apart. And things do fall apart, friends. Things fall apart. The center cannot hold. But hope and trust and faith and belief for a better future are those things that can hold us. It can be that thread that holds everything together. And it should be held on to and cherished unless we have concrete evidence that we should not hope, that we should not trust, that we should not believe. Because when did it become fraud-ridden? When did it become rigged? And how? And by who? Let's ask ourselves these questions before we judge. Let's suspend judgment before we do. We're going to have local elections soon. We have a sheriff running, various sheriffs running. Do I believe that those are corrupt? Do I believe that those are rigged? No, I don't. And because I don't believe that here, I don't believe that. That it's going to happen in Provo, Utah, or Las Vegas, Nevada, or Phoenix, Arizona, or Tucson, or San Diego, California, or Eugene, Oregon, or Columbus, Ohio, or Kirtland, Ohio, or Cleveland, Ohio, a city I love. I just don't believe it. Because I can't imagine, I can't fathom it. I can't fathom people in local communities that are just in different places than ours and that just maybe different beliefs are simply corrupt just for that purpose. Or that they are immensely more capable than us to be able to rig a system like that. When you think of what it would take to rig an election, a national election, or even a local election, that would take some pretty sophisticated maneuvering. And personally, the people I know in our community, the average Joes, are not that sophisticated. And the community that I live in, they like to gossip. And, you know, before CNN was a thing, there was GOSSIP WND, you know, there was GOSSIP news, and it traveled a lot faster than satellite technology friends. I mean, if Martha, you know, had something happen in her backyard, Janet a block down, knew, and pretty much soon our whole community knew. That's just the way it worked. And if that was happening, I would think that somebody would speak up. They just don't keep secrets that well in our town. And I'd say in most communities. So I just have not seen the estimate. I just have not seen the evidence. And because of that, I refuse to believe it just because it's said. If we start believing everything we hear, just because a politician says it, or just because someone we voted for says it, or just because a news agency says it, or just because any average person or person with great national power says that's a very dangerous precedent, a scary one. Very dangerous thing to just abandon our ability to critical think, just abandon the scientific method to investigate, to corroborate, to hypothesize. These are the very things that established and maintained our democracy and our progress as civilization, the scientific method to question, to investigate, to experiment. Are we going to abandon that and just say, yes, the system is rigged? Yes, the system is corrupt and everybody's corrupt. Because if that is, what hope do we have? So I'm telling you, friends, let's hope in our systems, let's hope in our process, let's hope in the magnificent machine that has got us this far in our country, unless we truly have evidence and can present that in an educated, cooperative, documented way. Now, if we can, by all means, put me on the bandwagon. But until that happens, which I don't believe it has, I am going to suspend judgment.

Choosing Hope And Voting Anyway

SPEAKER_00 18:38

And I am going to go to my local designated area, and I'm going to tell them who I am, and they're going to do what they've done every other time. My neighbors are going to go, I'll say hi to them. Even those that vote and believe differently from me, and they probably know it. I'm going to say hi like I always have. And I'm going to look those election workers in the eye, and they're going to look me in the eye, and I'm going to trust that they're going to do the right thing. And I'm going to trust that those voting machines that have done it for hundreds of years now are tabulating correctly. Because I have not obtained or found or been presented evidence that suggests otherwise. And I would invite you to do the same thing. I'm not here to convince you, but I am here to invite. This one scares me, folks. It really does. Because if we believe that our elections are rigged, who are we going to trust to fix them? Who are we going to establish to fix them? What corporation are we going to say, come in here and fix this? And how are we going to prove that they have? How are we going to monitor that they do? Why is this being told? Why is this being established? Why is this rumor being circulated so pervasively at this time? I want to know. I really want to know. And I'm going to look and hopefully find out. But until I do, I'm going to go in there and fulfill my patriotic duty and right and privilege. And I am going to trust, as I have for well over 20 years now. Oh my goodness, that's amazing. I've been voting for well over 20 years. And every year I go, every time I go, I haven't doubted that that vote is going to be tabulated just as I put it, because I have no reason to believe otherwise. And I'm going to do the same thing. And I'm going to do it with pride and I'm going to do it with thankfulness. Thankfulness that I live in a country that allows me to vote. Thankful that we have systems and processes and election workers all over. All over. Do I believe that just because they're over in a far different place in this country that they're rigging things in corrupt? No, I don't, because I haven't proved it. And the travel that I made around this country causes me to believe that the majority of us are honest, decent citizens who want to go home to our families at night, who want to work hard, who want to have a future, who want to better our lives and ensure that our children have a better life. Every place I've traveled, even those with vastly different political leanings than what we have here in our area, the lion's share of them want what we want at the end of the day. And believe what we believe largely. That when we place that ballot, it's going to go through in an honest and fair way. Because if we don't have that, what do we have, friends? And if we don't have that, and it's verified that we don't, we need to fight for it. But for now, I'm holding on to hope. I'm holding on to that thread, that last thread that can hold things together when things fall apart. And things are falling apart in many ways. And the news would want us to think that they're falling apart more than they really are. But when things fall apart, Apart its communities and it's individuals in those communities that hold them together. And it's the principles of faith and trust and hope that our nation has been built on and been sustained for this many years, 250 years, amazingly. And that's what's going to keep it together in the future, friends. So unless you can prove otherwise, hold on to hope. Hold on to hope in our systems that have been established. Hold on to hope that the people who go in and do their civic duty will do so with honor and trust. Because sometimes hope is all we have. And I hope you're doing well. I hope I haven't offended you. I hope I haven't reached out in a way that's been overly political. It's not my purpose on this show. But I hope that something I have said has given you hope and reason to hope. And I hope that you keep on hoping. And I hope that you tune in next week to Life Notes with Sheldon, where we talk about ways to get out there and live your best life as your best self.

Final Charge To Vote

SPEAKER_00 23:00

Whatever you do, go out and vote. Because that's one of the greatest ways we can make a difference. One of our greatest privileges of living where we do. And you know, say hi to those people that are volunteering and doing that work out there because those are the people that keep our uh our nation going. They're the boots on the ground that uh keep things going. Say hi to them and be nice to them. Till then, I'll talk to you next week.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

You have been listening to Life Note with Sheldon. Listen every week for a brand new note on life. We hope that we have given you a way to get off the sidelines and back into the game of life. As your best you