Are you prepared for public life?

None of us is perfect and we should often be reminded of the quote from the Book of John, Chapter 8, “let he who is without sin cast the first stone” but … once you put yourself in the public eye, in a position of trust, “squeaky clean” is not just a cliché.

Our Politicians don’t generally decide on a whim that they want to be in Parliament.  This is a decision based on years of hard work; party membership or support and a deep desire to be part of our countries governance.

That said, part of the preparation for public life should be “a life well lived”.  Integrity - the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles is what we should expect in our politicians; along with a good memory and a strong desire to serve rather than be served.

More and more we hear of poor judgement along the road to political life coming back to bite our representatives.  And bite hard at times. 

We are not necessarily born with the wisdom of Solomon who said “therefore no one who utters unrighteous things will escape notice, and justice, when it punishes, will not pass him by”. 

We all learn the difference between right and wrong by the age of three according to child experts.  Our character is built from then on.  Preparation for potential public life begins then as well. 

Perhaps a bit more reading and a great deal more public service would ensure we have a House of Representatives in whom we can be proud.