That’s about all I can do after reading the story in today’s Waukesha Freeman that Paul Bucher filed for divorce from Jessica McBride (Yeah, Bice has something, too). And it’s not a sigh of exasperation, but one of sadness.
It was inevitable, I suppose, once word got out that Ms. McBride had an affair with Milwaukee police chief, Edward Flynn. Mr. Bucher doesn’t appear to be the kind of guy who would tolerate that, even though reports are he and McBride had an affair while he was still married. But then again what man would tolerate it?
I like Ms. McBride. I feel I could call her Jessica, even though we never really met, and she wouldn’t mind. Although a little strident in her opinions (and as anyone who has ever read me and talked to me know, strident I am not), she had good thoughts aplenty. Perhaps, like Ann Coulter, couching her good thoughts in sometimes over-the-top rhetoric hides from the world opinions that should be heard.
And she liked me; at least, she used to like me–haven’t heard anything recent, but one post recommended me to take Laurel Walker’s place in the Journal Sentinel Waukesha section. I was honored to be so highly thought of.
And I like Mr. Bucher. I liked the way he stuck to his guns, even when he disagreed with his wife or the conservative wing of the southeastern Wisconsin blogosphere. I voted for him in the AG primary. Why not?
The last thing I want to do is engage in anything that comes close to schadenfreude, but maybe I already have. My hope is that maybe in the cacophony of faux outrage from the left (she has always been a lightning rod for the left in south east Wisconsin, probably because of her strong opinions) and silence or counter outrage on the right, my small voice will still be heard.
I ache for them both and I pray for them both. Divorce is messy, even if we think it’s unavoidable. And there’s a child involved which never makes it easier.
Marriage is sacred and marriage is work. Defending marriage is more than keeping homosexuals from marrying. It’s staying committed to what you’ve vowed (in most cases before God) to do. “As long as we both shall live,” are not just some beautiful words; they’re a commitment to each other. That commitment was broken and now both McBride and Bucher as well as their little girl, will pay the price for that.
At the same time, and at the risk of sounding like a raving lunatic, as a Christian, I believe as well as good, personified by God, there is evil, personified by Satan, Lucifer, the Devil or whatever you want to call him. He is not as powerful as God, but he certainly has power and does not us to live as we should. He certainly doesn’t want folks to stand up for godly values (such as marriage, pro-life, fill in your value) and will fight against it.
This doesn’t mean we don’t have a choice. But it does mean we have to be wary. Satan will make it harder, but we must depend on God more to resist temptation.
Most of these people who appear to be strong for family values are Republicans so the Left points with glee whenever one falls.
Perhaps some of that is our fault by being just a little too, for lack of a better phrase, “holier-than-thou” when we talk about family values issues. Maybe a little more understanding, a little more latitude, a little more grace would go further. But that doesn’t sell newspapers and it doesn’t get folks elected.
Jessica McBride, John Edwards, or pick your own. I’m acquainted enough with my own frailties to know, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” One stumble, one lax moment and it could be me.
Maybe that’s why I don’t gleefully jump on the bandwagons. It just leaves me sad.
[This is cross-posted at Fairly Conservative. Thanks to Cindy for trusting me to allow me to post it there before she even read it.]
Musings of a Thoughtful Conservative 