Another aspect of the Sarah Palin interview (James 4 FTW!)

Different people have concentrated on different aspects of Sarah Palin's interview with Greta van Susteren, which aired on Monday.

Some have concentrated solely on the political prospects for a future Palin presidential run.

Others, such as Duncan Riley of the Inquisitr, have concentrated on Palin's statement that she would rely on God for her decision in this regard. (The Inquisitr categorizes this in the category "odd + funny.")

Others, such as the Chicago Tribune's swamppolitics.com, concentrated on some of the controversies - its article was entitled "Sarah Palin: Clothing, Africa and 2012."

And some bloggers took offense at Palin's description of us as "kids in pajamas sitting in the basement of their parents’ homes." (Shades of Nixon in 1962.)

But I didn't care about any of those things as much as I cared about a little throwaway statement in the interview.

I can't predict what's going to happen. I can't predict what's going to happen a day from now, much less four years from now.

Once I saw that (it was partially quoted in the Inquisitr), you know my eyes lit up. If you've read this blog for a while, you'll know why. Boy, you'll know why.

Greta van Susteren may not have known what happened with that statement, and there's the possibility that I might be reading too much into what Palin said herself, but it's certainly possible that Palin's statement was motivated by...James 4. (Yes, James 4 makes its appearance in this blog again.)

Just as a reminder, here's the verse in question:

James 4:13-14 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
[NIV at IBS] [International Bible Society] [NIV at Zondervan] [Zondervan]

13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Frankly, one doesn't have to be a Christian, or even a theist, to appreciate the wisdom of that verse. Just speaking of the political aspects - within the next couple of months, if not weeks, a number of Republicans are going to position themselves to take a run at Obama in 2012. We're going to start handicapping, and someone (maybe Romney) will be anointed the front runner). If the past is any guideline, odds are the the person who is the front runner in the spring of 2009 will not be the nominee in the summer of 2012. If you don't believe me, let me share two words with you: Hillary Clinton.

In a more general aspect, this statement applies too. For example, as I shared early in the morning of October 15, I am going through a job transition right now - maybe (depending upon Hart-Scott-Rodino and other approvals in the United States and other countries). If these approvals are granted, then my position will transition into...something.

But I'm one of the lucky ones. There are a number of people who are working for banks, or working in retail, or building autos, who are wondering what is going to happen to them next. Or maybe there are people who have no idea what is going to happen next, and are caught by surprise when their employer is taken over the the FDIC, or declares Chapter 11, or just plain shuts its doors. Or, more tragically, there are the people who headed to the Federal Building in Oklahoma City one day, or to the World Trade Center on another day, and never came home that night.

There are also the small-scale personal changes that may take place to an individual - a lottery win, a medical diagnosis, all sorts of things.

None of us know what's going to happen in the future, which makes it tough to prepare for it.

P.S. Oh, and by the way, jumping back to Greta, here's what Palin did say about Africa:

I remember the discussion about Africa. My concern has been the atrocities there in Darfur. And the relevance to me with that issue, as we spoke about Africa and some of the countries there that were -- kind of the people succumbing to the dictators and the corruption of some collapsed governments on the continent -- the relevance was Alaska's investment in Darfur with some of our Permanent Fund dollars. I wanted to make sure that that didn't happen anymore.

Well, the Governor made Mia Farrow happy.

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