Like most Americans, I am glad to move beyond a relentlessly negative election season. We've been pounded with endless ads portraying Barack Obama as a promise-breaker and failed president and depicting Mitt Romney as a wealthy and heartless corporate figure, out-of-touch with the common man. Obama raised the language of hostility to new levels when he said, "Voting is the best revenge."

Is that what this is about?

After spending billions of dollars on emotionally excessive attack campaigns, these same people now tell us we need to work together. The man who wants "revenge" now wants cooperation and unity? While I appreciated Romney's gracious concession, everything about the campaigns conflicted with his appeal that, "We can't risk partisan bickering and political posturing. Our leaders have to work across the aisle to do the people's work."

How many people believe this?

Six out of 10 Americans say they don't pay attention to politics. What does it tell us about the process when pervasive apathy and growing disgust have become the majority posture? Ask the average person if he thinks his vote makes a difference. Two of the most common opinions are that nothing gets done, and that all politicians are corrupt liars.

It's reported that 131 million Americans, or two-thirds of those eligible, voted for president in 2008. This left more than 15 million registered voters who didn't participate and an additional estimated 30 million unregistered Americans. Projections tell us that the number of eligible voters casting a ballot will be fewer in the 2012 election.

This is not mere apathy. The sentiments run deeper, even among those who did vote. I hope President Obama recognizes that his re-election was nothing close to a mandate. Half or more of the nation is adamantly opposed to his big-government philosophy.

I find it incredible that so many people fall for the rhetoric of big government. Please recognize that the government doesn't give you anything unless it first takes it from you. It gets money by taking it from taxpayers. We need politicians who will stop using our money to appear compassionate toward the needy. Check their personal records of charitable giving before giving them credit. We need a better definition of what it means to be needy.

I'll continue to respect and pray for President Obama, but I have a few hopes for his second term. I want him to end the narrative of blame. For four years, we've been relentlessly subjected to blame on George W. Bush for everything that's wrong. Prior to the election, blame shifted to Congress. Drop the victim mentality; lead with courage.

I hope for more than rhetoric in restoring confidence in our nation. Pervasive apathy and disgust among the electorate could become our demise. "We look to our teachers and professors, we count on you not just to teach, but to inspire our children with a passion for learning and discovery," Romney said in his concession speech.

"We look to our pastors and priests and rabbis and counselors of all kinds to testify of the enduring principles upon which our society is built: honesty, charity, integrity and family. We look to our parents, for in the final analysis everything depends on the success of our homes. We look to job creators of all kinds. We're counting on you to invest, to hire, to step forward. And we look to Democrats and Republicans in government at all levels to put the people before the politics."

More than anything, we must look to God. "From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us" (Acts 17: 26-27).

Steve W. Cornell is senior pastor of Millersville Bible Church. He is also a correspondent for Lancaster Newspapers Inc. Email him at s.cornell@millersvillebiblechurch.org.