Random Election Thoughts from the Sleep Deprived...

With her permission, Jennifer Raehl on voting and the forthcoming elections...

I am encouraging you all to pray and vote and pray. And then continue to pray regardless of the outcome. Did your guy win? Yeah. Pray for him. Are you on the losing side? Too bad. Pray for the winner anyway.

I have been increasingly alarmed at this year's presidental election beginning at the primaries. What I am going to say is going to be considered controversial by both sides. Oh well. I live on the edge, I suppose. What alarms me the most is not the issues that have been deemed important, the arguements, the attacks, or the fact that Christians are so torn on who to vote for. It is the attitude of the voters.

As a people- we suck. This is not exactly a shining moment for America. We have become to live life fast, cheap and easy. We have sold our morals for a very low price. We have ceased to care about others in the quest for "the American Dream". The freedom, rights, and care of others is secondary to our wants and our selfish desires. We follow the pied piper to save a few dollars when we fill up our tank. We complain about fighting for the freedom of others because it is an inconvince to us. Oh, we say it is our concern for our troops, but really it is because we do not want the responsibilty of others over our heads. Our troops chose to go. Everyone of them had a choice and choose to fight for freedom- regardless of cost and regardless of whose freedom we are talking about. But we complain. 'Why should we care about them? They will do what they want anyway. After we leave, there will no be improvement. We should take care of our own people first.' Right is still right no matter the cost. Truth is still truth. No opion, no anount of change, no amount of rhetoric, no amount of lying to ourselves can cover the truth for very long.

Oh, but we do try. 'As long as I am not hurting anyone...' 'It is my choice.' 'How can you dictate to be based on your values? I don't believe that way.' In the glaring light of our responsibilty as followers of God these excuses for self should fall away.

But they do not. Just as with so many throughout the course of history, we choose to lie to ourselves. We shift blame, we looks for bandaid solutions to huge gaping wounds in our lives and in our country. We have not been lead down this path unwillingly. We choose to follow. The lies of deceit sound good to our ears. 'You can have it all. Don't you deserve it?' This is the same voice that hissed to Eve in the garden, drew David's eyes to a particular rooftop, coaxed the poeple of God to worship a golden calf. We listen to the silky voice telling us what we want to hear. And it sounds good. But it is a fleeting, false promise of goodness. The goodness can not be found in ourselves and our plans, but in God alone.

The answer to America is not McCain. It most certianly is not Obama. It is God. A turning of our hearts back to our first love, as an individual, as the church, as a nation. So, come Wednesday morning, regardless of who may be our next president, I will do what I do best. I will be here, at my house, fulfilling what God has called me to do- teach me children. I will teach them that truth is thruth regardless of how popular or easy it is. I will teach them that they can not go wrong if the voice they choose to hear belongs to the one who saved their souls. And I will pray. For my president. For my nation. And for you- the people on my friends list. As I do everyday.