This past Sunday, the pastor at my church read a list of things that won't change regardless of who wins the election tomorrow, and they really stuck with me, enough that I emailed him to ask for the list. Don't get me wrong--I strongly believe that everyone should vote (unless you find yourself completely unable to support any of the candidates, and I can respect that), and I gave my own absentee ballot a lot of thought before filling it out (I originally assumed I'd be bipartisan, but it ended up tripartisan due to having spent so much time trying to find out anything about one of the third-party candidates for one of the more local elections that I ended up filling in his bubble by mistake...oops). But these are the things that will not change, no matter who will be in the White House, the Senate, the House, or lots of other places:
Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election
1. The Bible will still have the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.
(I'm not sure who originally wrote this, as my pastor got it from someone else, so I suppose good old Anonymous gets the credit.)
The essentials of our faith won't change, regardless of who wins. And I, political junkie that I have become, have to keep reminding myself that as important as I believe the election to be tomorrow, the eternal issues aren't at stake. All the fear that I've heard from people on both sides is pointless, because in the end, God wins. And He's not a Republican or a Democrat.
I've read a lot online about the election during the past few months, and I consider myself to be a decently informed voter. But I find myself voting with humility, with the knowledge that, in fact, I could be wrong in my choices of candidates, but the belief that God's will shall prevail regardless, even though it may not seem that way to everyone on Wednesday morning. I'm reminded of Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, in which he urges for "firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right." We don't see the big picture. But God does.
I have friends and acquaintances who are devout Christians on both ends of the political spectrum (yay for being a moderate independent!), and I don't believe that belonging to one party or the other is "more Christian"--both parties have issues where Christians can support them, and both fail miserably in this regard with other issues. So tomorrow, vote thoughtfully, prayerfully, and with humility, trusting God that His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. And then, whoever wins, support them with your prayers throughout the next four years. They've got a tough road ahead of them.
[x-posted to Facebook]
Showing posts with label non-complacent orthodoxy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label non-complacent orthodoxy. Show all posts
Monday, November 3, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
"He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat"
Warning: mild rant ahead.
I went to the Ann Arbor 4th of July parade this morning, primarily because it seemed like something moderately interesting to do. I'm sure I didn't find it nearly as cool as all the little kids around me did, but it was fun to see an American parade again (Balaklia did lots of holiday celebrations, but I don't remember any parades). The floats were very generous with their candy and other goodies; even as an adult, I ended up with a few Tootsie Rolls, a bag of baby carrots (from some health-food float), and a packet of Forget-Me-Not seeds from a political candidate, which amused me.
The floats were varied and random--everything from fire engines to preschools to old-fashioned bicycles to "Save the Monarch Butterflies". And a LOT of political candidates. You could tell that it was an election year, and the various candidates gave out candy in such copious amounts it was as if they expected the toddlers to vote. However, when the Washtenaw County Republican float came out (most of the Democratic candidates had their own separate floats, but Republicans appear to be enough of a minority that they consolidated), the people around me started to boo. I heard a parent tell her child, "We don't want any of John McCain's candy." And I came away from the parade with a bad taste in my mouth that had nothing to do with candy.
Now first off, let me say that I'm a political independent and don't feel that I align up completely with either party. I think that there are areas where both major parties do a good job, and areas where they fail miserably. If I apply my understanding of the Bible to current political issues, I can't come up with a completely Republican or completely Democratic platform. I think that both presidential candidates this year are decent options, and although I've got some preferences, I'm still undecided who I'll vote for in November (plus I hate jumping on anyone's bandwagon too early, because you never know what new information will come out later, making you look really stupid if you decide to switch sides). And if I'd been at a parade where the people watching were conservatives and were booing a Democratic float and refusing to accept candy handed out by Obama supporters, I'd have been just as annoyed.
All of that said, I was disgusted at the people around me at the parade. I understand that people have strong political feelings, and that's legitimate. However, I thought that their behavior set a poor example for the children that were there. If you don't like a float that goes by, it's perfectly acceptable not to clap. But to boo them is in bad taste. Do we want our children to grow up thinking that it's okay to badmouth people we disagree with? And while the politicians are handing out candy to get their name out and get parents to vote for them, it's not going to make a kid turn Republican just because he accepted candy from a McCain supporter. Honestly, if they wanted to help the Democratic cause, those people should have gotten more candy from the Republicans, because then there would have been less of it for the politicians to give to those undecided people who might be swayed by it. :) (Yes, I am my father's daughter, and this is how my mind works.)
So, a happy 4th of July to all my readers, and a wish for a country where people can disagree respectfully and set a good example for small children. Herein endeth the rant.
I went to the Ann Arbor 4th of July parade this morning, primarily because it seemed like something moderately interesting to do. I'm sure I didn't find it nearly as cool as all the little kids around me did, but it was fun to see an American parade again (Balaklia did lots of holiday celebrations, but I don't remember any parades). The floats were very generous with their candy and other goodies; even as an adult, I ended up with a few Tootsie Rolls, a bag of baby carrots (from some health-food float), and a packet of Forget-Me-Not seeds from a political candidate, which amused me.
The floats were varied and random--everything from fire engines to preschools to old-fashioned bicycles to "Save the Monarch Butterflies". And a LOT of political candidates. You could tell that it was an election year, and the various candidates gave out candy in such copious amounts it was as if they expected the toddlers to vote. However, when the Washtenaw County Republican float came out (most of the Democratic candidates had their own separate floats, but Republicans appear to be enough of a minority that they consolidated), the people around me started to boo. I heard a parent tell her child, "We don't want any of John McCain's candy." And I came away from the parade with a bad taste in my mouth that had nothing to do with candy.
Now first off, let me say that I'm a political independent and don't feel that I align up completely with either party. I think that there are areas where both major parties do a good job, and areas where they fail miserably. If I apply my understanding of the Bible to current political issues, I can't come up with a completely Republican or completely Democratic platform. I think that both presidential candidates this year are decent options, and although I've got some preferences, I'm still undecided who I'll vote for in November (plus I hate jumping on anyone's bandwagon too early, because you never know what new information will come out later, making you look really stupid if you decide to switch sides). And if I'd been at a parade where the people watching were conservatives and were booing a Democratic float and refusing to accept candy handed out by Obama supporters, I'd have been just as annoyed.
All of that said, I was disgusted at the people around me at the parade. I understand that people have strong political feelings, and that's legitimate. However, I thought that their behavior set a poor example for the children that were there. If you don't like a float that goes by, it's perfectly acceptable not to clap. But to boo them is in bad taste. Do we want our children to grow up thinking that it's okay to badmouth people we disagree with? And while the politicians are handing out candy to get their name out and get parents to vote for them, it's not going to make a kid turn Republican just because he accepted candy from a McCain supporter. Honestly, if they wanted to help the Democratic cause, those people should have gotten more candy from the Republicans, because then there would have been less of it for the politicians to give to those undecided people who might be swayed by it. :) (Yes, I am my father's daughter, and this is how my mind works.)
So, a happy 4th of July to all my readers, and a wish for a country where people can disagree respectfully and set a good example for small children. Herein endeth the rant.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
flannery o'connor quote
In honor of Flannery O'Connor's birthday (thank you, Writer's Almanac on NPR), a quote from one of her letters that Professor Dorr read to my Religion in American Literature class during my undergrad days.
Flannery O’Connor to Alfred Corn, May 30, 1962:
"As a freshman in college you are bombarded with new ideas, or rather pieces of ideas, new frames of reference, an activation of the intellectual life which is only beginning, but which is already running ahead of your lived experience. After a year of this, you think you cannot believe. You are just beginning to realize how difficult it is to have faith and the measure of a commitment to it, but you are too young to decide you don’t have faith just because you feel you can’t believe. About the only way we know whether we believe or not is by what we do, and I think from your letter that you will not take the path of least resistance in this matter and simply decide that you have lost your faith and that there is nothing you can do about it. […] If you want your faith, you have to work for it. […] For every book you read that is anti-Christian, make it your business to read one that presents the other side of the picture. […] Don’t think that you have to abandon reason to be a Christian. […] To find out about faith, you have to go to the people who have it and you have to go to the most intelligent ones if you are going to stand up intellectually to agnostics and the general run of pagans that you are going to find in the majority of people around you. […] Even in the life of a Christian, faith rises and falls like the tides of an invisible sea. It’s there, even when he can’t see it or feel it, if he wants it to be there. You realize, I think, that it is more valuable, more mysterious, altogether more immense than anything you can learn or decide upon in college. Learn what you can, but cultivate Christian skepticism. It will keep you free—not free to do anything you please, but free to be formed by something larger than your own intellect or the intellects of those around you."
Flannery O’Connor to Alfred Corn, May 30, 1962:
"As a freshman in college you are bombarded with new ideas, or rather pieces of ideas, new frames of reference, an activation of the intellectual life which is only beginning, but which is already running ahead of your lived experience. After a year of this, you think you cannot believe. You are just beginning to realize how difficult it is to have faith and the measure of a commitment to it, but you are too young to decide you don’t have faith just because you feel you can’t believe. About the only way we know whether we believe or not is by what we do, and I think from your letter that you will not take the path of least resistance in this matter and simply decide that you have lost your faith and that there is nothing you can do about it. […] If you want your faith, you have to work for it. […] For every book you read that is anti-Christian, make it your business to read one that presents the other side of the picture. […] Don’t think that you have to abandon reason to be a Christian. […] To find out about faith, you have to go to the people who have it and you have to go to the most intelligent ones if you are going to stand up intellectually to agnostics and the general run of pagans that you are going to find in the majority of people around you. […] Even in the life of a Christian, faith rises and falls like the tides of an invisible sea. It’s there, even when he can’t see it or feel it, if he wants it to be there. You realize, I think, that it is more valuable, more mysterious, altogether more immense than anything you can learn or decide upon in college. Learn what you can, but cultivate Christian skepticism. It will keep you free—not free to do anything you please, but free to be formed by something larger than your own intellect or the intellects of those around you."
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