If you have not voted, yet, I urge you to vote. Vote for yourself, your children, your grandchildren, and vote for our country! In so many ways and for so many reasons, we are in a critical time. Different ideologies and different understandings influence each of us. Together we are the body of Christ. No one way of thinking or being is better than any other way as long as we are following Paul’s admonition in Colossians. Whatever we do, as Christians, we do it in Jesus’ name and give thanks to God.
I expect that things will become more challenging over the next several weeks. We will probably not know the results of the Presidential election on Tuesday night. Our days are getting shorter and soon they will get colder. Our holidays are bound to look and feel very different. The pandemic continues with no end in sight. We are in crisis.
Our choice as Christians is whether we react to the crisis with fear and chaos or we react to the crisis with the knowledge that God holds our lives secure. Absolutely nothing separates us from God’s love. We can make our choices in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to God. Always. Every time.
I offer this prayer to you. It comes from “A Liturgy of Hope and Release” by Sarah Are from A Sanctified Life.
Holy God, We come to you today in prayer, full of emotions. Election seasons always seem to bring that out in us—Worry and hope, fear and frustration. The list could go on. So today, we bow our heads and ask for guidance. Open our ears to hear the groans of creation. Open our eyes to see the needs of others. Open our hearts to make room for empathy. Give us the wisdom to navigate challenging conversations. Give us the patience to disagree with grace. Give us the compassion to make decisions for the greater good. When all else fails, bring us back to love. Bring our hearts and our hands, our dreams and our hopes, our anger and our frustration, our hurt and our fear, all back to love. With hope we pray, With hope we are sustained. Amen.
