{"id":4068,"date":"2024-10-07T06:56:14","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T10:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4068"},"modified":"2024-10-07T06:56:57","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T10:56:57","slug":"hope-on-election-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/07\/hope-on-election-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope on Election Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>

Twenty-eight days from now, every American citizen age 18 and older will be free to do what approximately half the world can only dream about.

We will have the opportunity to choose our own leaders.

But this astonishing privilege once again seems to be compromised by a pervasive fog of disappointment, mistrust, and cynicism.

It goes something like this: Out of a population of 333 million people, these are the most impressive candidates we could muster? Is this really all there is?<\/em>

The need of the hour is hope in the midst of political discouragement.

Author and pastor Brian Roberts, writing a few years back in Relevant <\/em>magazine, provides four helpful reminders:

First, this is not the most important or even the most conflicted election in American history.<\/strong>

Far from it. As we\u2019ve noted in recent reflections, it\u2019s hard to top the drama of the election of 1800, in which Thomas Jefferson acknowledged paying someone to spread lies about his opponent John Adams \u2013 at the very moment when the survival of our young nation was at stake. Then there\u2019s the election of 1860, in which Abraham Lincoln was publicly vilified as \u201cthe original gorilla.\u201d Half the states threatened to form a new country if Lincoln was elected. He was, and they did \u2013 ultimately because they believed it was acceptable to own fellow human beings.

We may think our nation has never been in such a sorry state when it comes to incivility, divisiveness, and the crass politicizing of every current event, including the destruction wrought just 10 days ago by Hurricane Helene. But that\u2019s only because we need a refresher course on the no-holds-barred, bitterly contested campaigns of 1824, 1876, 1960, and 2000.

Every four years we\u2019re breathlessly assured, \u201cThis is the most important election in history.\u201d Roberts provides some helpful perspective: \u201cEvery generation thinks it\u2019s living in the most important moment in history. We\u2019re not, our parents were not, and our children probably won\u2019t be. And that\u2019s OK.\u201d

Second, no matter who is elected, we\u2019re not headed for either the Apocalypse or the Millennium.<\/strong>

In recent decades the party occupying the White House has depicted its service to America in messianic terms. The party that\u2019s been out of power at the same time has typically suggested that the first party\u2019s continuance in office would mean nothing less than the end of the world. 

Political ads swing wildly from glowing promises to threats of democracy\u2019s collapse. An alarming number of people believe that those who support the Other Party aren\u2019t just mistaken. They are inherently evil.

Our assurance, however, is that the timing of the real Millennium and the real Apocalypse will not actually depend on voter turnout in Pennsylvania and Georgia.

Third, God calls us to pray for our civic leaders.<\/strong>

\u201cFirst of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way\u201d (I Timothy 2:1-2). The apostle Paul makes a similar plea in Romans 13.

That means praying even for the leaders whose policies, character, or outrageous statements leave us scratching our heads.

Who was governing the Roman Empire when the earliest Christian leaders penned Romans and I Timothy? That would be Caligula and Nero, respectively, two of the most unhinged politicians in human history. According to church tradition, Nero ordered the executions of both Peter and Paul. Roberts observes, \u201cIf you\u2019re mocking your governing leaders on Facebook, the Holy Spirit is grieved. We should spend more time honoring our leaders and less time vilifying them.\u201d

Fourth, if we\u2019re motivated by fear, we\u2019re on the wrong road.<\/strong>

People who rail relentlessly about politics don\u2019t love their country more than the people they\u2019re screaming at. Fear \u2013 whether fear of open borders, or financial ruin, or war in the Middle East, or Social Security cuts, or whether climate change is at least partly responsible for that next hurricane barreling across the Gulf of Mexico \u2013 may indeed motivate slices of the electorate for short periods of time. 

But fear, in the end, is poisonous to our souls. We are not called to anxiety as a way of life, but to trust.

Our grounds for such trust is clear: \u201cGod reigns over the nations. He is seated on his holy throne\u201d (Psalm 47:8). God hasn\u2019t resigned his position as director of the cosmos. And he isn\u2019t going to be unseated by the electoral college. That\u2019s our hope on Election Day.

Our privilege is to be part of the drama on November 5. We each get to play a role.

Best of all, we can know this:

Before, during, and after that day\u2019s events, God will still be God<\/em>. 

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Twenty-eight days from now, every American citizen age 18 and older will be free to do what approximately half the world can only dream about. We will have the opportunity to choose our own leaders. But this astonishing privilege once again seems to be compromised by a pervasive fog of disappointment,… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4069,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[816,205,18,817],"class_list":["post-4068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-election","tag-fear","tag-hope","tag-politices"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4068"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4071,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4068\/revisions\/4071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}