Voting in 2008

I voted today. No lines although apparently first thing this morning there had been. I was voter #522 in my precinct. Often when I vote I am still in the double digits so there is high turn out today.

I always pray when I get in the voting booth. It's never a prayer asking about wisdom to make the right decision, etc. It is always only a prayer of thankfulness that I live in the United States of America and have the right to vote.

There's been a slew of e-mails floating around about remembering that God is in control regardless of who is elected. I often think these are morale boosters because people think their candidate will lose, but I think we need to be reminded of that at every election. Even when Reagan, the great saviour of the Republican party, was elected, we needed that reminder that man cannot do what only the Gospel can.

The best e-mail I've read this year was in my Inbox this morning. Thanks to Gene Banks for forwarding it. It is an e-mail from a pastor in NY to his parishioners. No preaching about who to vote for just a sound argument for what is most important in our lives. Here's a short excerpt:

4. Live by faith as you keep the Gospel at the heart of your living
Be focused. The Gospel is always to remain at the center of every aspect of our lives, the character and content of our believing, our loving, our acting. But the Gospel does not occupy that priority in our lives accidently. We must not conclude that, because we affirm that Jesus is Saviour and Lord, the Gospel automatically applies its influence to every part of our lives. No, that transformation takes place over time and through discipline. There are no short cuts, even while relying on the riches of God’s grace, to becoming mature and seasoned in the life of faith. Being a Christian often simply requires hard work, a rigor that is often accompanied by sacrifice.
Keeping the Gospel central in our lives enables us to hold in tension ideals that we often too quickly and careless resolve in a way that pollutes the Gospel message and obscures the beauty and wonder of Jesus.

So I'll end this post with the words (or variation of such) that each of the four major candidates said last night as they ended one of their final rallies.

God bless America.