Election Day in America is right around the corner. November 5, 2024.
And once again the entire nation and the nations of the world are pacing, wondering, bloviating, and opining about Who will become President of the United States of America.
And, we are ALL … exhausted.
In my 61 years on earth, and now with my 40 plus years of experience as a registered U.S. voter ~ I am mostly confident that We the People will get it Right. Mostly, but not certainly.
What I certainly know is this: CHANGE is inevitable and according to musical prophetess and songstress Sheryl Crow, ” … a change would do you GOOD …”.
On a more “Christian” note and in the spirit of LOVE, my prolific music artists and songwriter friend Steven Curtis Chapman would say, ” … it’s ALL about LOVE …”. And I concur.
WE have all felt in in our spirits, souls, and bodies, this past two or three decades have proven more divisive and polarizing than what I can recall in my brief lifetime; even as a late era Boomer, early Millennial ~~ who was there when it happened ~~ during the 60s Civil Rights and Free Love movements; the 70s Vietnam Era, the 80s Greed Era, the 90s Modernist Era, and the 2000s Dot-Com era.
This time in 2024, it’s more vitriolic and hate-filled in the campaigns, the debates, and in social media of course. And I am as guilty as you are. We all are complicit in the modern era of “freedom” of speech to the public degradation of our very own souls.
As a Bible Belt Mississippi native and Baptist bred PK, well I’ve seen most all of the fire and brimstone preaching, pentecostal praise dancing, charismatic tent revival slain-in-the-Spirit services that I really ever again care to see … with little to no change of attitude and heart when we leave the church house.
Oh, now don’t misread that statement: I LOVE my Bible belt heritage and I’ll praise dance with the best of ’em. I LOVE my charismatic evangelical tribe dearly and they will always be precious to me.
But, I’ve observed the toxicity within Us for far too long. I believe we who profess Christ are being called to a holy repentance of Knowing better, of Getting better, of Being better, and of Doing better.
Basically, ‘Treat others as you want them to treat you. This is what the Law and the Prophets are all about.’ ~ Matthew 7:12
We will cast our votes as followers of Christ from a heart of prayer, conscience, conviction, and holy meditation. At least, that is my Hope and Prayer for all of Us. And so will all those among us who do not pray or consider their Vote a spiritual decision. And if we are Christ followers, we will love them, hear them, see them, and welcome them. THEY are not our enemies. We who proclaim Christ are of a higher kingdom rule and its Law is LOVE.
So, here we are America. And here we are Church. God is a Creator and Lover of all people. The kingdom is not an empire. And for many of us, that’s the rub. We love to be in control and we have an insatiable lust for power; maybe, because we are afraid to let go and let GOD have it all.
The sun will rise tomorrow, no matter who sits in the Oval office in January 2025. Creation will continue to produce and reproduce as she has for millennia.
And we will be left once again to decide: can we and will we LOVE one another as the Christ of our confession so humbly calls Us to, and yet so ferociously commands us to.
It’s ALL about LOVE ya’ll.
THREE YEARS AGO … we gathered outside Nashville at one of the most beautiful hillside farms I’ve ever seen and celebrated the marriage of our baby girl Blaire and her beautiful partner Jess. Together, Blaire and Jess, and their incredible network of friends and beloveds, are making their mark on the world. They LOVE and LIVE very boldly, very tenaciously, very emphatically, and very simply … for the Cause of LOVE.