In this crucial election year, I have been reflecting on a quote from Reverend Raphael Warnock - Baptist pastor and United States Senator from Georgia. He says “A vote is a kind of prayer about the world you want to live in.”
I find that statement to be powerful on several levels.
For one, it contrasts with the “thoughts and prayers” that get offered after tragedy happens. Just this week lots of “thoughts and prayers” are being offered for the Georgia school where a 14 year-old killed four people and wounded nine with an “assault style" weapon. What would happen if we turned our prayers into votes for leaders who will give us strong gun safety laws?
For another, don’t we want to live in a world where our leaders are people of good character? Jesus called out the character of King Herod by saying “that fox Herod.” In the time of Jesus “fox” did not mean “clever.” It meant “weasel.” Character matters.
Jesus gave us many images of the world he would want to live in. One was in Matthew 25: "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." What would happen if we took that scripture into the voting booth?
Everyone knows by now that Jesuit Greg Boyle is one of my favorite authors. He writes “St. Paul tells us to ‘put on Christ.’ Putting on Christ is the easy part. Never taking him off is the really hard part.”
Will we put on Christ before we enter the voting booth?
Friends, this is not white Christian Nationalism. Just the opposite. It is having a vision of a country where ALL PEOPLE "are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The separation of church and state is essential to our democracy. But for people of faith, voting is a sacred responsibility. Senator Warnock is spot-on. “A vote is a kind of prayer about the kind of world you want to live in." We should ponder this in our hearts as November 5th draws near.
+Doug
"It is a Christion obligation to vote, and more than that, it is the church's responsibility to help get souls to the polls." - Presiding Bishop Michael Curry
