Dear God, It is an election season…again. This is my least favorite time of any year. It is a time when opinions about things are stated as facts. Where politicians spend little time talking about what they believe and a whole lot of time talking about what their opponents don’t believe. It is a season of spin and he said/she said. So, in order to clear things up, I have some questions. You don’t have to answer me if you don’t want to, but I’d sure appreciate it if you would.
Are the election season and the political conventions a taste of what hell will be like? You can tell me, I promise not to tell anyone else. Will Democrats be stuck in the RNC and Republicans be stuck in the DNC? Will Democrats only get Fox News on cable and Republicans CNN? I have a lot of other questions, but you know what I am asking, right?
Also, are you a Republican, Democratic, or Independent deity? In other words, we all want to know how Jesus would vote. I get the idea from Scriptures that we might all be sorely disappointed with Jesus if he were to run for office. We all, however, would like his endorsement of the ‘right’ candidate. It would make voting a whole lot easier. And, with that information we could shout, “IN YOUR FACE!” when the election results were announced.
Seriously, who’s right? All sides of the conversation (for the most part) say, “God Bless America” in their speeches. I have a lot of friends that are Christians and Republican, Democratic, Independent, and even Socialist. Which one is closest to your heart? I know that each one honestly believes that you endorse their position and platform. They even have Scripture to back up their positions. Do you even care? If you do, it would be great if you would go on one of the major networks and give us the low down on what you are all about. It would be helpful if you picked CNN or Fox to do it.
Do you prefer Capitalism or Keynesian economic policy? There are a lot of us that believe in free will, does that apply to free markets? And for the sake of simplicity, would it be okay if we just compare our lifestyles in the United States of America and not bring in all the other impoverished countries around us? I don’t want the 2 billion people in the world that live on less than $2 a day to get in the way of this discussion. That would be great. Thanks!
Look, I know we sort of messed this up in the past. We put all kinds of expectations on you and you failed to live up to them. Yes, we got upset that you chose a different way to lead. We wanted you to bring us prosperity along with political and military superiority. You didn’t do things our way. Can’t we just leave the past in the past? We’ve learned from our mistakes, honest.
Seriously, I think if you just told us what you were about we would all fall in line and follow your lead. Okay, I’ll admit that the last 2000 years have not always lived up to that statement, but this is the 21st Century. We are smarter and more mature now. You can trust us with power.
Oh, one more thing. If this whole political thing is wrong and we are making some huge mistakes in understanding your kingdom and your will, would you let us know? Would you give us kingdom hearts and an extra portion of grace, mercy and patience when we talk with our brothers and sisters with whom we disagree? That would be great because it is getting testy down here and people are not getting to see you when we fight with one another about our politics.
Thanks for your time, Dave
Skin Ministries 
DG- I wrote this for our local paper on Tuesday of this week. I have a once a month column titled “Thoughts and Prayers”
“How to Pray for Your Elected Officials 2”
Friday, September 7, 2012
By Rev. David L. Troxler, Co-pastor, St. Paul’s Church ofthe Nazarene, Duxbury
Two months ago, I wrote a sample prayer we might offer to God on behalf of all our elected and appointed public servants. It appeared in the July column. A number of people commented in appreciation of the non-sectarian prayer. It is a universal prayer in that it can be applied equally to a person from any or from no political party.
This week, as last week, is one of the major political party nomination conventions. While not covered by every news source, I have listened in when others have offered televised prayers during theseconventions. I am personally acquainted with one of those clergy offering an invocational prayer. It is nice to know others who take prayer seriously are in such a place of responsibility, regardless of political party.
Likely, we may never be in a position to be called upon to pray in such circumstances. Nevertheless, that fact should not overshadow our ability to pray privately for these same leaders and candidates forleadership! In fact, the more prayers we offer on behalf of leadership, the greater chance we might all come to some peaceful decisions. I say this because prayer forces us to listen and not just spout off our list of wants and wishes. Real prayer is two-way communication.
Prayer, be it public or private, is a great responsibility for it opens the channel for communing with God. I know, not everyone prays, nor does everyone express a belief in any god. Still, based on my experience, more people who do pray sense a difference in their lives when it comes to making it through stressful times. Accordingly, those who do pray express a connection with God that enables them to have compassion for others.
I am of the opinion that God does not take sides in elections such as this. During his second inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln remarked how both the Confederacy and Union prayed to the same God for success during the Civil War. He knew that the prayers of both sides could not be answered to everyone’s satisfaction. Ultimately, President Lincoln suggested that instead of asserting God being on one side or the other, he spoke that we must be on God’s side, trusting God whatever the outcome..
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right” let us keep praying, together.
Thank you so much for sharing this column. It is a much needed antidote to my sarcasm regarding the political process. I appreciate your words and your taking the time to share them with all who read this blog.
Me? I am a member of the herbal tea party. We go around urging calm and peaceful thoughts
Helen
Really funny! Laugh out loud funny.
That’s great to laugh. Thanks for your skinministries. I really appreciate them.
If you’d a mentioned killing a million babies /year or gay marriage, you might have drawn me in.
These are some of the challenges that some of my Democratic/Christian friends face. They feel that they are people without a party. Thanks for the comments!