Election 2020

It's nearly 7:30 a.m., November 3, 2020, as I write this.  

By now, the residents of the tiny towns Dixville Notch and Millsfield, New Hampshire have cast their ballots for president.  Traditionally, they meet just after midnight and vote.  A third town, Hart's Location, scrapped their plans for midnight voting due to the COVID pandemic.  Their 48 voters will participate during normal hours.

Polls in my state of Georgia opened at 7 a.m., as they do in many states in the Eastern time zone.  By 10 a.m., the polls will be open in all 48 states.  By noon, they will be open in all 50.  

I've heard all the superlatives:  the most important election of our lifetimes, the future of this country rides on this election, etc.  

Never is that more true than now. 

Today, we have a choice.  

I have cast my ballot in early voting, as over 100 million people already have.  CNN states that the pre-election day vote "surpasses two-thirds of all 2016 ballots cast".  

Pundits have complained for years about poor voter turnout.  Well, this year, they may be wrong.

I have my feelings and my opinions about this election.  I haven't posted all of them on my Facebook page although I have posted and vented about them in private and secret groups.  Frankly, I really don't know at this point whether I'm at peace with the outcome or if I'm resigned to the outcome.  

God knows what is going to happen.  Sometimes, I wish He'd tell me, but I also understand that He is God and I am not.  And I'm not sure if I could bear the foreknowledge of certain events.  (Imagine knowing the time and manner of your death.  Would you be able to deal with that?)

I believe this is the election of a lifetime.  It comes during a year of COVID, a year of racial strife, a year of fire and flood and hurricane, a year of sniping, a year of disunity.  

What can I say?  I'm not an "influencer".  I don't have a YouTube channel.  I'm not an influential writer like a James Patterson, or a Stephen King; not a columnist like a George Will, or Leonard Pitts, or Peggy Noonan.  I'm just a person with a blog that a handful of people read and a few people say they enjoy. 

I realize how little power I have over the events of today.  I have one vote, and I can encourage others to vote, but when it all comes down to it, there's very little I can do about what will happen.  This is not meant to be a whine about how powerless I am, but a realistic look about what I do and do not have control over.  

I have cast my vote.  I have prayed.  The rest of this is in God's hands. 

For the past few days, I've woken up with the song "Courageous" by Casting Crowns playing in my head.  I deliberately linked to the lyric video here because the words are powerful. 

Too many American Christians, including myself, have put their hope in politics and getting the exact right President, Congress, governors, etc. in office. 

What has it gotten us?

A divided nation, and people who are more interested in earthly political power than they are in worshiping and serving the God they claim to follow.  I think many so-called Christian leaders have sold their soul for political power and influence.  When you do that, Mephistopheles WILL eventually come to collect the payment due.  

I'm not an influencer, but I will use whatever platform I have to (I pray) the honor and glory of God.  

I'll end by quoting from the song Courageous:

"The only way we'll ever stand
Is on our knees with lifted hands
Make us courageous
Lord make us courageous!"

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.