E Plurubus Unum
I had a great experience tonight. I went to my church for a prayer meeting. (And right now some of you are thinking "If that's a great experience you need to get out more!" But wait a sec...)
I was sitting in a small room with a small group of believers. All of us were disappointed, to varying degrees with the election. Hey, most of the people and issues I voted for won! (na-na-na :-P ) But I have to shake my head in awestruck amazement at some people's choices. (And there were other people sitting there, probably thinking the same thing about my choices :-)
So there we were, a 60's liberal, a friend of Republican candidates, a professional woman (classic Bill Clinton target), and a Baptist pastor. What could we do? From the media reports you'd expect nothing less than a slugfest.
Nope. We read the Bible - I Timothy 2:1-6, actually:
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.
And then we prayed. We prayed for Nancy Pelosi, for the President, for Sen. Reid, for the hearts of those on Capitol hill, for our State politicians, for our Superintendent of Public Instruction, on and on.
What did we pray? First, that we would be cleansed and forgiven of harsh words and ill feelings. Then, that our leaders would serve selflessly, as God intends leaders to do. That they would work together for the good of the country. That they would have such success - Democrats AND Republicans - that those who voted against them would be amazed and delighted with their good governance.
And then we prayed for each other, and for eternal matters. After all, this country is a little thing that isn't going to last long, but eternity is, well, eternal.
You see, we might look like different tribes, wear different pins in our lapels, cheer for different teams, support different candidates, even speak different languages, but Jesus takes people of different descriptions, from all around the world, and He binds us into a loving family. E Plurubus Unum - "Out of Many, One".
And I'm glad He does. You'll never know how sweet it is to see Jews and Arabs, Broncos and Vandals, mods and rockers, blacks and whites, even Democrats and Republicans embrace each other with honest love and goodwill until you see what Christ can do in the hearts of His people. One people. Out of many.
Shalom.
I was sitting in a small room with a small group of believers. All of us were disappointed, to varying degrees with the election. Hey, most of the people and issues I voted for won! (na-na-na :-P ) But I have to shake my head in awestruck amazement at some people's choices. (And there were other people sitting there, probably thinking the same thing about my choices :-)
So there we were, a 60's liberal, a friend of Republican candidates, a professional woman (classic Bill Clinton target), and a Baptist pastor. What could we do? From the media reports you'd expect nothing less than a slugfest.
Nope. We read the Bible - I Timothy 2:1-6, actually:
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.
And then we prayed. We prayed for Nancy Pelosi, for the President, for Sen. Reid, for the hearts of those on Capitol hill, for our State politicians, for our Superintendent of Public Instruction, on and on.
What did we pray? First, that we would be cleansed and forgiven of harsh words and ill feelings. Then, that our leaders would serve selflessly, as God intends leaders to do. That they would work together for the good of the country. That they would have such success - Democrats AND Republicans - that those who voted against them would be amazed and delighted with their good governance.
And then we prayed for each other, and for eternal matters. After all, this country is a little thing that isn't going to last long, but eternity is, well, eternal.
You see, we might look like different tribes, wear different pins in our lapels, cheer for different teams, support different candidates, even speak different languages, but Jesus takes people of different descriptions, from all around the world, and He binds us into a loving family. E Plurubus Unum - "Out of Many, One".
And I'm glad He does. You'll never know how sweet it is to see Jews and Arabs, Broncos and Vandals, mods and rockers, blacks and whites, even Democrats and Republicans embrace each other with honest love and goodwill until you see what Christ can do in the hearts of His people. One people. Out of many.
Shalom.
posted by David Hardesty | 11:48 PM
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