“It is up to the lay faithful to demonstrate concretely in…political life that the faith enables them to see reality in a new and profound way, and to transform it.”
– Pope Benedict XVI
Perhaps it’s because I live in the swingiest county of the swingiest state in one of closest presidential contests of my adult life, but the weeks leading up to this election have been increasingly full of anxiety. Despite the fact that I don’t watch TV and haven’t had cable for a while, the tension is everywhere - in the constant barrage of spam texts, the plethora of yard signs, and even in the questions and conversations my eight-year-old is initiating.
As I drove across my county to a meeting recently, my anxiety only grew as yard signs for each campaign seemingly alternated every other house, and small groups of enthusiastic volunteers from both sides cheered and flipped people off on street corners. At one point I passed a gentleman holding up a homemade sign that said, “In [Candidate] we trust.”
His sign was the sign I needed to understand what was at the heart of my discomfort. The tension of this contest is certainly a result of the high stakes of policy decisions for the future, but more so, I think it’s symptomatic of a people desperate for someone to restore what they believe was a better past and to determine a brighter future. While that’s an admirable notion for our public officials, the danger is marginalizing the only one who truly has that platform in full: Jesus Christ.
Regardless of who promises what, they will not fully deliver without Him, and He chooses to deliver through us. So, as we hopefully fulfill on one of our most sacred responsibilities as Americans and cast our votes, the bigger decision we have to make is not who wins on Tuesday, but who we wake up as on Wednesday - how we choose to give witness to Christ’s eternal victory on Thursday and how many people we can gain for His campaign of salvation every day after that.
Every night is Decision Night in America - or it should be - as we examine our consciences and make a plan to change hearts, starting with our own. May God bless this great nation and open our hearts to the future full of hope He promises to those who believe.
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