Aliens in America: Day 5
Mercy for People, Not Presidents
'As aliens, live in reverent fear.' (1 Pet. 1:17)
‘No one will win this election, ultimately. No one will lose this election, ultimately. Maybe we should ask whether we are seeking something where it can never be found, and ask ourselves whether we should be looking Somewhere else.’ Russell Moore
For aliens in America, looking Somewhere else means praying to Jesus. I am not looking to a political party, nor candidates from each one ‘to make America great again.’
Meaningless. Manipulated images of candidates saying so little (Harris) so badly (Trump, let me count the ways) deaden me.
Jesus, on the other hand, anchors me in His Spirit, from which we both derive sonship from the same Father. I don’t have to fear a bleak future or falter by trusting in a candidate who will never cease to fail me. My Source remains the same today and the day after the election.
But I have a mandate, like any American, to use reason, conscience, and prayerful discernment to vote for the candidate most in alignment with my values. Or, if no positive corollaries can be found in either candidate, then I look to the one who might at least restrain the worst violations of my conscience.
I evaluate both candidates the best I can; I pray to prepare responsibly to vote. I, like any of my fellow Americans, will be under the influence of one of two people. He or she will shift the atmosphere in which I live, for better and worse. I take seriously Peter’s exhortation ‘to submit for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men’ (1 Pet. 2:13). I pray that God will limit the damage either candidate will visit on America and this citizen, in particular.
I can pray now that Divine Mercy will restrain Harris’ decidedly post-Christian philosophy of the human person, especially her zeal for ‘reproductive rights’ and sexual ‘diversity.’ And I pray that Jesus will curb Trump’s willingness to deceive constantly, to rant via confusing, divisive tweets, and to dance with dictators. All I ask, Holy Spirit: ‘restrain evil on behalf of this country that both You and I love.’
One thing that helps me a lot is to pray daily for both Harris and Trump as people, not Wizard of Oz-like talking heads but weary people whom God loves. I think of each lying in bed reviewing the day, lifting their doubts up to God.
Pray however you will. A suggestion: Consider praying the Divine Mercy chaplet (look it up online; it's simple to pray and helpful in its structure). The chaplet employs five ten-part petitions, or decades, to Jesus. Each begins: ‘For the sake of Your sorrowful passion, have mercy on the whole world.’ I simply insert ‘have mercy on (Trump? Harris?), and on the whole world.’
On the first decade, I pray for each of my family members; on the second, I offer to Jesus 10 specific church and ministry needs; on the third, I pray for Harris; the fourth, Trump; then the last for America in this crucial election season.
After I pray the chaplet, I feel differently toward both Trump and Harris. They cease to be mere lightning rods for my grief. Prayers humanize them. Both become mere people who like me need restraint for familiar evils.
How can I not give a fellow sinner the same mercy Jesus has given me? Might you join me in praying for both Harris and Trump every day?
‘Thank You, Jesus, for faithful intercessors who warded off our worst tendencies. Might we do the same for each candidate? By grace-filled choice, might we talk less and pray more? May Harris and Trump see Your face and enter into Your merciful heart for them.’
‘Jesus, You are the King and we are first citizens of Your Kingdom. Would you free us for You in this election season, not to hide but to shine? You’ve always asked nothing less from Your elect whom You have made ‘strangers in a strange land’ (Ex. 2:22). Here we are, a people who don’t know what to do but who look and listen to our King.
“Father of all holiness,
guide our hearts to You.
Keep in the light of Your Truth
all those You have freed from the darkness of unbelief.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son.”’
Amen
.jpg)
Amen. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Thank you for the reminder to pray for the presidential candidates… and using the Divine Mercy chapter is a good way to do this. You say you will vote for the candidate most in line with your values. Rather, shouldn’t it be the one who is the most levelheaded and can lead a country? This is a vote about government., not your next pastor.
Thank you for helping us to focus on the lamb, not the donkey or elephant, which brings transformative change and healing, rather than endless wars, corrupt use of public coffers to enrich oligarchs and build greater central control of money and human rights through the use of censorship, propaganda to deceive, national security, military, pharmacological, and multitude of other industrial complexes. May King Jesus return in glory with justice and mercy.
THANK YOU, Andy, for this series. It's speaking to my own heart in this season of troublesome times in America, politics, and the world. Lori
"Or, if no positive corollaries can be found in either candidate, then I look to the one who might at least restrain the worst violations of my conscience."
I think if you can't see any corollaries to the Judeo/Christian worldview in either, by all means. I assume in your case, this essentially means, tie on policy goes to the personality that seems nicer, and therefore, that equals Kamala. I wish you would come out and say it vs trying to make your case in a very roundabout way.