Today

The air seems heavy with waiting and anticipation. By the end of this day, we'll have change alright...

I drive 30 min. south and east to get to work, and I leave at 7 a.m. to get there on time. I arrive back home at around 5:00 p.m., which doesn't leave alot of time to vote, before having to be at church by 6:30 this evening. This is one election, however, that I don't want to miss, so I was at the polling place by 6:15 this morning and out by 7:05. I was #5 in line. I drove by last night on my way home, having heard that if I got there before 5:00 I could vote on an absentee ballot. There were at least 150 people lined up outside, so I decided to pass on that one and wait until today. I definitely have more patience for waiting early in the day than late.

While I know there are more things at stake than human rights, this most basic and fundamental issue takes top priority in my book. One of today's candidates was the ONLY negative vote in a bill designed to give medical care to babies that survive the unspeakable horror of having been medically aborted though viable. When asked at Saddleback Church when exactly he feels that babies do deserve human rights protection, he said (after umm...ing a bit) that the answer to that question was above his pay grade. And finally, exhibit #3...the comment that while he would teach his daughters morals and values, he would not expect them to be "punished with a baby" for their mistake. To think where this kind of morality will lead us is nothing less than terrifying.

I read an argument recently that by attacking poverty, said candidate will in effect be reducing the number of abortions, because those who can't afford to keep their babies make up the majority of women who have abortions. Economic reasons are not at the heart of his willingness to see his own grandchild aborted in the event of an untimely "mistake". I think it would be interesting to look at the numbers and see how many women KEEP their babies for economic reasons. A monthly welfare check might be a motivator.

I am just as concerned about the poverty in our country as any BO disciple. I'm just not sure the government is the place to land as the end all in poverty-busting. I read the following quote in another blog this morning:

"When our Lord ate with tax collectors and sinners, He did not instruct the tax collectors to organize socially to lower taxes, or to tax only the rich and give it to the poor. He called them instead to personal conversion, to sell all of their belongings and to give the money to the poor, and to follow Him. I do not believe that voting for politicians who say they'll help the poor is the same as helping the poor, nor does it alleviate our responsibility to do so. I myself cannot claim total innocence in this regard."

Well, that's all the time I have for rumination this morning...duty calls. Heidi has much more personal reasons for being pro-life (which obviously, we share). My only "consolation" as I ponder the "changes" we face is that whatever we get is what we deserve - but regardless, God is still in control, and if we witness further moral degradation (and possible moral collapse), it is in His timing, allowed by Him, and for His ultimate purposes.