Tuesday

There will be trouble and distress…Romans 2:9

If you know me well, you know that numbers are not my strength.  In fact I think if my friend Erin the math teacher gave me a story problem I just might break out in hives!  If you know me well, you know that I would walk a mile to avoid a controversy and if you know me well, you know I have about as much interest in politics as I do in last weeks garbage.  That being said, this is the post that came to me for today.  It involves numbers, it just might spark controversy and it does address politics…I tried not to write about this stuff but the other post I wrote is floating somewhere in cyberspace and nowhere on my Apple; He can just be so bossy!

Let’s start with just a few numbers…
125; the number of folks who came to Rochester Hills Saturday to learn how to serve Jesus.
600; the number of Catholic high school students who attended a youth rally Sunday
35; the number of fifth graders who led another 240 kids in singing the Divine Mercy Chaplet for Veterans and for our country last Friday afternoon
60,000; the number of High School students who attended a Steubenville Youth Conference last summer to learn to love and serve the Lord and build His Kingdom on earth
10 million; the number of likes and shares on a FaceBook post called Christians Vote in the first 5 hours after posting
Infinity; the number of  prayers being said for God’s guidance in Tuesday’s election

Now some conflict and politics…
I quit reading posts, watching TV or listening to radio months ago.  If I see the candidates faces, or hear their voices I have one automatic response…5 Hail Mary’s for them and 5 for our Country.  I’m not for one minute denying the gravity of Tuesday, I’m just choosing to put my prayerful trust in the King of the Universe. You know…the one who can make anything perfect! I have pondered the advice of a few I believe to be faithful, trustworthy Catholics and allowed their opinions to form my voting conscience, but as for the drama and the never-ending media circus I have said a giant, you aren’t going to fill my head and heart with garbage, no thank you!  I don’t watch it, I don’t talk about it because I made a choice…a choice to see the hopeful, the joyful and the GOD that surrounds us.  This country has seen tough times before.  Conflict, deceit, despair and panic are as old as the book of Genesis and they will probably continue to be a part of the tapestry of humankind forever.  My head is not in the sand, I know this is big stuff but I also know God is so much bigger and he will not turn his back on the faithful.  He doesn’t promise easy, he doesn’t promise gentle and he doesn’t promise perfect…he promises Eternal Life.  Now that’s something I can focus on!

The numbers I mentioned give me hope.  The numbers represent the massive number of Americans who have dropped to their knees and let their shadow cross the doorstep of a church, perhaps out of frustration or desperation but folks are looking up in the midst of all this mess.  Our nation is completely focused on 2 people…I’d rather focus on the kids who have been faithfully praying for this election every day for months.  I’d rather focus  on the millions who are doing amazing things to serve God and others.  I’d rather focus on how I’m living my faith because I realize we will stand before God and be judged one at a time, not as a  group or a political party. The election results on Tuesday have no bearing on the judgment results on the day I stand before God. Friday at school mass, I watched 7 year olds sing with their whole body, I watched Fr. Eric gently lift the little reader on crutches down the altar steps as gently as if she had been made of glass and I watched a couple hundred kids stop and pray for souls of the faithful departed at a bulletin board listing their names in the front hallway at school.  

Pick your view…what are you seeing?  Where are you looking and what points you up?  And my simple line…if God is powerful enough to part the Red Sea, he’s powerful enough to tend to the White House.  You can call me naive  but I'd prefer you called me hopeful!

A Seed To Plant:  God bless us all, God help us see the good that surrounds us and God Bless our Country.  Vote once and pray without  ceasing.

Blessings on your day!