You should ignore this post

Don’t say I didn’t warn you....

I think about politics. A lot. Always have really.

Ready to stop reading yet?

When I was 6, Ronald Reagan was running for reelection and I knew I had to do something to help. I made my mom take me to Rite-Aid for some poster board. I planned to march up and down my road carrying a sign I made to support Pres. Reagan. Who cares that there we only 3 homes on my tiny dirt road that led to nowhere. So I went to my big brother for help. VOTE FOR RONALD REAGAN! my sign would say, I just needed help spelling his name. R-O-N-A-L-D--R-O-L-A-I-D-S was my brothers response. I was infuriated. Righteous indignation! Not so much because he did it to me, but more because I believed he had disrespected the President of the United States of America. Plus it had taken a lot of convincing to get that first piece of poster board, I knew I wouldn’t be seeing another.

I was ridiculously excited to vote in my first election. Clinton won, but I was not deterred. I had so much hope for George W. Bush, and was thrilled when my guy won. But he really dropped the ball on several issues important to conservatives.

I have never had wont for an outlet to discuss my passion for politics. I worked in the newspaper business for many years and then academia. Both industries were ripe with individuals who hated my politics. Then you add the fact that I live just 6 miles from the DC beltway and you have a recipe for a lot of “spirited discussions”.

I spent every morning and every evening trudging around that beltway listening to talk radio. But by the time I quit my job to stay home, I was totally burned out. I told my husband (who is a total political junkie) I had given up on politics and only Jesus could save this country. I didn’t want to listen to it, read about it, talk about it, think about it.

Then Rob Schneck came to our church to speak this fall. He comes fairly regularly and is always enjoyable. Rev. Schneck heads a ministry called Faith and Action, and he is a missionary to Capitol Hill. He actually attended the same Bible college that I attended, and his teachings on the ten commandments were pivotal in my husband’s conversion. Anyway, this fall as he was teaching, he said something that has stuck with me. Forgive the paraphase, I can’t remember his exact words. But the gist was that in the US as a democracy, we are the government. We, the people have the authority to choose leaders and remove leaders. Given that authority is God granted (Rom 13:1), we must be good stewards of the vote that God has given us. It is a matter of stewardship.

So after a long sabbatical, my mind returned to politics. But I see things differently than I did before. I have been disillusioned in the most positive sense of the word. With equal if not greater passion, I am redirected, refocused.

Today I fulfilled the obligation of stewardship.

I have so much to say...