Vespers Oct 02; The Guardian Angels

Today I have been literally bombarded with emails – so much so that I’ve read barely nothing in the news.

One emailed question I got several times today was “are you really praying and fasting? If you are, maybe I will too…”

Yes, I am. I’m praying and fasting “that wisdom and light be brought to guide our nation in this election period, and that Thy will be done…” whatever that ends up being. I was a little appalled to get one missive from a lady who said she was Christian but was clearly in high-hand-wringing mode. Her worry: what if I encourage others to pray and fast “but we lose! If we lose it will not be good witness to the power of God! It will say God is defeated!”

See all those exclamation points? Like I said, she’s hand-wringing.

My prayer is not for victory. It is for the very best outcome for the country, and for God’s will to be done. Our ways are not God’s way, nor our minds God’s mind. To us, the “best” outcome might seem obvious, but really, when you think about it, when does God ever do the “obvious” thing?

As I’ve written before: The Incarnation was not an “obvious” move:

…think about what God did, in a lonely cave on the outskirts of Bethlehem, when He condescended to enter into the pain and fear, the tumult and whirlwind of the world…when he “set his tent among us,” not merely “dwelling” among us as lofty king, but literally “with” us, with hunger, the capacity for injury and doubt…

God entered in, not with a cacophony of noise and a display of raw power, but as the humblest and most dependent of creatures: a baby, lying in a manger, a place for the feeding of animals. He, who became Food for the World, entered with silence, as though he had put his finger to the quivering mouth of a troubled, sobbing world and said…”ssshhhh…it is alright, I’ll keep you company…”

The Revelation of Christ as Messiah was nothing obvious. The Jews wanted a warrior. They got a Lamb.

So, I cannot hazard a guess as to this election, and whether our ultimate victory involves a loss or a win at the polls. Given the clear intent to fraud we’re seeing in some places, and the questionable finances and associations surrounding one campaign – all of which is unquestioned by the press and uninteresting to election regulators – I’m thinking we’re in the middle of a mystery, that this whole, odd, unpredictable and too-long election season has been run along one of those threads connecting things seen and unseen, and we are so disoriented today that we do not really know which outcome is the outcome pleasing to God, and meant – by Him – to draw us into Himself.

The Holy Spirit, of course, uses whatever He chooses, to bring things about. Who knows if we are meant to be shaken, soundly, in order to be roused from our complacency and the status quo?

The sense I have is that the status quo won’t do any longer. That we are stagnant, too deeply comfortable in too much of the muck and mud of materialism, and we’ve lost sight of what and who we are meant to cling to.

So, let us not worry. Let us not wring our hands. For the Christian, anyway, I believe we are in a moment where the rubber meets the road. How do you respond to that? With trust that no matter what things seem like, that “all things work for good and to the Glory of God” or with wringing hands, depression and doubt?

If you are doubting…if you are thinking that only electoral victory – as defined by the world – will be a validation of either the existence of God, or His Intent, then you need to hunker down into scripture and get out of your own head. Do you believe that Christ is the Son of God, or do you not? If you do, do you really think that this election is all there is, and that a loss here is somehow static, and works to nothing in God’s purpose?

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the heaven.

You either believe that, or you don’t.

“Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

You either believe it, or you don’t.

But if you’re calling yourself a Christian, and you’re not believing it, then question what you say you believe.

Yes, I am praying; yes I am fasting. I am not doing these things for a “victory.” I’m doing it because I am in training. I’m taking the long-view, and understanding that nothing ends or begins on November 5 that has not already ended and begun, because time is a construct.

Here’s Vespers for today If you are feeling anxious, I think the particular psalms and readings will be very helpful; they reinforce eternity and the illusion of time.

I’ve had several emails today reminding me that today is the feastday of the Holy Guardian Angels, and they’re taking this as a good sign for the debates tonight. If you’re looking for more consolation later on, here are the prayers before sleep for Thursday.

Just remember, Biden has a Guardian Angel, too, just like Palin. :-)

But you could ask your own GA for an assist to the Governor!

Deacon Greg – who, by the way left his post at CBS news after 26 years (talk about putting things in God’s hands and vacating the status quo!) to take a much less prestigious, and lower paying job with the Diocese of Brooklyn – has the perfect closing thought in his last few paragraphs! Go, read! And maybe whisper up a prayer for Greg, who is likely feeling a little disoriented, himself!