A Time to Heal

Ecclesiastes chapter three begins, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven...." and for many of us there is great relief that the 2008 election is all but over; give or take a few thousand votes to be counted around the country. Even as a majority of Americans clearly backed Barack Obama, there are many others who did not. So, for all of us who call on the name of Christ, no matter which candidate we supported, today begins a time of healing.

For those of you who supported John McCain, my prayer is that you will embrace the central message of his campaign with a twist. I hope that you will not only be able to put "Country First", but as a follower of Christ, that you will be able to put your Lord and Savior into the midst of your relationships with those whom you disagree politically. For that is how the Body of Christ is healed and made one, and as Christians who live in America, once we heal our relationships with our siblings in Christ, then healing the country will be so much easier.

For those of you who supported Barack Obama, my prayer is that you will embrace the sober mood of his acceptance speech last night. All too often the temptation of victory is to gloat and to walk around with an "I told you so" attitude, but again for those of us who call on the name of Christ, such boasting is out of line. I hope that you will be able to put your Lord and Savior into the midst of your relationships with those whom you disagree politically as well, and take a moment to love your neighbor as you would want to be loved if you were in their shoes.

For all of us, this day after the election perhaps another Scripture passage that we should consider is Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Let us all seek to have a heart cleansed from partisanship and brought together as Christians first and Americans at a close second. Let us also seek a right spirit of building up the Body of Christ first, so that we are more prepared for the challenges and opportunities to reconcile with our family, friends, and sibilings in Christ with whom we disagree.