Capital Prayer Alert -- 6/8/24

As you know, my wife, Carol, prepares a monthly prayer alert. I hope you will share Carol's thoughts with your friends and fellow worshipers. Thank you for taking an interest in her monthly devotion. -- Gary

If you are like me, the initial shock of Donald Trump being found guilty on all 34 counts after such a bizarre trial has now settled in. My emotions are swinging back and forth between anger and fear for the future of our country. What kind of country will we pass on to our children and grandchildren? Certainly not the country we inherited from our parents!

I truly feel that the afternoon of May 30, 2024, will be a marker in American history. We will remember life before that date with its limitless promise and expectation of equal justice, and we will remember how life changed after that date as we ponder the scary implications.

Will we need to weigh our every public word? Will we become suspicious of others we know who don't agree with our politics? Or will we only feel comfortable living in certain geographic locations with others who think like us? It feels like a line in the sand has been drawn, and not by our choice.

My generation remembers exactly where we were and how we felt when we heard that John F. Kennedy had been shot. We can recall the raw emotions, the questions, and the anger unleashed. How could such a thing happen in our country?

The shock was magnified when the suspected assassin was himself gunned down on live TV two days later. When that happened, I was in the family car, having just left a somber church service. My family was dumbfounded. My siblings and I peppered my parents with questions to which they had no answers. What was happening to our country? Silence engulfed the car because there were no explanations.

Frankly, that same sense of raw emotion and disbelief swept over me as I heard the verdict, followed by the cheers from New Yorkers on the street. This, too, felt like a line in the sand. It was predictable how Trump’s supporters would react. No less predictable is how his political opponents reacted. Yet, their joy and vindictiveness at using the judicial system to try to silence him surprised even me.

But what of the rest of the country? The great unknown is how this earth-shattering news would impact those who don’t vote often, those who like to stay above the political fray, or those who see politics as a grubby business having little impact on their daily lives and not worth their time or attention.

The verdict seemed to galvanize large swaths of the electorate, who immediately recognized the historic nature of that day. With a few notable exceptions, diehard Trump supporters and many who had not resolved to vote for him before that moment understood the gravity of the judicial system being used as a bludgeon to silence political opponents.

Will this movement continue to consolidate? Is this a short-term reaction based on a single news cycle? Or has the majority of the American public had the scales removed from their eyes as they see for the first time the devastating impact of unleashed and unchecked political power?

Join me in praying for the future of the United States. Our nation is in uncharted territory with two very different paths ahead. Go to Him and find both peace and comfort in the arms of the Almighty.

But, while resting in His presence, seek His strength, too. Thank Him for the opportunity you have to live in consequential times. Ask Him to refine you with insights, opportunities, and winsomeness to make a difference in divided times.

Take heart in the stories of everyday men and women in our country’s past who rose to the occasion the times demanded of them.

Hold your children and grandchildren close and remind yourself that it is their future which will be defined by these days. Pray that they would not look back on this decade and find our country wanting for everyday patriots.