Friday, September 25, 2020
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Carol Bauer
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
The country has wrestled with so much these past several months. The coronavirus pandemic. The initial national lockdown. The phased openings or continued lockdowns in some states. The economic and jobs fallout. School shutdowns. Protests that morphed into destructive riots. Wildfires and hurricanes. The contentious presidential campaign, which went into high gear right after Labor Day.
It just didn't seem that anything else could happen to roil the body politic even further. The country's temperature is high and collegiality seems like a quaint word from a bygone era. When you throw "cancel culture" into the mix, where people and their views are shut down without a discussion, it just didn't seem that the political landscape could become any more unsettled. And yet, less than a week ago, the stakes rose even higher.
The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was both shocking and expected. At 87, she had fought and beaten four kinds of cancer in the last two decades. She seemed to be a force of nature -- small in stature and soft spoken, yet fierce in defending her views.
Having overcome health odds so many times before, her death took Washington by surprise. Now, there is a vacancy on the deeply divided Supreme Court less than six weeks before the election.
It is the constitutional duty of the president to nominate Supreme Court justices, and the duty of the U.S. Senate to confirm or reject the president's nominee. Since both the president and the U.S. Senate are currently held by the same party, tradition holds that it is appropriate for the president and the Senate to fulfill their constitutional duties and move forward with dispatch.
Otherwise, the current Supreme Court comprised of eight members could easily lead to 4-to-4 tie votes. The new term begins on October 5th, less than two weeks from now.
For a country that has been troubled by so many unexpected events, here is yet another battle on the horizon. Think about the heated news cycle during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings two years ago, and imagine that being layered on top of the national psyche during a presidential election season framed by all the other events this year.
It is downright mind-boggling, intense and exhausting all at once. As a nation we need to go to the Lord in prayer.
Heavenly Father, we seek refuge in You, the God of All Comfort. When the world around us is troubled and unsettled, You are our source of strength and calm. We seek shelter under Your wings for protection from the storms of life. We come to You in humility, acknowledging we do not have all the answers.
Give us strength for the road ahead. Help us to not feel overwhelmed by the troubled times in which we live. Remind us of the fullness and peace we find in Your presence. As we come to You, pour into us a newfound dependence on You, Your word and the knowledge that You have laid out the path before us and will equip us to follow that path in confidence.
Dear God, make your presence and peace known to those who will be in the spotlight in the coming days. Give wisdom to the president so that he would choose wisely. Give strength to the Supreme Court nominee to withstand the onslaught of personal attacks. We pray that the nominee would be judged fairly.
Still the shrill voices of personal, underhanded and deceitful attacks unworthy of the process. We pray that the process would be steered toward appropriate evaluation of decisions, judicial temperament and respect for the Constitution. Lord, save us from a circus-like atmosphere. And dear God, may You pour out Your peace and strength to the family and friends of the nominee who will be thrust into the spotlight they did not seek.
The election of a president, vice-president, U.S. Senate and House of Representatives is underway, with several states having already begun early voting. This year the process is complicated by changes in election procedures ostensibly due to the coronavirus.
What began as an effort to make the process more accessible to those hesitant to vote in person has morphed into a relaxing of standards on mail-in voting that threatens to overwhelm the system both in sheer numbers and in a lack of cross checking to make sure qualified, registered voters are who they say they are and that their one vote is properly counted.
Churches should encourage attendees to register and then vote based on biblical principles. Churches can provide information on registration requirements, deadlines, early voting, Election Day voting hours, etc. Request that your church leadership offer such encouragement to participate by offering voter information tables, bulletin notices and mentions during announcements.
We are blessed to live in a country founded on religious freedom and freedom of speech. As Christian citizens we are called to participate in the opportunities we have to mold the future freedoms of our country.
Ask our Heavenly Father to lead you to what you can do to encourage the 15 million Christians in the United States who are not registered to vote. Ask Him to open your eyes to those around you who are men and women of faith but who are not vested in the voting process.
Pray that He would give you the words to talk to these individuals and encourage them by seeing the need to be involved in electing leaders who will chart a path that continues to ensure our freedom to worship. Pray for personal leadership and humility as you seek to explain to others their role as Christian citizens in a country where hostility to men and women of faith is growing.
As Gary and I join Rev. Franklin Graham at the Washington Prayer March on Saturday, September 26th, we encourage you to join us in prayer for our country. The March will be from noon to 2:00 along the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol, with stops along the way to pray for our country.
If you live in the Washington area, please join us in person. If not, join us in a national prayer effort for our country from a distance.
Thank you for your faithfulness!
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