Strange sorrow
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 124:8 Alli and I were talking last night, and somehow the conversation turned to the US election. The results were just starting to come in at this point and it was still anyone's game. Alli wondered who I thought would win. "Well I hope John McCain wins, but I think probably Barack Obama will." "Why do you want McCain to win?" She's heard the media disdain for McCain and Palin, I and know she was wondering why her mom wanted "that guy" to win. I had to wrestle with how much I should tell my daughter. She is 15, but she is still very much an innocent. She barely understands the Canadian political process, let alone the intricacies of US politics. I wasn't in a position to explain to her the ins and outs of Obama's policies – frankly, I don't know them. I only really know his record on abortion. That's all I have to know. Alli knows about the reality of abortion, of course, but in an abstract, sterile kind of way. At 15, does she really need to know that every year over a million babies in the United States are aborted, and that Obama favours putting as few limits as possible on the slaughter? Did I really want to discuss with her horrors of partial birth abortion, and that Barack Obama voted against banning this barbaric procedure? I didn't want to explain to her that sometimes babies survive abortions and that Obama helped block a bill that was designed solely to protect the life of infants already born, and outside the womb, who had miraculously survived the attempt to kill them during an abortion. No, I really didn't want to have to burden my daughter with this awful knowledge. But. I do want my daughter to think critically about these matters and not just accept at face value what the media, her peers and her teachers may be telling her. I want her to use discernment, and hold the matter up to the light of Scripture and test it for its truthfulness. So even though in my heart I wished I could protect her for just a little longer, I talked to her about the holocaust of abortion that is occurring – in the United States, and in our own country – and the political landscape that allows it to continue. And we wept together, and prayed together: for the lost lives, for our countries, and for ourselves. Today I am grieving. By the time I went to bed last night, I was pretty sure that Obama would be president, but I still prayed for a miracle. In the morning when I saw the news, I burst into tears. It seems strange that I should be so grieved at the outcome of an election in a country that is not my own. (We elected our own national leader just three short weeks ago, but it barely made a blip on my radar…though to be fair, the outcome of the election was to keep the status quo – we re-elected the Conservatives to another term.) I guess I just thought that the tides were turning and that maybe the end of the atrocity of abortion was in sight. I saw in McCain and Palin a real possibility of dismantling the abortion industry. Many times, what happens in the US trickles down (or up, as the case may be) into Canada. And I got my hopes up. This is a lesson, it seems, that I am destined to learn over and over again: When you put your trust in that which you should only be trusting in the Lord for, you will inevitably be disappointed. Our help is not found in any man, or political process, or legislation. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
6 comments:
Amen, and Amen.
I don't know that I had ever explained abortion to my girls before this campaign. It was amazing to me how when I first explained it in very simple terms ("It's when a doctor kills a baby that's inside its mommy's tummy.") how naturally horrified and sickened they were by it. But then, I didn't clean it up and use words like "terminate" and "fetus" either.
*heavy sigh*
So many things about which to have a heavy heart in this election.
But God is good and on His throne and for that I will rejoice!
much love, Miss 'Nita!
It's really sad the things children end up having to know about before they're ready.
It saddens me that our country is more or less the leader of the world and make decisions that even the heathens know is wrong! It's no wonder many look down on us. I couldn't help thinking about Sodom and Gomorrah and praying that we have enough righteous people left in this country to keep God from totally destroying us. I do believe God is going to let the people have what they want until they can't stand it anymore.
Those of us who are disappointed by the results of the vote, appreciate the prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ in other countries. Thank you Anita! Keep looking up! :)
I agree with Sharon, thank you so much for your prayers for our country. I cried too when the world was rejoicing over Obamas win. Come on over to my blog for prayer if you'd like.
The Boss knows what abortion is. The first time we talked about it he was so crestfallen that any woman would do that to her baby.
I think I'm glad to be overseas for a few more years. ;)
I know what you are talking about in a very small way as Flicka is starting to ask some very grown up type questions. How much to tell is something I'll obviously be struggling with for many years to come.
Thank you so much for your concern for the U.S. and your prayers. I am saddened by the turn our country has taken. I live in California and the amendment to the California constitution to have marriage be only between a man & a woman narrowly passed. I am very thankful to God for this victory, but I am sickened by the protest marches against Proposition 8 being passed. I do not know what is ahead for our country, but I know my Lord will lead me through whatever may come.
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