Follow Your Heart

Yesterday afternoon Sonny & I went downtown to the campus of Wayne State University.  What a cool campus right in the heart of downtown Detroit.  The campus was a buzz.  Students were bustling here & there & everywhere, still fresh from a long summer off.  It brought me back to my days as an undergrad, when I was still inquisitive & impressionable.  You may remember those days yourself, you know, before you figured life out & before you knew everything there is to be known.  I harkened back to the times in my life when I still explored the decisions I made & was educated about my opinion.  When my thoughts & opinions were my thoughts & opinions, not simply what people or society at large told me they were supposed to be.  It is those thoughts that bring me to the reason for my visit to Wayne State. 

Sonny & I ventured downtown to attend a political rally.  We went down to hear Senator Joe Biden & Senator Barak Obama.  Let the collective gasps of all Christians be heard around the world!  I am still not sure how I feel about Obama as our President, but one thing I can say is I really like the theme of his campaign.  Change!  Simple & to the point.  We need Change.  I think everyone can agree with that.  We do not need our country nor our personal lives in particular to remain the same.  As long as the economy is in the state that it is in - we need change.  As long as there are children going hungry in America - we need change.  As long as there are millions of people living in America without any type of health care - we need change.  As long as we are spending more money on war than we are on educating our own children - we need change.  I am not content with the life of our nation the way that it is & I want to see change!  I don't want to simply see minor change either - I want to see major change!  Is Barak Obama the agent of change or is he just the candidate of change?  Is he going to provide change or just propose change?  I guess time will tell.  What is disheartening to me though is that it is frowned upon that I would attend an Obama rally.  I would be willing to wager that Sonny & I were the only white, evangelical Pastors at that rally, & to me that is sad.  It goes back to what I talked about in the beginning of this blog - why should I let you, or anyone else, tell me what I should think?  I am not going to vote for John McCain simply because he is white & Republican.  I am not going to vote for John McCain simply because he chose a Christian, former Assembly of God running mate.  A friend of mine worded it very well yesterday when he said he is not going to hire an evangelical to fix the plumbing in his home unless they are a plumber.  Likewise I am not going to hire someone for the job of President of the United States of America based solely on the fact that they attend or have attended the same type of church I do.  I don't want to cast my vote - the only vote I have - for anyone or anything that does not align with the heart of who I am as a human being.

I am not trying to tell you that I think you should vote for Obama, but I am telling you that you need to follow your heart.  Follow YOUR heart - not the heart of someone else.  Watch the Presidential & Vice-Presidential debates, go to Political Rallies - for both Barak Obama & John McCain.  Listen to what they both have to say & process it through your filter.  Examine the facts - read everything - process how the information makes you feel - but most importantly pray!  Pray without ceasing!  Please, whatever you do, don't just vote along a party line.  Vote for what YOU think is right.  Use the mind that God has given you to make wise & educated decisions, particularly on November 4th.  When you go to the polls vote for YOUR candidate & nobody else's.  Follow your heart!  

Peace & Love;

Shawn