First pray a lot, then cast your vote, and pray again for our leaders

Every time I go to service at

St. Mark, Pastor Oberle asks us to pray for our leaders. These days our current and potential leaders are on everybody’s minds. Through numerous and unusual portals, Oberle’s weekly prayer request is ringing much louder to me. And, I hope it is ringing just as loudly for others.

It’s not a far jump to believe that if we pray for all our leaders we should pray about the votes we cast to get them there. Without our precious votes, some candidates won’t be doing any sort of leading. In our role as citizens, voting has to be one of the top five most important obligations; it’s no time for lukewarm thoughts.

I’m wondering, though, if there is a spiritual price to pay for either voting or letting Election Day pass you buy. At this point, our current elections are inescapable: TV ads, the internet, lawn signs and even face masks are all canvassing for our votes. There is so much yelling fromthe TV to the kitchen table that the option of sleeping through Nov. 3 actually sounds enticing.

But wouldn’t it be hard to pray for our leaders if you didn’t participate in choosing those leaders?

And during that quiet time, we might want to offer a prayer for the countless people who gave us this November decision. Recently, I was watching a women’s suffragemovement documentary on PBS. During that seven-decade fight, a woman named Anne was protesting in Washington, D.C. A group of women were pacing on the streets with signs requesting that women get the vote. That’s all they were doing. The women were arrested and tossed in jail. The police clamped Anne’s wrists in handcuffs raised above her head and attached to the jail bars. She remained in that position until the next morning, when the police released her. I can’t imagine how her body throbbed that night and the following days.

I desperately hope that Anne felt God that agonizing night, that she felt fueled by Himto make it to the morning and continue the fight of fuller citizenship for all. I seriously doubt that we can comprehend the immeasurable frustration of women not allowed to vote, nor the tenacity it took to get that right. But what we can do is call upon our spiritual selves, and trust that these warriors can feel our prayers of gratitude.

And when we are done thanking them, we can start praying over our ballots, truly activating our citizenship. God is proud of us when we take steps to strengthen our neighborhoods, by supporting each other, especially during the days of online school, and yes, voting.

Being an energetic citizen is one more way to strengthen our relationship with God, and we must always be strengthening that precious connection. So this voting season, as in the new term, pray for every name on that ballot. Come election night, whatever the results, a fulfilling moment awaits you for realizing your civic and spiritual duties.

Pray. Vote. Pray.