Jackson Jambalaya

 Over the past 3 to 4 years many of my Christian friends have summarized our conversations saying, “Come, Lord Jesus!” Some might see that as a sign of hope, while others, particularly secular friends would see that as a sign of hopelessness. Frankly, I see it as a sincerely hopeful sign. Maranatha!

Last week’s election was the latest political news that just keeps on giving grief. Who won what? How long will it take this time to count the votes? Why would states send a ballot to every voter in the state, but require nothing more than a signature to validate a vote? In about half of the states voters can drop their ballots into unmanned drop boxes, or ask someone else to drop off their ballot. Some refer to this method of voting as ballot harvesting. What could go wrong with that?

What’s the difference between a ballot and a vote? Evidently in this year’s midterm elections ballots favored Democrats and votes favored Republicans. In Pennsylvania’s senate race for example, Republican candidate Oz drew 500,000 more voters to the polls on election day than Democratic candidate Fetterman. Nevertheless, more than 868,000 voters sent their ballots by mail for Fetterman, while Oz’s mail-in numbers were one-fourth of that. 

In the November 12 edition of Coffee & Covid, Jeff Childers wrote, “It’s obviously not about total votes. Republicans got six million more votes nationally than democrats. Republicans were more organized than we’ve ever been. We were more motivated than we’ve ever been. Everybody, even democrats, expected a much larger red wave.”

Perhaps the biggest factor affecting the election was not how MANY voted, but HOW people voted. The COVID-19 pandemic and panic in 2020 led at least 28 states to change their voting rules to allow more people to vote by mail in that year’s elections. The group Nonprofit Vote said, “For the first time ever, more people voted early with a mail ballot or in-person than filled out a ballot at the polls on Election Day.”

Election results for both sides have been a big purple fizzle. With President Biden in the White House, Democrats holding the Senate, and Republicans scratching out a small majority in the House, Americans can expect more of the same for the next two years. Biden said he wasn’t going to change anything because what he’s been doing is working. Sixty-five percent of likely voters say the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction. 

Inflation is likely to remain high putting increasing pressure on household budgets. Americans are already tired of higher gas and grocery bills, and U.S. economic news looks like stagnation. We’re still as divided as ever over social issues. Illegal immigration across our southern border looks like it will be a mainstay, and those numbers will fuel rising crime rates.

Are there any bright spots for America? Christians will always see bright spots because we have always trusted the Lord more than the government or politicians. We are very likely to see another huge government-created-and-declared emergency like the pandemic in the next two years. Politicians were delighted with the power they gave themselves over the people. And, the people demonstrated we’d rather be safe during government emergencies than exercise our personal freedoms and rights. Even so, come Lord Jesus!