Election Reflections

It's been extremely difficult for me to concentrate on school work these past few days. I've been on the edge of my seat, mesmerized by the most important election in our lifetime. For example, this morning, I got up at 8am (despite not going to bed until 2am) and had high aspirations for getting some good studying done. In actuality, I have watched a few morning shows and scoured the internet in pursuit of the different reactions of Americans across the country as we woke up this morning to a new President-elect. Barack Obama! I must confess, I had tears in my eyes as I watched his speech last night.

A few interesting facts I learned this morning; despite the majority of the country going "blue" in this election, the state of Tennessee actually voted even more "red" than it did in 2004. Here's a local newstory about the phenomenon - wbir.com. I think Erik and I have definitely felt that we were in the minority here, especially in East Tennessee, but when you look at that electoral map, county by county, it's pretty astonishing to see how little blue there is. I guess I didn't realize it, because there were pockets of Obama supporters, especially in the urban areas. So, what caused our state to become even more polarized from the rest of the country? Perhaps many people felt that voting was a lost cause, as Tennessee had been considered a lock for McCain from the beginning. The voter turnout, state-wide, was down by about 125,000 this year. Who knows. The important thing is that our country as a whole is moving on toward better days.

Regardless of how you voted, I think we can all be proud of the fact that we have elected an African American into the highest office in our country. I spent some time in prayer this morning for Mr. Obama as he takes on the challenge of a lifetime. I am going to commit to continue praying for our leaders (something I never have really done). I will continue praying that God will become more real to those who don't know Him, and that our country will come together for a more peaceful and united United States of America. Even more specifically, here is a GREAT pledge of prayer and accountability from Sojourners.