How Do You Vote?

By Bob Satterwhite

First Church of Christ Scientist

July, 2004

Personal voting has been the foundation platform for representative decision making since the beginning of democratic government. However it doesn’t necessarily result in the best leaders or the best form of government. The basic assumption is that in a democratic election those voting have a clear idea of what they are voting for, but unfortunately in our modern society there is less and less an opportunity to know what are the hidden agendas behind the issues. Many of us therefore vote with very little real knowledge of the consequences of the choices we are making. We obviously should do everything we humanly can to be well informed and conscientious, but the bottom line is that we have only one vote in any given election. The real question is how to make that vote count, and insure that the results of the election will be of benefit to all who will be affected by it!

How about turning to prayer to insure a clearer look at the issues! There is no way we can humanly know what is the best solution under every situation, but divine Mind does know, and we can rely on and trust God’s guidance to guide and protect our vote, as well as the process of gathering and understanding the sources of information that will be the most benefit to us in our decision making. We also need to protect our thoughts from the emotionalism that tries to influence us at these critical times. Although it doesn’t necessarily mean that we will have an inside track on the “only right answers,” it does give us the open-mindedness that helps us be a part of the solution to good government. A renowned spiritual leader and author, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote in her primary work, A “Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures,” “What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds.” Do we have the, “patience, meekness, and love,” to really listen to the issues, to search our understanding of human character to detect sincerity, purpose, and honesty in the candidates? With this kind of thinking we can with confidence listen to and be guided by our own inner consciousness of what is the most right under the circumstances. Our continuing job is then to protect our vote with earnest supporting prayers that will guide and influence those elected to do the best job possible. Obviously this doesn’t guarantee that they will always do what we might feel they should, for we are still dealing with human situations, and human emotions, but our sincere prayerful support will help spiritualize the atmosphere and insure the best possible solutions.

We do have a lot more control over the election outcomes than we realize, but we’ll have to expand out thought about the process of voting, and realize that we can vote every time we think positive and healing thoughts about the issues and candidates. We have a divine right to enjoy honest, progressive, and fair government. Let’s claim it today!