Several friends have asked to repost this bulletin from November 5th concerning the election of Barack Obama. If you would like to repost, feel free.
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I rarely make a public post, but after being flooded with HUNDREDS of posts about the doom and fear and panic and socialism and rising cost of pretzels, &c. that so many are feeling, I would like to add a voice to the mix. Hopefully you will find balance and reason in these remarks.
In 1906, Teddy Roosevelt gave a grand speech at the dedication of the House Office Building in Washington, DC. At least I think it was the House Office Building...something big, nevertheless.
Anyway, in that speech, Roosevelt called on the American people to temper their fury in political matters and look up toward a brighter tomorrow.
Here is an excerpt of what he said on that April day:
>>>In Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" you may recall the description of the Man with the Muck-rake, the man who could look no way but downward, with the muck-rake in his hand; who was offered a celestial crown for his muck-rake, but who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but continued to rake to himself the filth of the floor.
In "Pilgrim's Progress" the Man with the Muck-rake is set forth as the example of him whose vision is fixed on carnal instead of on spiritual things. Yet he also typifies the man who in this life consistently refuses to see aught that is lofty, and fixes his eyes with solemn intentness only on that which is vile and debasing. Now, it is very necessary that we should not flinch from seeing what is vile and debasing. There is filth on the floor and it must be scraped up with the muck-rake; and there are times and places where this service is the most needed of all the services that can be performed. But the man who never does anything else, who never thinks or speaks or writes, save of his feats with the muck-rake, speedily becomes, not a help to society, not an incitement to good, but one of the most potent forces for evil.
--Theodore Roosevelt
*! Cheers, applause, and general good will...!*
So, I join my voice with Roosevelt, John Bunyan, and others in asking everyone, particularly those who call on the name of the Lord, to PUT DOWN YOUR MUCK RAKE! We are at an exceptional moment in time, where the people who call on the name of the Lord can showcase His splendor and majesty, not so much by protesting the sewage, but by celebrating the splendor of His majesty, and taking hold of His promises of an eternal kingdom and life with Him!!!
Furthermore (if you are still reading this far down) I would like to take a moment to say, for the record, that I believe Barack Obama to be an honest man. And in so declaring, believe that I have the right to challenge his policy direction on the basis of substance and fact, rather than character. Until proven otherwise, president-elect Obama does not just deserve my prayer, but my respect as a fellow American, and my support. I look forward to praying for him and his family as our leader, and refuse to offer a begrudging, dishonest petition to the Lord as one who simply is fulfilling