News and Views October 19, 2015

Well, it’s finally here!  It seemed like it was a neverendum referendum but it was actually an election campaign—albeit the longest in modern Canadian history.  I will not talk about who you should vote for—this is not the forum for that.  However I will suggest strongly that you do vote—exercise your civic responsibility and duty to vote today if you haven’t already.  It is a true privilege to live in a country where we can vote and in which our vote will count—despite the imperfections of the first-past-the post system.  Canada was not founded through armed revolution like our good neighbours to the south and we can be assured that the voting will be done according to the rules, now that robocall scandal has been dealt with.   We can also be assured that the results of the election will be respected by our elected and appointed officials. So vote as if our future depended on it—because it does.  The greatest threat to our democracy is the indifference and apathy of the electorate who can’t be bothered to vote.

On the subject of the elected, we Christians do have a special concern regarding election.  We are the elect.  However, don’t let is go to your head.  To be the elect in this sense means to be chosen by Christ.  That may mean we are special but more to the point it means that we have a special responsibility to put God’s will ahead of other things especially our will.  We are called to put aside our selfish and egotistical desires and make a special effort to truly discern God’s will which can indeed be a challenge.  We often mistakenly conflate our will with God’s will.  We need to turn to Jesus Christ as the ultimate authority on God’s will and follow his great commandment to love one another as he loves us and to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.    I delve into this in my sermon from yesterday which is posted separately.  I hope you will find it thought provoking but before delving into it get a out and vote if you haven’t already.  Peace,
Greg