Last Week (the world was watching as the U.S. was voting)

Tanzania is pretty far away from the United States.

Still, Tanzania was holding her breath last week as the U.S. went into elections.

I was by myself in our bedroom when the electoral count on the BBC website jumped from 207 to 297. I was pulling my jeans on and calling out to my empty house, "Hey! Doesn't that mean he won? Doesn't that mean he won?"

Yes, that meant that Barack Obama had won. So I jumped into the car and drove through our early morning traffic to a gathering point in town where I could hear his acceptance speech live. (And I would have jumped into my car to hear McCain's speech as well, lest you wonder.)

There were over 100 expats in the restaurant and we were certainly not all Americans. There were Dutch and English and French and Australian and Greeks and Canadians with Tanzanians and I don't know who all.

I'm sure I've mentioned that I have lived basically my entire adult life outside of the United States. Can I tell you that I have never experienced a scene where so many non-Americans were genuinely excited for and happy about the U.S. ?

I know that many people inside the States say, "We don't care what the rest of the world thinks. This is not about them."

Yes, some Americans do truly believe that this is not anyone else's concern.

I'm not saying that we have to agree with the conclusion the rest of the world came to early on in these elections about who they would like to see in the White House. But to think that what happens in our politics doesn't concern them is just kind of naive, really.

As a citizen who loves her nation--the most powerful nation on the planet, the less than 5% of the world's population that controls 20% of the world's wealth and consumes 25% of her resources, the country that wields power and influence on every continent--all I can say to those who want to hold to the line that this is only about the U.S. is... "I beg to differ."

May we use our influence and resources well.

Questions as We Approach Elections

Is it ok to kill babies if they aren't wanted?

I don't really think so.

But that's not the only question I have as I consider the up-coming elections.

I don’t know but... Do you that think that slashing forests and mutilating mountains and killing oceans is ok with the one who carefully created them?

I sometimes wonder if unilateral decisions to go to war might possibly feel to the Prince of Peace a little like rebellion?

And when we keep our neighbors in inner cities trapped in cycles of under privilege and lack of hope, does this feel to the Father of the Fatherless like an overt ignoring of Biblical mandates, not to mention a brazenly revealing flash of hearts of stone?

Personally, I’m against abortion. I’m particularly appalled by partial birth abortion, which is just a tidy term for “Kill the baby as she comes out but before we look into her face.”

Yet to say I will kill other people’s mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and other people’s babies with the bombs I drop, or to agree to knowingly ravage Creation to support my lifestyle, or to leave my neighbors in drastic want-- this doesn’t actually strike me as a more righteous stand.

To pillage the earth, ignore the poor and willingly go into war are issues that, along with the killing of unborn babies, I have to take very, very seriously. I just cannot pretend that this is a one issue election.

Maybe I’m mistaken. Maybe these issues don't all need equally careful consideration. I don’t pretend to have a brilliant mind.

I would, however, aspire to have a brilliant heart.

Responding to Kenya

As you know, at least 850 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in the weeks since the disputed election results were announced in Kenya.

Please check our Wild Hope Stories BLOG to hear about how you can respond in an intimate and significant way to one extended Kenyan family whose lives have been shattered by the unrest.

Kenya in Crisis

I haven't commented on the crisis situation that has been unfolding in our neighboring country, Kenya. Since the widely disputed elections results were announced on Sunday, there has been terrible violence throughout the land. You can read about the sad events on the BBC news site.

I guess I just want to say that after having lived there for so many years, we, obviously, have many dear friends in Kenya and we are deeply saddened by all that is going on. Please join us in prayers for peace in this country, once a model of stability in Africa.