As a Deacon at my church I have had the privilege to be involved with a limited assisted retirement center in my town. I teach a Bible study class on Monday nights, and on Sunday afternoons I give a sermon in their activities room. I have been having probably 20% of the residents come to hear my studies and sermons in the last 3 years. I also offer one on one counseling when needed. I guess you can say I have gotten to know more then a few of the residents at WindChime.
In the three years since I have been serving the Lord there, I have heard many different opinions when it comes to the political leanings of the residents. I would be lying if I failed to admit my consternation with some of them, as to their political leanings.
I am proud to say that probably 70% of the ladies I deal with are, like me, loyal conservative republicans. Of the other 30%, I would guess they are democrats with a few independents, and one or two who do not vote and probably never have.
To make my point for which I am writing this, and I do have a point, I will deal specifically with the ladies who lean democrat and independent.
I have often seen the way their eyes light up when Hillary Clinton’s name is mentioned. I have also noticed how they would avert their eyes, and lower their head just slightly, whenever I would compare modern day politicians like Hillary to bad behavior in the Bible. It was almost the same reaction I would get when I mentioned either George Bush or John McCain’s name.
In the past year I have overheard quite a few conversations about the elections. They were noticeably energetic with a certain twinkle in their eyes when Hillary was expected to be the democrat nominee earlier in the year. Then when it looked like she was in a fight for it with Obama, they spoke less and less about the process.
When it became inevitable that Obama would be the democrat nominee for President, they began speaking about the process again. This time however, I started hearing them talk of not wanting to vote for the first time in their lives.
Then one Monday evening before our Bible Study started, I had an interesting talk with one lady I knew to be a Hillary supporter. She looked at me and asked,
“Do you think Obama will pick Hillary as his running mate?”
I thought about the best way to answer her question, then I put my hand on hers, and as soothingly as I could, I told her,
“I do not believe Hillary would accept it in my opinion. I think Hillary and Bill want to be in control again.”
Then she said something that totally caught me off guard. She smiled and said,
“Good, I don’t want him as president. So if he does not pick her, I do not have to vote for him.”
I smiled and shook my head slightly and decided to leave it at that. A couple of days later is when we found out that he chose Biden as his running mate. I have not heard anything more from her since that day, at least about politics.
When the news broke that McCain had picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, I for one was instantly charged and ready to donate money to his election for the first time. I was particularly curious as to what the reaction amongst the ladies would be.
That following Sunday while I was getting the activity room ready for my message, and the ladies started trickling in, I asked what they all thought about Sarah Palin. The conservative women all chimed in about how charming and beautiful she was, and everyone one of them liked McCain’s pick. It even seemed to me that they had an extra bounce in their step.
As the discussion of Sarah continued, I looked around the room and noticed that even the ladies who liked Hillary were a little more spirited then usual. Most the of the ladies I deal with at WindChime, including most of the republican women, were not all that enamored with John McCain just a week earlier, but now they liked him.
The woman who asked me if Obama would pick Hillary as his VP also seemed a bit spirited, with a certain twinkle in her eyes again. That same twinkle I had seen earlier in the year, when she believed Hillary was guaranteed the nomination.
As I said, my calling is to win their soul for Christ and usher them on home to God when He calls them. However, I must admit that when it is appropriate, and in line with the Scriptures I am speaking on, I slip and share with them my opinions on politics. As I gave my message that afternoon, I was especially lax in my separation of church and state business.
Now I admit that this is all antidotal evidence, but if you understand the way the democrats expect to get 90% of the retirement age vote, you can sense big troubles for Obama this November.
As long as I am allowed to share the truth with them, I will share the truth on everything I feel is pertinent to their well being. In my opinion, the less power the democrats have the less chance these women will be taken for granted.
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