So here we are with another 5-Minute Friday. Maybe the most important one I’ll ever pen. I can’t say for sure, because it hasn’t been created yet, but read on and then you tell me 🙂
The word this week —
Other than the word, COVID, I believe it’s the second most popular word in our vocabulary in 2020 — VOTE, do you agree? So, will you? Have you? and what will you do?
Word is out that this is the most important election of our lifetime. As I listen to TV and catch a conversation here and there, I agree. But what do you base your decision on? What is the tipping point for you to go one way or the other?
My husband has said forever, “You must research the platform.” Being a writer, I’ve heard that word quite a bit. “You need a platform to get noticed!” “You need a platform for a publisher to trust that you will sell enough books,” and on and on the word whirls in our society today.
But how does it apply to the most important decision we must make. Well, let us see what Mr. Webster has to say….
plat·form | \ ˈplat-ˌfȯrm \ Definition of platform 1: PLAN, DESIGN 2: a declaration of the principles on which a group of persons standsespecially : a declaration of principles and policies adopted by a political party or a candidate
So, as it is with writing, to create my platform, I must ask myself, “What do I stand for? What are my principles?” Once I can answer those questions, I can share through social media who I am and begin to build an audience of followers who think and believe as I.
When we slip on over to VOTING, we must search out the same questions for each candidate. What do they stand for? Will they make my life and the life of my children and grandchildren the same as I was able to experience, or will their lives be one I cannot dare to imagine?
Will my children/grandchildren ever know the truth behind the red, the white, and the blue?
Will they know about the men who died to enable them to be free?
Or even know who their first president of the United States was? Or will there even still be a United States?
Oh, so many questions to ask yourself just to participate in this simple gesture called VOTING.
And, just maybe the final question is, will they be able to recite the pledge of allegiance as we did? Hand over heart, looking at our beautiful flag and closing it out with the phrase, “One Nation UNDER GOD?”
I don’t know. And, like you, I do not have all the answers. But, the one thing I do know before I VOTE, I really need to visit BOTH sides.
I need to have a thorough understanding of what each one believes and stands for.
For my publisher to present me with a contract with my upcoming book, Walking In A Minefield, they needed to search me out. I had to present a book proposal with pages of information sharing why I would be a good fit for their company.
Since they were a Christian publisher and my book contained Christian material, that wasn’t the only deciding factor. So they dug deep to see who I was and only then said, “We’d like to present you with a contract to publish your manuscript.”
Same as it is with voting. We must dig deep. Who is this person that will sit in the oval office for the next four years and represent us?
Do they believe the same as you? Do they uphold your beliefs that you learned a a child?
And, not only as a child but what you believe today. Don’t be shallow. And as my husband once again says, “Do not look at the person, look at the platform.”
Interestingly, growing up Catholic most of my life, I’ve never heard politics in the pulpit. I can never recall a priest talking about a candidate or directing us how to vote — until NOW. So, you can see why I was shocked when someone sent me this video of a homily from this Catholic priest. After you listen to it, you might think to like others, THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF OUR LIFETIME… WHAT WILL YOU DO?
Sincerely yours,
Pen 4 The Lord 
If I could have a time machine,
and direct it where to go,
there is just one future scene
I’d have to visit; then I’d know
if this grand experiment
of which we’re honoured to be part
stayed the course, or came and went,
like a forgotten broken heart.
Just one thing I’d have to see
that would tell the final score
of won and lost in history,
and that would be the carved Rushmore.
Like Bamiyan’s Buddhas, have they perished,
or are the faces kept and cherished?
The Bamiyan Budhas were two huge statues of Gautama Buddha in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan, that were blown up by the Taliban in 2001. They may yet be rebuilt by UNESCO; in the meantime, one can see replicas in ri Lanka, India, and, unexpectedly, Poland.
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What hit me the hardest was, ”Will our kids be able to recite the pledge of allegiance as we did?”
Secondly, what do I stand for and what are my principles? As the Priest in the video iterated, there are certain teachings/beliefs that are non-negotiable in our Christian values. The platform that outweighs all others is the sanctity of life.
Vote, we must.
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yep… principles is the word.. Thank you Marty…
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I enjoyed your style and to the point writing. I learned more about why we need a platform and why we need to study others. Especially now.
Thank your for the reminder to dig deeper.
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Thank you so much.. be blessed~
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