Today feels very urgent and important. Those of us who qualify to vote will play our part in a democratic process that has evolved over the years. Even if we choose not to exercise the right to vote we are still doing something democratic.
Dartmoor’s ancient settlement of Grimspound dates from the Bronze Age which aligns with the Old Testament characters Moses, Joshua, and the Judges. Grimspound dates from the end of that age as the transition to the Iron Age was in the offing; however the settlement is seen, the stone circles and remains of habitation on the moor are extremely old.
Wind the clock forward to 5,500 AD and what may the landscape look like then? And the politics of the world; how will our successors be ordering their life, assuming that is, everything else is equal which is impossible to predict but seems unlikely? Readers who are familiar with the Old Testament will know the importance of the period I am referring to. A time of political challenge, as well as a period in the development of God’s people which is enshrined in the foundations of our faith and those of the other Abrahamic faiths.
Will what we do today be significant in 3.500 years’ time?
A Prayer
God of the past and those who came before us, we thank you for our heritage, for hard won democratic freedoms and for the way you have loved and blessed those who put their faith in you throughout the long years. Give us courage when the future daunts us and the grace to trust your guidance. Today, may we be blessed with the gift of discernment to play our part in a process which fails without our input, to vote as our conscience dictates and not to be coerced by the strong views of strident voices all around. Grant us to know that nothing we do under your guidance is insignificant. We make our prayer for the sake of your Son whose life was judged by politicians, whose death was caused by mob hysteria and whose resurrection secured our independence. Amen.