We have probably all heard the word “woke” by now. It is defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary as being “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues, especially issues of racial and social injustices.” It is a relatively new slang term that has gained momentum during recent months. It represents the idea of being awakened to something that is not necessarily a new concept, but one that has not received enough attention. There have been other phrases which have addressed a similar idea of suddenly becoming aware of something that had gone unnoticed. Phrases like “Wake up and smell the coffee!” and “Hello!!” (with a sarcastic tone) have been around for awhile. The word “woke” captures a lot of meaning in a single word. It is usually said with a sense of confidence and superiority.
Both “woke” and “awake” carry the implication that what has come to our immediate attention is something that has been there awhile but we were not consciously aware of it. It seems often that “woke” has a prideful ring, while “awakened” feels more humble, but I suppose either word can come from either attitude.
Just how awake are we when it comes to the upcoming presidential election? I am extremely concerned about what is at stake as America votes in this 2020 election. There are so many words and distractions pulling us in different directions. This is a crucial election. The very survival of our nation is at stake like never before. We ALL need to vote. That we vote and how we vote is a very big deal. Our presidential candidates represent two very different worldviews. Which worldview is elected will affect our nation for years and generations to come and maybe even determination if our nation survives as we know it.
Our country is being tested again to see if it is can endure as a nation “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men (and women and children) are created equal” (from the “Gettysburg Address,” by President Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863.) Everything we need for wokeness and awakeness is right there in the Gettysburg Address! If we really care about being woke, we will not reject and remake our amazing American history and culture. We will thank God for it.
Christians, we must vote and we must vote for the person who most embraces the Godly heritage of our country. No one candidate is perfect. Yet one will support the survival of America as we know it and as it was meant to be when established by our founding fathers in 1776 . . . one will not. One wants to tear down and remake our country. It matters that we vote and it matters who we vote for. The candidates are polar opposites. The choice is clear.
Perhaps it is time to wake up, be honestly woke, and vote our values. Scripture describes it as “coming to our senses.” Let's repent of our rejection of God in our schools, keep “One nation under God” in our Pledge of Allegiance, and humbly welcome God back into our nation. Let’s embrace “In God we trust” again. He is our one and only hope.
The Gettysburg Address is a signature speech in our nation's history. It is only 270 words in length and was severely criticized by the liberal news when it was spoken in 1863. Lincoln never knew how excellent his speech was and that school children of subsequent generations would memorize it. Its relevance this November cannot be overstated:
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Please vote and pray with me for America, our President, and our election,
Elsie