Dear Lizzie Mae,

I have lived through and managed to survive the administrations of 15 Presidents, beginning with Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Franklin Roosevelt	Harry Truman	Dwight Eisenhower
John Kennedy	Lyndon Johnson	Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford	Jimmy Carter	Ronald Reagan
George H.W. Bush	Bill Clinton	George W. Bush
Barak Obama	Donald Trump	Joe Biden

I remember the day FDR died in April of 1945. My (favorite) Aunt Cuba came running down Second Avenue waving the newspaper exclaiming "the President is dead, the President is dead." Everybody who was anybody, was a Democrat back then. I was a child of 8 years. By far, Aunt Cue's distress more deeply disturbed me than the newspaper headline.

Over the years of 15 administrations, I have learned that Presidents don't matter much -- except maybe to the media. News about the presidency makes them a lot of money. What does matter is the values of the electorate. What we the people think does matter. When we enter that voting booth, the little lever we toss reflects who we, as Americans, really are. The kind of President we elect reflects our corporate values.

Often -- too often -- we seem to be faced with candidates nobody really wants. The decisions we, the electorate, make may indeed bring blessing and prosperity, or something catastrophic.

Something happened to me roughly 12 years after FDR died. I became a new creature in Jesus Christ. I became one with our Creator. Needless to say, that impacted my values. Part of this "newness of life," was the fact that I wanted to be as much like Jesus Christ as was possible for someone, who, at age 20, had lived a pretty ragged life. (No need to go into that here, or anywhere else for that matter.)

That was 67 years ago. 67 years! In other words, my "conversion" was no flash in the proverbial pan. Not only has it endured, it grows stronger with each day I continue to live. Back then, I got busy memorizing passages in the Bible. Charlie saw to that. I was called into ministry and subsequently went to college as a ministerial student, seminary after that, graduate school after that and became a pastor, participated in the activities of large para-church organizations, in short; I became what some might call a "professional" Christian. God help me!

But then, along about the time a President's sexual prowess became the national buzz, I became aware of something. That "something" had to do with my union with God through Christ, which, of course, had nothing to do with the President.

What happened was this: I became existentially aware of the sovereignty of God. In short, I began to live it. I began to realize that elections do not catch God by surprise. I learned that whoever (or whatever) is President, God will care for his own. He will protect them. He will provide for them. As I came to know this, the election of a President came to matter less and less. I had a divine insurance policy. It cost me nothing.

It cost Him his life.

To be sure, I vote. That is where I express my political opinions. That is where my values as a child of God are reflected in the person I choose to sit in the chair of the Oval Office. After that, que sera, sera -- and no matter which sera you choose, God is still sovereign, and therefore in control. Knowing that relieves me of more political frustration and pain than one can imagine. My faithfulness is directed toward him. My vote is directed toward Him and guided by what I believe He wants. That gives me peace, no matter what happens to the America I love.

-- PDM