America Awakens

In between teaching 5th and 6th graders about our Constitution, and shelving books, I catch snatches of broadcasts by WBAP in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex as it plays in the background of my school library office.

Last month, Hal Jay was interviewing the Southern Baptist Convention President, Ronnie Floyd. In the context of the current Presidential campaign, Pastor Floyd revealed that every conservative movement has been preceded by a spiritual awakening in our nation.

Reading internet articles about Mr. Floyd makes it clear that his focus is on Christian Conservatism - a devout return to the foundational principles of Biblical faith, and the practice of Christ-like love and sacrificial service.

But Hal Jay seemed to be connecting it with the political conservatism wrought by the Tea Party Movement that began in 2009. Or maybe I just had politics on my brain. Regardless, I've been much more aware of the connection between this election and the spiritual trajectory of our country. I started praying for our nation just before the events of September 11, 2001. I could feel the looming crisis in my spirit. The events on that day and since then seemed like birth-pangs of a much-needed spiritual revival that I prayed would be the catalyst for restoring our Republic.

Not unlike wandering in the wilderness of spiritual rebellion, our nation has forsaken it's first love. Like a crumbling old mansion, we the owners have neglected the upkeep of the bedrock of Unalienable Rights, the Foundation of the Rule of Law, the Pillars of Constitutional Principles, and a government guarded by Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances that ensure our Liberties, including the freedom to live out a powerful, re-energized faith that blesses the world.

Our nation's historians differ on how many Great Awakenings we've experienced. Some say the Third Great Awakening happened during the Jesus Movement of the 1970s. As a participant of that Jesus Movement, and choosing Ronald Reagan as my first vote for President, I can't deny the supernatural connection. At age 16, I experienced a miraculous event that confirmed God's claim on my soul. I read the entire works of Nikos Kazantzakis, from his "blasphemous" metaphysical quest in Saviors of God to his final opus, The Last Temptation of Christ, which revealed his own transformation in Christ. Simultaneously, I read Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand - an athiest Objectivist. During my semester of high school Constitution study, my teacher told me I should become a Constitutional lawyer. Coincidences? I don't believe in them.

I'd barely survived the administration of Jimmy Carter as my mother was dying from alcoholism. Governor Reagan was a beacon of hope and restoration to our state, and ultimately our nation. My great awakening was a work of Providence that would define my path forward. Yet, the Jesus Movement was not acknowledged as a political movement resulting from national spiritual revival, nor did it culminate in an effective paradigm shift in in our country's morality. Perhaps the true Third Great Awakening is yet to come.

How could I deny that our Founders experienced something similar - something currently familiar? George Washington was an icon of the faith and hope the colonists identified in their quest for true Independence - a Providential work in their lives and land - a Great Political Awakening. Many recognize the same hero of restoration in Ted Cruz. It should surprise no one that there are multiple Facebook prayer groups for Senator Cruz, his Presidential candidacy, and the future of our nation.

The "fundamental transformation" accomplished by President Obama, coupled with the advent of a candidate like Donald Trump, who has managed to snatch away a sure victory from Senator Cruz by putting on a traveling medicine show of bloviating bluster and vulgar vitriol offered as a panacea for pent up anger, just may be the catalyst to awaken us all - either to personal and patriotic repentance and restoration, or to further division and destruction.