Israel is going to need all the help it can get. As this letter is written, we are prevented from approving an emergency appropriation to give Israel the armaments to fight and win by virtue of the fact that the House of Representatives is prevented from choosing a Speaker.
Those in our U.S. Congress who are vocal (or silent) sympathizers with Hamas don’t care if we ever get a Speaker. This is devilish mischief. Why not break the impasse by going behind closed doors one last time and agreeing to:
1. Take the two (2) highest vote getters so far and draw straws.
2. Agree before drawing straws that the one chosen behind closed doors upon the drawing will become the next Speaker of the House.
3. Agree that the votes of the one not chosen by the drawing of straws will be given over to the one chosen.
4. Come out from behind closed doors and put the final vote on the record.
There is biblical authority for this. After the devil entered Judas, the disciple betrayed Christ and later went out and hung himself. This left only 11 of the original disciples instead of 12. Who would they choose to replace Judas? There were 2 high vote getters among the ones who came to mind for the disciples – Barsabas and Matthias. So they decided to say a prayer and “draw straws”.
“And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” (Acts 1:23-26)
Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
R. Martin Palmer
P.S. A dear pastor friend of mine (he pastors a Mennonite church and has for the past 30 some years) was chosen by the church after the retirement of the former pastor – he was chosen by the drawing of straws. He wound up being a great choice! I checked and this practice of drawing straws (lots) to choose the next pastor is common to all the Mennonite churches. I do remember at the time he told me it was patterned after the example in Scripture.
The devilish logjam at the Congress needs to be broken. If you agree that this would be a way to do it, you might call your congressman.
Leave a Reply