I was emailing this evening with Jim Wallis. Its always a blessing to hear what’s on Reverend Wallis’ mind. He’s a good friend, great leader, prophetic minister and caring pastor.

He mentioned a recent posting of his at God’s Politics. Upon checking it out I was moved by his call to all of us to center ourselves, in these final few days leading up to the election, on those issues and beliefs that matter most to us.

I encourage all to view and ponder “My Personal ‘Faith Priorities’ for this Election” by Reverend Wallis.

Here are some excerpts:

“I… suggest that each of you come up with your own list of “faith” or “moral” priorities for this election year and take them into the polling place with you.”

“In any election, we face imperfect choices, but our choices should reflect the things we believe God cares about if we are people of faith, and our own moral sensibilities if we are not people of faith. Therefore, people of faith, and all of us, should be “values voters” but vote all our values, not just a few that can be easily manipulated for the benefit of one party or another.”

“…I am in no position to tell anyone what is “non-negotiable,” and neither is any Bishop or megachurch pastor…”

This is refreshing because, if you will remember, four years ago a group of Bishops and pastors sent out an email to millions across the nation offering up a very narrow list of values they said were “non-negotiables” for all values voters. Sadly, this list was politically motivated and structured to ensure a partisan outcome.

Reverend Wallis, in sharing his own list while encouraging us all to embrace our own values-based list is reminding us to not be manipulated and led astray in the final hours… to finish the race we started and to finish it strong.