After King David died, his son Solomon became king over Israel. God appeared to Solomon in a dream one night and said, "Ask! What would you like for me to give you?"   Now Solomon could have asked for riches, long life, or victory over his enemies, but he did not ask for any of these things. He said, "Give me an understanding heart to rule Your people, that I may know the difference between good and evil. Help me to judge these great people of Yours."

God did give him the wisdom he asked for, and gave him the other things also: riches, long life, and victory over his enemies. Solomon knew about many, things! He could talk about trees and animals, birds and fish. He knew things that other people didn't know, and people came from all over the world to hear him speak. Once a queen came from Sheba to hear him. She was amazed at what she saw and heard.

One day two women brought a baby to Solomon. Each woman said the baby was her child. Solomon said, "Cut the baby in half and give half of the baby to each woman." (Of course, he didn't really intend to kill the baby. It was just a test.) "NO!" screamed the real mother, "Give her the baby. Do not kill him." Then Solomon knew who the real mother was because of the way she loved the baby. He gave the baby to its real mother.

We would sometimes make a sacrifice for that which we love, for something so important. The sacrifice the mother was willing to make in the story was the loss of her baby to another.

The sacrifice of a political seat of service to our community in an ongoing fight for the soul of our nation has been Solomonesque in yet another story.

The story of a good and decent man, who on the day after the election said to me: "Jason, I have prayed on this and asked why it was ONE VOTE that separated us, and not 100 or more." Obviously recognizing the path would be rocky, but also understanding this was a unique situation, and it carried with it special circumstances to test even the most pious of men.

Knowing one's strengths is key to victory in all contests.  Jason Allen had every ability to contest, and likely secure by recount and verification, a win  for the desired seat in the 1st congressional district.  The political strength and abundance of veterans within the Allen campaign would have been able to ferret out mistakes, miscounts, or "technical anomalies" in a more efficient manner than the Benishek campaign.  The "official" tally of 15 votes would not have been hard to overcome.

In fact, going from a single vote down to 15 with one correction process should drive home the fact that voting numbers could possibly be all over the place.  We are human, and we make mistakes.

But to his credit, Jason Allen demonstrated a level of civility, love of country, and a trust in God that should be commended.  He gave up a highly probable win through challenge, for the good of the country, party, and community.   His decision to NOT contest the results which amounted to 0.0556 percent of the vote showed a level of courage rarely seen in the political arena today.