Political landslide? Seismic shift? A new dawn? The opposition walls seem to have 'come a tumbling down' as easily as those that Joshua was faced with at Jericho. Whatever your political allegiance though, you have to admit Boris' victory will have the commentators and historians talking for decades. I just hope his trade talks with the European Commission don't last that long.
My wife was asked if I had cast my vote and she was pleased to reassure the enquirer that I had. It seems that I have 'infuriated' at least one person by openly declaring my intention to vote for no one. But I was determined to vote because I believe it is both a democratic responsibility and a privilege. I hail from Chartist country and my forebears fought long and hard to win the cause for universal suffrage. I will not betray my heritage.
But I was equally determined to put no cross on the ballot paper. I placed it into the ballot box as untarnished as when I was given it by the three friendly ladies sitting in the local polling station. I had voted for Brexit and I have been a life long Conservative supporter, but for the first time in my life I abstained. And with a clear conscience too! In fact, as I dropped that prized piece of paper into the box I viewed it as an act of worship, or at least an act of faith.
I believe I was trying to live out the implications of something the apostle Paul said: "Blessed are those who don't feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning."
For all sorts of reasons which I don't need to elaborate here I found myself unable to endorse any of the parties standing in this part of South West Wales. To do so would have left me feeling I had done the wrong thing and, like the apostle, I am persuaded that I will have to give an account of my actions to the Lord.
And so I didn't vote for my local Conservative MP but I do accept the verdict because I left the outcome of this unwholesome election to God. I prayed, "Lord your will done on earth as it is in heaven." And I will do all I can to encourage people to respect and to pray for those who have authority over us. Like the apostle Paul I believe that this is what it means to offer myself as a living sacrifice. Having said that, I will also be encouraging God's people to live up to their prophetic calling and call these authorities to account whenever they seem to depart from Biblical norms.
But I will do so with a sense of peace, the kind of peace I felt as I dropped my empty ballot paper into the box. For as I prepared for this election, I was reminded of a story that reassures me that God is always in ultimate control.
In September 1999, a lone gunman entered Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth Texas and violently killed seven people before turning the gun on himself. You can read the story in the immensely moving book "Night of Tragedy, Dawning of Light" written by Dan Crawford, Kevin Galey and Chip Gillette.
Police officer Gillette tells of how he felt the strong presence of God as he walked through the worship centre on the Thursday morning following the shootings. "The crime scene search guys had picked it clean," he writes but as he walked towards the rear of the rook heading for home, he discovered a hymnal which contained a bullet stuck in the pages. He read the words of the chorus where the bullet had come to its final rest and "a great outflow of emotion" came over him for they read, "King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He shall reign forever and ever."
Gillette began to cry because he realised Jesus was assuring him that whatever happens, we need to remember that "He is the Lord".
As election fever subsides I reckon this could be a good time for us all to stand still and remember He is God. He was before Brexit and He still will be whenever and however we choose to leave the European Union.
Rob James is a Baptist minister, writer and church and media consultant to the Evangelical Alliance Wales. He is the author of Little Thoughts About a Big God.
