Your Answer is Requested

I ripped this beginning bit of an article out of a recent Oprah magazine I swiped from Mary's recycling pile.
Writes Oprah...

*****It could be considered among my most embarrassing moments. The first time I ever heard the question "What do you know for sure?" I was doing a live television interview in Chicago with renowned film critic Gene Siskel. We had been doing the usual promotional chitchat for the movie Beloved and he concluded the interview by saying, "Tell me, what do you know for sure?"

"Uhhhhh, about the movie?" I asked, knowing he meant something more but trying to give myself time to think. "No," he responded coolly. "You know what I mean- about you, your life, anything, everything..."

"Uhhhhh, I know for sure... uhhh... I know for sure I need to think about that question some more, Gene." I was clearly thrown and went home and thought about what he'd asked for two days.

I've since done a lot of thinking about what's certain, what's real, what's true. And Gene Siskel's question has inspired me to ask it of many others. Sometimes people (like me that first time) are caught off guard. But usually... they rally with thoughtful and profound responses that reveal the essence of who they are.*****

Now I write...

What do you know for sure... what do you know... for sure. What are you certain of. What can you stand behind 100 percent.
Absolute truth, according to you.

This question is hard. I like to see the world in shades of grey, and I hate being wrong, so I'm hesitant to state absolutes.

Election season reminds me even more of what I don't know for sure...policies I don't really understand, even as I explore them further... what exactly is the role of government... what is the right reason to vote for someone...how to express myself on certain topics.

I know for sure, especially after a weekend like this past one, that I have wonderful, creative, thoughtful, hilarious, and loving friends and that I am lucky to have been able to go to Westmont and find these people.
I know for sure that I live in one of the most beautiful towns in the world, and that there is no country I'd rather live in and be a citizen of.
I know for sure that my family loves and supports me.
I know for sure that I am very selfish but care intensely about others, more than they know.
I know for sure that I will love having a family someday. I know this for sure.
I know for sure that the best way to vote is through your conscience, informed by reason and fact.
I know for sure that there is a God and that He loves me.

This Election Tuesday of November 2008... what do you know for sure?