-…one nation, under God…
–from Pledge of Allegiance
-“To be silent the whole day, see no newspaper, hear no radio, listen to no gossip, be thoroughly and completely lazy, thoroughly and completely indifferent to the fate of the world is the finest medicine a man can give himself.”
–Henry Miller, “The Colossus of Maroussi”
-…With all wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment–to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
–Ephesians 1: 8-10
Last night on our walk, my friend “S” neatly summed it up…
It’s been a crazy week.
We are both wrestling with personal situations that are appropriating a huge chunk of emotional and mental bandwidth…to the point that it takes a supreme, almost physical effort to focus on and deploy the most mundane, ordinarily simple tasks. We exchanged woeful tales of ineptitude (in my case, multiple attempts to make a bowl of oatmeal). Truth be told, it’s exhausting…and leaves one feeling like the world’s biggest airhead.
Anyone with me?
Add to that the current political dumpster fire…
Uff da.
Seriously, I don’t even own a TV, and I can’t entirely escape it. The best I can achieve within the Henry Miller prescription is a partial indifference…with a generous dollop of anxiety on the side.
I wake with a serious urge to just burrow deeper into my quilt-cocoon, and await the time where my world…and the world…will be set to rights again.
God shakes His head. “Not an option, Shelbo.”
Sigh.
So I turn my hands and eyes heavenward and pray…gathering love, strength, Living Water…until I’m able to roll out of bed…
Cook some breakfast with minimal drama…
and open the Word.
Ephesians 1: 18-21–I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
John 16:33–“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Our lives, this world…there will be trouble…and there will be change.
Change is as inevitable as death and taxes.
And speaking of taxes…
Can elected leadership (local, state, national, take your pick…) exert change, both good and bad, on my country, on my home, on my life?
Absolutely.
But not on my heart.
Romans 8: 38-39–For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
My heart belongs to God and my hope is in Christ.
Throughout the Bible we see countless kings…some benevolent, some unspeakably evil, some ineffectual…all flawed. Yet, no matter who is “on the throne…”
There is only One on the Throne…
And truly in control.
Sovereign over all, ever faithful, never changing, no agenda or human caprice.
I’m relying, more than ever, NOT on the shifting sands of government and things below, but on the firm foundation of my Lord above…
And a Peace that surpasses all understanding.
I don’t claim to have the answers, for myself or much less for an entire nation. I’m not telling anyone who to vote for…well, not here on earth anyway. I will, however, stand and proclaim my own personal pledge of allegiance…
Every single day, in the dawn’s early light…
I vote for Jesus.