Today's Old Testament Reading

[PrayHarder]

Today’s Old Testament reading made me think. Specifically I was touched by this verse, “Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is a man who trusts in man, and who establishes what is flesh as his right arm, and whose heart withdraws from the Lord.”

This passage immediately got me thinking about politics. It seems like so many people base their happiness on politicians and who is in office. Too many people believe that they will be happy and have no worries if they just elect the “right” person. Conversely, they believe they are miserable because the “wrong” people are in office. While government and politics do play an important part in our lives, we must also remember that these people aren’t ultimately in charge of our spiritual well-being and what will ultimately lead us to happiness.

Are you ready for Lent?

 

[EasterJoy]

Unfortunately, the sinner we are most likely to put our trust in, the one whose opinions we trust the most, the one we believe to always have our best interest at heart, and the one who we secretly and most desperately want to be able to admire, the one we are most tempted to give the praise due to God, is the one that looks back at us from the mirror. For didn’t even Lao Tus recognize: “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” Until we get that one off of the pedestal, all of the rest of our choices, including our voting and our political opinions, will reflect that silly, dangerous, and unexamined prejudice.

It is worse for politicians, of course, because even the most well-meaning are soon surrounded with people who feed that vanity and seek to exploit it. If any of us would enter politics, thinking we would be better, we ought to make certain to take someone with us who can be counted on to tell us the truths we don’t like to hear, out loud, out in the open, where the conversation may easily be overheard. If we don’t know anyone like that, we’d do better sitting out a chance at political power.