Faith and Politics

Tonight was a night to be proud to be an American; a night to celebrate the political process and the witnessing of history.  I celebrated with this man who has the weight of the World on his shoulders and in the seamlessness and bloodlessness of the transition.  I wish Obama and his family all the best in the next four years.

We are also living in a Facebook World and nothing can so quickly illustrate the thoughts and views of the peope you know (or at least meant once or maybe not at all).  Among the many excited folks for this momentous day, there were a few that took this opportunity to take shots at Bush and the past Administration -- most of them from people I know to be Christians.  This did not sit well with me as I believe him to be a sincere believer and one has never been ashamed of his faith and that is at least one thing we can celebrate about his Presidency.

Now that I don't think his faith should be free reign to do anything and we should constantly be critical and discerning of any President's decisions.   There have been things that have been done in the name of Christianity that should not have been.  However, we also have to be able to separate the policies from the person.  We have to be careful in judging someone that we have never known on a personal basis.

By all accounts, President Clinton was a very smart and personable man with many strengths.  However the image of him that sticks in my mind is him saying "depends on what the meaning of is is" and toying with the institutions of marriage and the courtroom.  And that is why Bush receives higher marks in my book because he remained faithful in marriage and I believe him to have have been one who humbly sought the will of God (I am not trying to justify any of his actions with this statement).  And that is why I have the highest regard for President Carter.  From the accounts I have read, he had a tumultous Presidency but he has lived out his faith in magnificent ways since leaving office; he has constantly served and loved others.

And that brings me back to President Obama.  This man has already impressed me with the way that he has conducted himself.  He has shown wisdom in selecting his cabinent and has genuinely made efforts to cross the aisle.  He has avoided opportunities to gloat and he was gracious to the outgoing Administration.  He seems to be one that is committed to and genuinely loves his wife and daugthers.

We have to hold the decisions he makes to the highest of standards and to use the checks of our political system accordlingly; he is in a position of tremendous power.  I am a firm believer that character ultimately defines a person.  And so if Obama falls flat on his face and fails miserably, but does so in such a way that he can hold his head up high where he will have done what he believed best and did so with a discerning, humble, and trustworthy heart...then I will have considered him to be a success.  God Bless you Mr. President.

Praying to an invisible God

Ben Towne passed away.   There it is...such a simple statement but something that calls into existence much of what I believe.  Now I barely knew the Townes and I have really only followed the story from afar through blogs, and friends, and church community.  But yet this is a story that permeates through my very being -- I suppose more for what it says about God than anything else.

I have grown up in a fairly Conservative wing of the Presbyterian Church -- strong on the Bible, theology, and the tenets of Calvinism.  However, the miraculous often escapes us.  It  is not that we explicitly deny it, but we leave it hanging awkwardly in the distance not knowing quite what to do with it.  There is nothing that will challenge these notions quite like spending a little time abroad.  I have been propheshized to, seen the speaking of tongues, and witnessed a semi-exoricism among other things.  This has kicked off an internal struggle (as the Rev D. J. McKelvey can attest to) as to who God is and the role that God plays in the here and now.

And so that brings me back to Ben.  I prayed for the Towne family -- not just for the standard requests of comfort and support for the family but that God would heal this little boy.  I hoped that faith as small as a mustard seed and the prayers of hundreds of others would prove a testament to the living God.  

And now I'm left to wonder what it all means.  I was heartbroken at some of the posts I read from this family who was desperately grasping for air.  I know that you can't pick and choose with these things; trajedy, war and strife are as old as the Earth (just look at Israel) and faith has perservered.  But still, faith is supposed to mean something; the prayers of the people should change things; the hand of God should be everpresent.   I can recite a well versed and coherent arugument to the contary, but you know what...I just don't understand.

A funny thing happened while I was writing that last paragraph.  I have often bemused by the Psalms and how the Psalmist can curse and question God and yet come full cirlce to praise Him at the very end.  It is a natural part of faith.  You have to have a forum to question God, but then you have to realize your place.  I sometimes feel like the disciples...at the point when everyone else has deserted Jesus and he asks if they will to.  Peter answers that they have nowhere to go -- not exactly a glowing endorsement but a moment of genuine vulnerability.  For better or worse, I'm in this for the long haul.  Glory be to God in the Highest.  Amen.