I have been much consumed with politics these days. It seems I can never get enough opinion and speculation about this or that aspect of the two political teams running for highest office. I can lose track of time in front of my computer, searching for all the latest headlines and blog posts. What is happening in the horse race? Whose ideas are gaining traction? I'm rooting for Obama, and can get all fired up about how good and perfect his plans are, all the while saving special distaste for the personalities in the Republican camp. I feel certain that Obama represents the way forward, and the Republicans an inevitable intrenchment in wrong-headed policies.
Sometimes I spend more than an hour looking at a half-dozen favorite sites, and by the end of it come out feeling mildly dissatisfied, dirty almost. I've spent so much time entertained by minutia, and it's helped me not a bit in my everyday life. Indeed, the political "game" is frequently a distraction from the real work and responsibilities I have before me. I'm unsettled by the power this curious compulsion has over me--at times it can seem like an addiction. Must read more, must browse more, must find more, must track more....
This morning I came to read Psalm 146, which speaks to me about this captivating distraction:
Praise the Lord! praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!
I hear caution in these words, and a necessary reminder. We must bring our values and virtues into conversation with the world and politics--religious values are sorely needed in the political conversation. God in Jesus Christ took political stands on the issues of his day, but the end of all things is God everlasting. I need to hear the correction in the words of the psalmist not to be consumed by the events of the day. Ultimately, God runs this show. Christians are called to be involved with politics, but not to such an extent that we lose perspective of God's invisible work on every heart, in every place.
Whatever the promises of our politicians, and we must judge them wisely, it is God who will bring "justice for the oppressed." We do not hand over our responsibility to be servants of God, hands of God in this world, but neither do we surrender the faith in God as the ultimate and eternal power in the world and our lives. The candidates may clamor for change of all stripes, but we err if we make an idol of either party's platform and candidate. If a new day dawns in politics after this election, if health care becomes more accessible to all people, if the unemployed find meaningful work, and if violence and warfare are diminished, no person or party will be able to claim the credit. For behind it all stands a God eager to heal and help, to correct and challenge, to love and deliver. In these days which tempt us to put our trust in mortals, we are wise to say with the psalmist, "Praise the Lord!"
