Well, just a few days and it will all be over. For now at least. Men and women eager to take their place as leaders in hundreds, maybe even thousands, of positions across the country will hear from voters that they are going to get their chance. Some will succeed wonderfully. Others will fail miserably. Voters on one side of an issue will rejoice. Voters on opposing sides might mourn. But one thing is clear, I think. Short of some cataclysmic event in the wee hours of the night, come Wednesday morning, life will go on.
Human beings demonstrate remarkable adaptability and resilience when it comes to dealing with their environment, whether physical, social, or internal. Generally, we take what comes and make the most of it. No, not always. Not every time and in every instance, but generally, overwhelmingly, we find ways to survive, rebuild, renew our efforts to make a suitable life for ourselves and those we love.
One way we do that is by looking beyond the immediate to the ultimate, from what we can see to what is unseen, from the here and now to the forever and always. Hope is born in a perspective bigger than our current condition or situation. Hope reaches for ultimates and absolutes and finds strength in what is greater than itself, but not less real, not less imminent, not less significant. People who cast away absolutes abandon hope, and peace, and opportunity, having nothing left that exceeds their own weakness.
Of course I’m talking about God, our Creator, the One Who loves us so much that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to live and to die in our place, so that we can have hope in Someone greater when the world around and within us fails. Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, senators, legislators, judges, civil servants of every kind and caliber will do what they can in their positions to advance agendas and interests they believe will serve the common good. But they cannot be our ultimate hope, for each of them is limited by one common factor: they are human; they are not God.
They may do what they can with the strength and wisdom they have, but somewhere, at some point, they will reach the limits of their ability and they, along with the rest of us, will have to reach beyond them to Someone greater, wiser, Someone without limitation. We will need Someone who can fully grasp the complexities and intricacies of our existence and has the power to respond wisely, lovingly, justly, carefully, inspiring hope, providing peace, giving grace.
As an ambassador for Christ, I invite you, no, I urge you, I implore you on behalf of Jesus, be reconciled to God. Explore the mercy and love God has for you. Discover forgiveness and freedom from guilt. Learn of God’s purpose for your life, and his immediate interest in your eternal well-being. Find peace that soaks into the deepest, most painful places of your experience. Experience the joy of loving as deeply as you are loved.
The God of whom I write treasures you. In sending Jesus to the cross, God reconciled the world to himself. He threw open his arms in a glorious invitation to come home by faith and be restored to his love.
That’s the Good News.
Each month the clergy of the Cook County Ministerium offer spiritual reflections. This week’s contributor is Pastor Dale McIntire with The Good News. Pastor McIntire has served as pastor of the Cornerstone Community Church in Grand Marais since April of 1995.
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