Hymn: “Once to Every Man and Nation” – James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)
Various Tunes
I’m not a political person – never have been, never hope to
be. In my ministry career, we were discouraged from voicing our opinions on
politics, candidates or party affiliations. As the creative director of a
non-profit (Waxahachie’s Old Fashioned Singing Project), by agreement with the
IRS for tax-exempt status, we are not allowed to support any political candidates or causes.
I am fine with that. THIS is not a political statement, so don’t even go there!
This has been a very interesting few months for Americans as we have watched and listened to impeachment proceedings. It has been troubling on so many levels -- frankly, depressing. Partisanship played a larger role than getting at the truth -- on both sides of the dividing wall... I mean "aisle." Most were pumping up their constituents with the rhetoric they think will
garner the most votes at the next elections.
To complete today’s
hymn-line:
Once to every man/woman and nation comes the
moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with
falsehood, for the good or evil side.
There has always been and always will be "strife" -- a battle between truth and falsehood, good and evil. It started in Genesis, and it continues. We who fight this war daily in our decision-making can not side with falsehood or evil. That would put a check in our loss column. It would be the antithesis of our Christian commitment, the very opposite of What Would Jesus Do!
Some great cause, some great decision…
This impeachment acquittal was a great (as in massive) decision. It will likely loom large in the annals of history. We're too close to it now to truly see its enormity. And all of us have been a part of that decision in some way: by the persons we have elected, by our lack of direct involvement in the governing process, by our silence. I'm not taking sides here, but either way, they/we were deciding between truth and falsehood… between good and evil. And in a few months we step back into the voting booth to pull levers deciding between those same realities.
The stanza ends with this near-haunting sentence:
The choice goes by forever ‘twixt
that darkness and that light.
“Twixt!” What a great word for where we find ourselves. And twixt is struggling, uncomfortable place to be because it is not always easy to determine which is which -- it is not obviously black-or-white.
Let’s set aside our preconceived notions and the garbledygook
we hear on the slanted news channels. THAT decision has been made. But we move on into our own battles "with the cross of Jesus going on before." Fortunately those are not broadcast over the airwaves... or cable. Pray with me that when comes the moment to decide in our own lives, we – after striving with the facts known and
unknown – will come to a conclusion with which the Mighty-Warrior-Who-Is-Also-the-Prince-of-Peace
will agree.
“In your mercy, Lord, hear our prayer. Amen.”
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