So here's the deal. Long ago, I decided to back out of the political circus. I didn't want to listen to or watch the ever more prolific newsmedia turn everything into a controversy for viewership, while waxing ad nauseum about every important kind of nothing. I thought to myself, "Self, humanity has been living for thousands of years perfectly ignorant of most things that go on outside their community. They got along fine at it, and were certianly less distracted with feelings of powerlessness, like I am now. Why not back off?" So I did. Until recently. I found a news site that had a few blogs and personalities on it that I liked and agreed with...that I trusted more with conveying to me the truth as they were honestly examining it. And I got sucked in. Now, I'm sitting here, trying to find and play with as many of the online polls and features that everyone from facebook to CNN has constructed to entertain me and help me "voice my opinion" in the incredibly premature 2008 Presidential Election. And I find now that I'm frustrated again. I can't get over the fact that I am but one vote. And as far as my politics go, if I'm going to use that vote, I'm going to use it to endorse someone I have a reason to trust...someone who represents the beliefs I hold that would be good for this country to implement. Right now, I'm following and currently "endorsing" a candidate that has very, very little chance of winning his party's nomination, much less the general election. And I don't even know if his administration would really fix many things that I think are important. So my frustration continues. One of the disturbing things to me about keeping up with our sensationalistic newsmedia on current events is the subtle message I'm picking up that, by knowing all of this stuff, by allowing it to enter into my mind and my life, I will have some control, some say, in what happens. The truth couldn't be further from that message, though. I am not going to end the war in Iraq, hold our (in my opinion) terribly corrupt government, media, and business world accountable, or keep babies from dying in needless abortions. I can't control pork-barrel spending, illegal immigration, or the conditions of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. And what I am able to do about the environment and our dependence on fossil fuels is limited to microscopic size relative to the respective problems. All I can do is get angry, react, and foist my words into many disparate fora, crafting them in such a way that helps them compete with the glut of noise that passes for opinion and discourse already. But this illusion of control they provide me keeps me coming back. It ensures that I'll be a loyal customer. And the news outlet that provides the most attractive graphics that allow me to vent my opinion in creative ways, whether my opinion is informed, helpful, authoritative, or the opposite of those things, is the one I'll spend the most time on. For what? I agree that being informed about things going on in the world and in my "democratic" nation is important, to an extent. At least, when I hear of something going on, our Lord can use that information to remind me to pray for the people and circumstances involved. But, so far, I'm not doing that because I'm too distracted by this whole circus. My mind can't settle. Ugh. So I end up exchanging the truth for a lie. And the truth I'm forgetting to the point of abandonment is that I am at my most powerful when I'm on my knees, submitted to and earnestly seeking to be connected to our Lord, the Source of Life. He created the world. He knows the truth. And He sees and loves us enough to supply what we need, whether we see it that way or not. And He loves us enough to turn even the most difficult, dehumanizing, evil circumstance around so that we may have the Life that comes from being connected and submitted to Him, its Source. I need to focus on loving Him and my neighbor. And I'm not doing that, to be honest. I don't know how I'm going to handle this whole thing tomorrow. But I will work to make the rest of the day productive in the things that really matter. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. | 
