Jesus, I Trust in You

Finally, we are at the end of a very long and explosive political campaign in this country. Rhetoric, promises, spin, speculation and division have been extremely prevalent this year.There is a saying, “History has a way of repeating itself.” Politics seems to be dominated with a quest for power and control. That was true 2,000 years ago, and it is true today. Most Christians see the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ as events leading to our salvation. The powerful were threatened by Jesus, even from the time he was an infant! Any culture needs a certain amount of structure, and usually power and control are entrusted to a few individuals. The power can be obtained through either a military or political process. The tragedy of vesting power is that, often, those in power are acting in opposition to God’s will. There is an old saying that power either purifies or corrupts. History has hundreds, if not thousands, of examples of power that was used in an inappropriate manner. The questions in 2016 are: “Will our elected officials in 2016 lead us in a direction toward God’s will or away from it? Are we, as individuals in a democratic society, voting on issues in a manner that is inconsistent with God’s will? Are we going to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s?” Here are more questions to ponder now that this election is over. However, I don’t know if there are definitive answers: 1) Do we primarily cast our votes around our personal interests or those which contribute to the common good? 2) Do we ask, “What is God’s will?” when we vote? 3) Why don’t our political leaders and media use God’s laws as a cornerstone for decision-making rather than making it a peripheral issue that seldom, if ever, comes up? 4) If it is extremely apparent that power and control are not being used correctly, what choices do we have as citizens to bring forth justice? Ultimately, we have one King — only one true God who has final power and control. Do we spend too much time and energy worrying about short-term consequences in our society, when we should be simply quoting the words of St. Faustina, “Jesus I trust in you”?

         Mark Malsam

         Parker, Colorado

 

 

Corrections

Regarding “Catholic Front Groups?” (Nation, Nov. 13 issue), Alexia Kelley did not work to support the suspension of the Mexico City Policy nor to support the Obama administration’s decision to allow federally funded embryonic stem-cell research. Kelley was not involved in the creation of the website CatholicsforSebelius.org.

Regarding the “Book Pick” in the Nov. 13-26 issue, the essay misquotes St. Augustine, stating, “Long have I loved you, O beauty ever ancient, ever new.” What Augustine actually said was, “Late have I loved you ...”

 The Register regrets the errors.