There is a lot happening with politics right now in my country. For the longest time, I really didn’t care too much about it. It really wasn’t that I was apathetic as much as I felt powerless and getting involved with anything political made me anxious. When I got married, my husband gave me the confidence to get involved enough to vote. However, soon after that, things got really bad.
The country became very divided. The pandemic occurred and now there is a very real possibility that some time in my lifetime our country could become a dictatorship. That idea really scares me more than I could imagine. It would mean that everything in my life could change. I might lose not just all my material possessions and the people I love, but also my rights and my freedoms.
The worst part about it is that it hurts so much for me to think about the possibility that I don’t want to watch the news. I don’t want to see the hate that people hate for each other. I don’t believe either side is completely right or completely wrong. I just know when I see people acting that way, it makes me feel like I have a huge whole right in the middle of my heart.
I think I know why. It is all about ideas and values. If someone doesn’t see the world the way you do, then you are supposed to hate them and think they are wrong? That’s what politics is, isn’t it? One side against another. My problem is that all the ideals and values and issues are all constructs made by man. Abortion, immigration, inflation, etc. Does any of that really matter to an all-knowing, all-powerful all-mighty deity?
I believe that God wants us to know ourselves and love one another as we would ourselves. I hate a system that only makes us see our differences and makes us want to hate the people who disagree with us. God teaches that His law should always be more important than man’s law. My heart aches because during this time all I see is anger, fear, and hatred. I see people who only see man’s law and who only look at each other by their values and political views. I know that God wants us to look at each other through the eyes of love and to see His light in everyone. I know His wants us to apply God’s law before man’s law and to show love and mercy before hatred and punishment.
I pray for God to give me strength to remember to hold His commandments above all else in this dark time in my country.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
