Across the Horizon

Good morning on this Saturday morning. This has been yet another most interesting week not the least of which resides with the painful, exhausting election.  I have chosen to do my blog today on the future and not the past. I have decided that this is all in God's Plan and His Divine Purpose so there is a logical, rational reason and conclusion to being where we are in this Land and in this Life.  While the candidates fought hard and untold, inexcusable amounts of money were blown on this election, we have what we have.  As I have told countless people in my recent years when asked my thoughts or advice on a topic or issue, my response is usually to look across the horizon toward that next hill top for the answer!

 

As our nation and we as a People now move forward in this global village that is cutting new paths like molten lava flowing down a volcanic hill side, we are a People gripped with consternation, concern and disarray.  There is a fundamental misalignment unfolding in our nation as we saw played out in the elections with several states ratifying same-sex marriage, marijuana legalized in others and other events that turn upside down the very principles given us in the Scriptures.  We saw just yesterday perhaps the greatest military leader in the history of our nation resign as CIA Director over an admitted wrong against his wife but against those same Scriptural principles.  But the commentators within moments of the announcement were coloring the admitted wrong as "acceptable" in Washington for many have and will do the same but did not see the need to resign as a result.  See the lava flow?

 

Today as Americans, we see a landscape that is quite unsettling.  We have lost faith in our political and economic system and worst of all, our leaders.  The gridlock was portraited perfectly on national TV in a 60 Minutes TV interview with Mitch McConnell and Harry Reed, the Republican and Democratic leadership in the U.S. Senate. There they sat dressed almost exactly the same, both about the same age and both absolutely resolute that there will be no change in the philosophies of either thus their Parties as this next POTUS sets in for four more years of increased borrowing, increased spending on safety nets, disincentives for business, increased rulebooks, enhanced union membership drives, etc. etc.  The landscape before us is rocky and scary for there is so much fog across the landscape that it creates a poison and derisive environment that resembles a moonscape instead of a landscape. But my point: we have what we have so it is for us to look Across that Horizon toward that next hilltop and not keep pining about the view through the rear view mirror of our nation or our own personal lives.

 

So you can know on this Veterans' Day weekend, having worn that warrior cloth, have the privilege of having veterans in my classes, see the devastating impact of combat crafted into this young people that will likely manifest throughout their lifetimes, I BELIEVE IN THIS NATION AND ITS GREAT PEOPLE! I can say that for I believe in a God that loves HIS PEOPLE if we, HIS PEOPLE, will cling to His teachings and principles. So while I do not like the election results, I do love my country and believe all of this has Purpose in God's Divine Plan for our nation.  As the Children of Israel would attest in the pages of the Old Testament, that journey is no always fun and filled with frolic thus I believe that describes the days ahead for our nation.

 

The great Gospel song captures all of this for me and my family:

 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the Light of His Glory and and Grace

 

See, I believe what resides out there across that Horizon is a life of bounty and good. I believe the pendulum of Man's vileness has swung too far to one side but that pendulum will reverse its painful and wrongful course only through the gravitational pull of a God that does love His Creation and its inhabitants. This hate, division, polarization and angst will either pull us together or it will tear the very heart of mankind out of the chest of hope for a brighter tomorrow.  We are a much better nation than what we see for I get to see the fruits of our nation in my classrooms and I know these young minds to be excellent and energized. I see it in my grandchildren as they grow and mature in homes with Christian parents and in Christ-centered churches.  The root structure is there and it is sound and solid so that gives me great hope for the tomorrows but we have some tough times today to fight through. 

 

Are you ready for the fight or are you wanting to keep your hooks of hate in the disdain of the election results, the mountain of debt and the destructive force of the lava flows of deceit?  That is a very personal yet very vital question as we, as a People, look out Across our Horizon!