separation anxiety

Some days it feels like our hands hold the power of the world, and yet other days it seems impossible to get a grip on life. From pushing buttons to vote for a President to squeezing the nozzle at the gas station, our fingers grasp for something solid... and yet often slide right off whatever they grab.

Many suggest that we are living in confusing times, for a lot of everyday people find themselves in challenging situations. Perhaps this is why the cadence that both the Republican and Democratic candidates called out was one of "change" (and why "Joe the Plumber" became so iconic). The tension is clear - those who believe our hope is found in government have either been tremendously happy or exceedingly disappointed at the revelation of who our next president will be.

Here's the catch - no politician will ever be equipped to offer the hope that an entire nation seeks, let alone the global community. He might be able to fix a few matters here and there but our holes have been dug by or own hands... and the irony is that we keep digging more holes everyday. We believe the answer is "change," and yet that is a short-sighted reaction to a deeper matter altogether - we are separated from the Answer that is right in front of us.

Whether or not you believe in God, you have to admit that there is a great sickness we live with everyday. Its origins are in our rebellious hearts and its culmination is in our disconnection with our Creator, each other, and all of creation. The weeds in our lives are of our own making, and they can't be pruned by the leader of a country or in the passing of laws.

Only a Gardener can tend to the overgrown issues of the Garden...

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener." (John 15:1)

only a Healer can cure the sickness of our self-centeredness forever...

And the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. (Luke 6:19)

only a Savior can pick us up out of our lifeless prisons and offer us an epic adventure unlike any other.

a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11b)

Yes, today is a day to celebrate that there are presidents and policemen and soldiers - external roles and structures in place to help us manage the logistics of living on planet earth. But let's rejoice even more that internal change can come about by the One who loves us most! Thankfully, His term is longer than 4-8 years... for only in Him does the matter of change become a permanent one.

For only in Him does separation get resolved.

"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." (Matthew 22:15-22)