Have you ever noticed how something that was startling at first can become commonplace? Something that once garnered our attention because of its dire nature can later be handled with a shrug of our shoulders and a willingness to look the other way. Like this, for instance:
Republicans hammered Obama over the national debt, and rightly so. Where are those Republican voices now drawing our attention to this huge problem? Downplaying it doesn’t make it go away.
But don’t worry–there’s a plan. It’s a plan so tremendous, the best plan anyone has ever tried in the history of the world, that all our troubles will be over.
You think maybe we can get Mexico to pay our debt for us? It was supposed to work for a wall. How’s that going?
Politicians of both parties make promises they cannot keep.
There’s another presidential election coming up. I hope we don’t reach a level of cynicism that makes this American experiment in self-government a lost cause.
Just keep this one thing in mind: there is no political solution to what we face. Our problems, at their root, are spiritual. And that’s where all solutions to human problems can be found.
When Isaiah received his call to be a prophet of God, he was warned what he would face:
“Go and tell this people,
‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Make the hearts of this people calloused;
deafen their ears and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
Are we the same kind of people that Isaiah had to confront? Are we listening? Are we seeing? Are we perceiving?