This is not a political weblog today, so bear with me for a bit.

            When they talk about “Russia hacking the US elections” on radio or TV or newspaper or on-line, that is all they say. Russia hacked US elections. Most people will hear that and automatically assume they mean the Russians got into the system and changed the vote count, thus allowing Donald Trump to win. Then they wonder why someone doesn’t do something about it? The fact that it is not explained just lets the confusion grow.

In a December 16 news article on the CNN website the headline talks about what the Russians are supposed to have done as far as influencing the US elections. (During the campaign, CNN was so pro-Clinton that the joke was made that CNN stood for the Clinton News Network. In other words, they are biased.) In the article, it is said that they believe the Russians were the ones behind the exposing and making public the Clinton e-mails that were embarrassing and slanderous. In the same article, CNN said that the Republicans were hacked, as well, but apparently, nothing came from that.

That is all there is to it. CNN believes Russia allowed the country to find out the kind of person Mrs. Clinton is and what she thinks of people. In other words, they are upset because they believe the Russians did what the news media in this country is really supposed to do; dig for the truth. Whether or not the Russians did anything other than sit back and enjoy the show is not important. I imagine this will all blow over in due time.

But it does call to mind other political shenanigans. Oh, not the present-day kind. People today are so arrogant and so self-important that we believe we invented all this nonsense. No, I am thinking of the political hijinks of yesteryear.

The government was pretty secure in their control over the people. They were far enough removed from the real power, the super power, that they were mostly allowed to control their own interests. Little things would pop up and the government would handle it. There was intrigue, there were power plays and there were back room deals. And then a rabble-rouser appeared. Oh, he was a cunning one, the government felt. He talked peace and fellowship and even stressed that laws needed to be followed. But this newcomer had to have a disruptive agenda hidden away somewhere. People were starting to flock to him to hear what he had to say. Somehow, he was turning rallies into feasts. There were even rumors that he was getting medical attention for those with extreme illnesses. The guy had an angle somewhere, the leaders of the government just had to track it down.

They planted spies, they tried to get him to show his hand and trip up, they even made up fake news. To no avail. It was like the man was untouchable. He said the words people wanted to hear. To let this fellow go on would eventually call the power of the super power down on them all. The power of the local government would be smashed away. There was nothing to do but take drastic action. So, they got some people to present false stories, to implicate this man in slanderous and treasonous conduct. Lies were told, money was exchanged, the populous was convinced. In a rushed trial the man, who had done nothing wrong other than ruffle some feathers, was found guilty and was sentenced to die. The sentence was carried out almost immediately via crucifixion. All in the name of politics.

Understand, I am not comparing Donald Trump to Christ. It personally hurt me to vote for Mr. Trump on election day. But, I am pointing out that we all get caught up in the nonsense of today and we tend to put the most pivotal moment in all history on the back burner to be brought out once a year. Folks, Jesus went through it all on purpose. He didn’t flinch one time. He could have called angels down to take Him away from the Cross. And, as He hung there between heaven and earth, with blood running from Him onto that roughhewn cross, He didn’t rail at or curse the ones who had put Him there. He asked God to forgive them.

Is this a make or break time for our country? Maybe. I don’t know. This will be my 12^th president. They come and go. The thing I am absolutely sure about, though, is that I don’t owe who I am and I don’t owe where I will go when I die to any government official of any time in history. I owe it all to that peaceful yet despised God/man who allowed Himself to be powerless at the Cross. So do you, for that matter. Worry less about our feeble political situation and worry more about what you can do for the Lord God Almighty.

Pastor