Hope is a funny thing.  When you have it, you feel you can do anything.  When you don’t have it, all seems lost.  Hope is something that we all need.  It’s the picture of a brighter day coming, a better outcome of our circumstances.

Hope has kept prisoners of war alive while enduring extreme torture and inhuman conditions.  Hope has kept marriages alive when all looked like it was lost.  Hope is powerful. Hope is needed.

The Great Divide

In our country right now, there is a great divide.  Unfortunately, the Church has even allowed the politics of our day to divide us. 

Many who have supported President Trump feel that all hope is lost because he lost the election.  Others of his supporters still cling to hope that something drastic will happen that will keep him in office.

Supporters of President-elect Biden have hope that he will undo many of President Trump’s policies that they feel are misguided and bad for the country. 

One side has hope, the other has lost it.  In my opinion, it’s a sad day for our nation because of the great divide within the country that has given the world hope for many years.

The United States is a great experiment in human freedom and democracy.  It’s a country that was built upon the premise of “for the people, by the people.”  Yet, it seems to me, that we have lost that great hope of “for the people, by the people.”  Now, it is more “for the party, by the party” or even more reckless “for the issue, by the issue.”

Where’s the hope?  Can we restore hope for everyone?

How To Restore Hope

I think that we can as we realize a few key issues.

The first issue is that as great as America is, and as great as the American experiment has been, we must understand that it is flawed and always will be. The reason that it is flawed is because it’s run by human beings.  Every system of government that’s ever been is flawed and will continue to have its flaws because human beings are involved.

We human beings always mess things up.  The reason?  We are selfish and it’s an uphill, daily climb to overcome our selfishness.  We may start out with great ideals and principles, but when people get power the self-centeredness usually rears its head.

Our second issue is that of power.  Until we realize that power is best used in and for the service of others, we will always have the division of “us vs. them”.  It seems that when people get power it changes their perspective, usually in a bad way.  This is not always the case but many times power will corrupt people because they’ve not dealt with their own self-centeredness before they got power.

I am amazed that Jesus never rebuked his disciples for wanting to be great (Luke 22:24-30).  He just redefined greatness for them.  They thought that greatness meant power and authority to rule.  Jesus defined greatness as the ability to serve.  He said that the greatest among you shall be the servant of all.  The ability to humble yourself to serve others is great power.

Delegated Power

When will our government leaders realize that their delegated power is not for them to achieve political greatness, line their pocketbooks, or to be above the very rules they create? When will they realize that their power is to serve the American people – all the American people, not just the ones that they think will get them elected?

Sir John Dalberg-Acton said it best when he said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  When we lose sight of what power is for, that of serving others, then power will absolutely corrupt us.

For America to once again become the great Republic that stands as one nation, under God, indivisible,  with liberty and justice for all requires our leaders to realize that their delegated power is by the people and for the people of this great land.  Their delegated power doesn’t put them above the people, rather it puts them under the people to lift up the people they serve.

Hope can be restored when we see the value of all people.  Hope can be restored when we realize that we are all in this thing together and that together we have to make it work. 

Is America too divided for that to happen?  Are we too far into the vacuum of divisiveness to pull ourselves out?  I don’t think so, but it will require work from everyone.  

I still have hope for this great nation.  I still have hope that we can turn things around.  I know that many people are praying for this nation.  

Maybe we need to stop praying for our side to win.  Instead, let’s pray that both sides begin to serve.

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