Political Thoughts

With great self-discipline I daily resist using this site for personal opinion, no matter how holy and right. Especially on matters political it is tempting to become another pundit during this past election season. Well the season is over, so I am gong to indulge in some prognostication. It is easy to get very euphoric or depressed concerning this last election based your political stripes. I don't know the political cultures in other countries but in the USA it seems we put a lot of faith in our political leaders. Both sides seem to make their leaders Messianic and the one who does a better job usually wins.

This past weekend during Liturgy, an Orthodox response to politics came shining through. For non-Orthodox readers, we pray at every service for our political leaders no matter who is in power. This is true the world over whether the Church lives under brutal dictatorships or mushy mouth elected officials.

This weekend I heard the Church pray as always:
"For the President of the United States and all civil authorities, and for our Armed Forces everywhere, let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy."
Shortly after these we prayed another prayer that summed up our attitude toward leaders of this world:
“Put not your trust in princes, in sons of men in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to his earth and his plans perish. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations!” (Ps. 146, the Second Antiphon).
These prayers juxtaposed encapsulate our attitude to our leaders, good or bad. Pray but don't trust for your salvation. Pray for them but don't expect them to usher in the kingdom.

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