I, like perhaps all of you, was up too late watching post-debate screaming.
So, let’s see, are there takes?
One
I trundled over to Pittsburgh from Latrobe yesterday to spend the afternoon with John and Kathy of the Ride Home with John and Kathy. Honestly, it was a day of pure delight. I got to see them doing the show, which was unbelievably cool, and then hang out for a bit seeing some city sights and riding in that little car that goes straight up the side of a cliff.
I don’t know how long I’ve been getting to chat with John and Kathy for a few minutes on the last Wednesday of the month, but it is always a highlight of the week. I usually huddle in the car, trying to get away from all the shouting in my house, trying to marshall my scattered thoughts, trying to sound cleverer than I am.
John and Kath are both so funny and wise. And they interview fascinating people (I don’t mean me—I mean like everyone else). They’re on every day from 4 to 6—basically the witching hour for small babies and their mothers who have to cook dinner while everyone is melting down. Seriously, listen to them every day!
Two
Of course, then I had to stay awake to watch the debate. I stress-tweeted the whole thing, if you have nothing to do but scroll. I said this:
Paging C.S. Lewis to come back to the grave and revise his description of Hell in the Great Divorce to include this Presidential Debate.
And this:
Paging PG Wodehouse to come back from the grave and write a long golf novel called The Great Debate.
And this:
I think I'm in Purgatory.
Three
It’s fascinating, and terrible, of course, to watch the people who know the most about politics trying to guess what will happen next. The ones who seem to be most in the know are all saying that it can’t go on like this. Mr. Biden simply cannot be the person on the ballot.
But what I want to know is, why not? Isn’t it possible that no one knows what they are doing? If there had been a good plan, wouldn’t “they” have done it by now? Who are “they?”
Four
It is interesting to me how much the two people running for the job of President argued about death. Almost every subject set before them had to do with death—abortion, crime, poverty, inflation, fentanyl. Never mind that one of them looked like he could keel over at any moment.
Five
That’s all any human civilization can ultimately produce—more death.
It takes Jesus coming down and destroying the things that kill us—Satan and sin, pride and foolishness—for any of us to be able to live.
Six
The Old Testament reading for Morning Prayer appointed for today is Daniel 7, the one about the devouring beasts that come up out of the sea. None of the beasts could ever have expected what happened next:
“As I looked,
thrones were placed,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
its wheels were burning fire.
A stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.“I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
“I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.
Which is to say—it’s going to be fine. Whoever the American President is does not really matter because Jesus is sitting on the Throne, high and lifted up, and he hears you when you pray and he has the power to do something about it.
Seven
As a parting gift, here is a funny video:
Have a lovely day!
Last evening our parish had the Divine Service (Lutheran speak for worship) and we prayed for the president and those in authority. We sang Eternal Father Strong to Save and heard from St. Mark chapter 4. After the service I went home and hugged my wife and together we watched baseball. All this to echo Anne, “it’s going to be ok.” And it is. Thanks be to God.
Humor is a wonderful way to cope. This bit was therapeutic for me:
"Paging PG Wodehouse to come back from the grave and write a long golf novel called The Great Debate."
But thanks most for pulling me away from catastrophizing over the pig's breakfast we've made for ourselves in 2024 to view the throne of God, to remember the depth of his mercy to many of us who had earned a just condemnation for our rebellion.
As Jeeves once observed, "The poet Browning in his Pippa Passes, having established that the hour is seven A.M., goes on to say, "The lark's on the wing, the snail's on the thorn."' And God is, indeed, in his heaven.
Keep bracing us with that stiff upper lip, Anne!