Whew. I have to catch my breath, because the last few weeks have been nothing but a non-stop screaming match between two opposing sides. I'm caught in the crosshairs, standing in the middle, catching spit from either side as each attempts to out-yell the other. It's exhausting. The media and celebrities are overwhelmingly of one opinion, and everyone else is either wrong or stupid - or both. The media expects you to stand up and voice your thoughts, but if your thoughts don't match theirs, you might as well keep your mouth shut. Else you risk being taken down by a bunch of powerful people behind powerful keyboards and powerful Twitter accounts. Quite frankly, I'm tired of it. I'm grateful for the hope of Scripture, because per usual, what it has to say directly contradicts what most people are saying and doing right now. People are arguing their opinions as though their lives depend on it.  Have you noticed that people are more passionate about who the President is then who their God is?  People have more to say, more opinions to share about - for example - healthcare, than they do about where they expect to go after they die. You talk about death, and everyone gets silent. Funny, isn't it? It seems like peoples' hearts, their central emotional cores - seem to be found in political issues and picket signs more often than in who they claim to follow. I was reading in Matthew the other day, and Jesus' response to the Pharisees' question about paying taxes jumped out to me more than it ever had before. It seemed to strike exactly the right chord for this present moment. The Pharisees ask him: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They say, "Caesar's." And he says, astonishingly, "Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." There are a lot of theological discussions on this passage. What could Jesus have possibly meant? Some think he was encouraging disobedience by telling his listeners not to pay taxes. I don't think this is true. I don't think the question is "What is Caesar's?" so much as it's "What is God's?" How you answer the latter question changes everything. If you answer, "Everything," than He, God, is the one who truly demands your heart, your allegiance, your all. What if Jesus is encouraging obedience to the law and the governmental forces put into place around you, but more importantly, he is urging obedience to the Most High above all else? What if He is encouraging us to be so consumed with Him that we don't lose our hearts in arguments, but entrust them to the One who holds it all? The Government is important. You should fight for the things that matter to you and stand up for the issues you're passionate about. We are blessed to live in a democratic republic, where the people get a say in the decisions the government makes. But what I see on Facebook, on Twitter, and about every other blog sight I read are terrified people acting like our new President is the author of Fate, Time, and Space and has the power to destroy or build hope like God Himself. And that's simply not true. There's only one true Ruler, and his name is Jesus. And fear isn't his currency. He deals in faith. -Angela