The national police stopped our bus on Saturday as we returned from ministry. Legally, we are supposed to travel everywhere with our passports. However, the likelihood of our passports being stolen is much higher than the likelihood that a large group of us would be arrested for the trespass; so, our passports stay securely at home.
It was clearly a good cop/ bad cop scenario. The first officer was annoyed and angry with us, telling us (in Spanish) that if the United States can kick Hondurans out of its country for breaking the law, then Hondurans can kick Americans out of their country for breaking the law. (I could see his point; although, he did go as far to tell us that we were illegal immigrants, which is where his logic got a little fuzzy for me, considering that we neither entered Honduras illegally nor live here indefinitely. But I digress.)
After they exited the bus, the first officer walked away and his partner returned. “Is anybody here from Maryland? Anyone? Or Virginia? Anyone?,” he asked us. In English. We (still entertaining the thought that there was a slight chance we might spend the night in jail) kept our mouths shut until he persisted, and then we started a brief conversation.
It turned out that his family lives in Maryland and he wanted to practice his English with us.
And that, my friends, sums up much of what I've seen around the world. The United States of America: simultaneously loved and hated, emulated, disdained, embraced, used (and, at times, abused), respected, feared, misunderstood, and, sometimes, understood more than I think we understand ourselves. I got to thinking about the good ol' U.S.A., and then I realized:
It's election year.
Now, surely those of you living stateside realize this. Truth be told, I guess I already knew it was election year, too; but, with the exception of knowing who the two main candidates are, I am blissfully unaware of all the election ballyhoo happening at home. And, yes, I said “ballyhoo,” but mostly because I'm fairly certain that the other “b” word I'd like to use would be censored from this blog. There will be plenty of, ahem, ballyhoo waiting for me when I step off the plane at the end of July. (At which point I will calmly remind everyone that everything discussed during the Summer of 2008 didn't matter once the economy tanked in October 2008; so, if they will please refrain from discussing anything with me until October 2012 that would be nice. And if they'd like to wait until October 2016, that would be even better. Now, who would like to talk about wedding favors?)
I'd tell you that I hate talking about politics, but occasionally my actions would tell you otherwise; and, with my politics failing to fit into a neat box, I have plenty of opportunities for discussion. So I guess if I claim that I don't like to talk about politics, I have to choose the direction of this blog carefully. But, it's just that I wonder what I'm going to make of it all once I step off the plane. I went on the World Race to see Jesus' heart at work around the world, and I wonder what will be exposed in my own heart when I return. I hope that I'll love more like He loves. I realize that politics have a tendency to ruffle feathers (yours may be a bit fluffed by the end of this blog), and I wonder if I'll be angry about the things that He is angry about. I can't think of a single scripture reference where Jesus is angry at his government's handling of the issues of the day. It seems to me that his frustrations were directed to the religious folk who claimed to be representing God's will.
Hmmm.
The boys on the property here have been going a little treehouse crazy. There was one treehouse on the property when we arrived, and it has since been rebuilt and joined by two more. There was an interesting situation the other day with the first new treehouse. At the time, it seemed easier to build the treehouse on the ground, with the hopes of moving it up into the tree once it was finished. It was only with the help of a pick-up truck, lots of time, and quite a bit of problem-solving that the treehouse made it up into the tree, but it was a little worse for wear. A valuable lesson had been learned. The other house was built in the tree, which was initially more difficult, but ultimately the only way that really worked.
Jesus tells his followers that his Kingdom is not of this world. Sometimes I wonder if Christians are a little too busy building political treehouses on the ground because building the Kingdom of Heaven within the Church just seems a little too difficult. Please don't misunderstand, especially after all I've seen this year, I appreciate America's freedoms and privileges more than ever. But let's get our priorities straight. For those who call themselves followers of Christ, His way is higher than the American way, and Jesus' legislation for Christians is pretty direct:
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Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
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Love your neighbor as yourself.
When we as Christians are known more for legislating our neighbors than loving them, we have a problem within the Church that should be far more important to us than who's living in the White House.
(And I tried to tell you that I don't like talking about politics. Sigh.)
So, I say, enjoy your 4th of July festivities and the amazing freedoms they represent. To all my Christian friends, just remember who YOU are representing, and what His priorities are. It would be great if we made it through this election season without muddying up the beautiful love He's given us to give away.
