Flattery, Deception, and the Coming 2022 Elections

Can't help but meditate on this passage in the context of our upcoming elections.

1.  We need people of integrity in government (elected, appointed, career service, public education).  We have a few, but their voices are muffled and their hands are tied.  

2.  Campaigning is the peak season for flattery and deception; and once they assume, regain, or retain power, they dispense with accountability, saying "who is our master except for ourselves and mammon?"

3.  Who suffers the most?  The poor and the oppressed.  A lot of times in exchange for pesos ranging from P20 up to any amount you can imagine, depending on what you can deliver in exchange.  But one doesn't have to be poor to be oppressed -- even senators can be thrown in prison and business franchises denied.

4.  I don't think "spring to action" is an accurate translation of God "rising up" on our behalf, but honestly, that imagery is what I also wish how God would swiftly and clearly intervene in our affairs.

5. God would protect those who truly stand for truth and righteousness--regardless of their spot in the political spectrum.

6.  Cause and effect:  when people promote evil, the wicked turn up everywhere -- local and national, from all regions throughout the archipelago -- regardless of political affiliation, religion, or creed.

Forgive me, Lord, if I have politicized this morning's meditation from Your word.  But thank You for the gentle reminder that the Christ-likeness in us must pervade all of our individual being and all our world's affairs (and how we express it in word and in deed).

Good morning, friends and loved ones, from the land that's seeing the first sunny morning in more than a month.