Bombs Bursting in Air!

Unbelievable the depths of the evil in men's hearts and their ability to creatively execute that evil! There's the Gosnell trial in Philadelphia - a cesspool of violence and corruption! There is the Boston Marathon Bomb(s) with all the devastation! There are poison letters sent to at least one congressman and the President! And then there was the infamous April 15th! All that is happening in this one week!

As I drove to work this AM, I was struck with wonder as I passed mile after mile of beautiful flowering trees and gorgeous plantings of daffodils and tulips! My thoughts were that God NEVER intended the world to be anything but right, good and beautiful! Instead it is broken beyond repair and not just in the sensational news of this week! The world is broken all over the place and especially in my own heart!

Isn't it wonderful that God still provides the beauty of spring bursting forth after the cold and snow and bleakness of winter to bathe our eyes and our hearts with a glimpse of the beauty that will someday return like it was in the beginning! 

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ... And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then He said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." (Rev. 21:1-5)

Tax Day

It's April 15th - Tax Day all day! Of all the days in the year, Tax Day is the one I like least. It's not the record keeping or adding up the various account categories for deductions that makes Tax Day such a bad day. It's just the idea that so much of what we have to live on goes where I don't see it, can't use it and mostly feel like it's wasted a lot of the time.

I don't think restoration will fix the tax system in our country. It's interesting to reflect that income tax wasn't a part of the founding of our country. In fact, one major cause of the American Revolution against England was "taxation without representation." The colonists had no say in either the amount of the tax or in how the tax was dispersed. And almost everything but air to breathe was taxed in the 1770's!

Income tax in the 16th amendment to the Constitution didn't come into being until 1913. We've come a long way from the 3% income tax in 1913 to over 30% today. We don't need the system restored to what it used to be or even was meant to be. We need it fixed! I don't know what that needs to look like or how it needs to be done.

It does call us all to be more responsible citizens of "the land of the free and the home of the brave" if we hope it will remain brave and free for our children and grandchildren! It calls us to reverse the scary trends of the brightest and best not being willing to pay the cost of high public office. We need to vote intelligently and carefully!

What will restore what is broken in our government and in our society is for more men and women who know what it means to be restored to be God's man or woman standing tall in a world gone mad, willing to pay the price of public office to tilt the balance once again to sanity!

My grandfather was a congressman. I can remember his saying that people don't elect their representatives and then trust them to make informed decisions on their behalf. He believed he was sent to Washington to study the issues, be there to vote and then to vote with his heart and mind clearly focused on what he believed was best for the people he represented. There are still men and women like him in government today. We need to support them with our hearts and our votes!

Then maybe Tax Day won't seem like such a bad word that leaves such a bad taste in my mouth every year!