The General Election was called and somehow the power in the land passed from its politicians and government into the hands of the media, writes Rev Sydney Maitland. It is now the journalists, editors, presenters, commentators and pollsters who were making the running as each party, its leaders and manifestoes are held up to examination, comment, ridicule and abuse.
The government continues until it either resigns or is returned as the majority party in Parliament. But everything else has changed. There are questions about how we are governed and what priorities will be established. If any policy area is a priority then it will be funded, regardless of the rhetoric surrounding it and rival policies and programmes. That is what a priority is – and its claims on the time of the relevant staffs, the financing, the time in Parliament to be dedicated to it will all show just how high a priority it is.
But then there are ‘events’. The world outside may not be too interested in how many hospitals there are or whether the trains or buses run on time. But it will look long and hard if it is expected to provide the loans to support any treasured project. And developments in the affairs of our trading partners, or on the battlefields of the world, can change our own sense of security and loyalty.
Yet this is the opposite to where we are, and many of us cast our ballots on the strength of our feelings and perceptions. How can we do anything else as we have only limited information on the issues surrounding any policy area, and anyway we are making a choice between rival packages of policies and proposals? We do not have a veto over any particular part of that package.
But there is another approach. Even without full and direct knowledge of the issues facing us, we may still find that there is that inner voice. It is not the same as our feelings or preferences, but it comes to us with a clarity and an authority all of its own. It was there in the still small voice that Elijah heard when he was busy having a nervous breakdown. It was also there as Samuel was summoned into the presence of God and as a first task, was called to pronounce judgment on the man whom he regarded as his father. Needless to say, Moses knew a lot about that voice of God speaking into his spirit.
But then Jesus also spoke about His sheep: how He knew each by name and how they knew His voice and could distinguish it from other voices. They would follow His voice but not those of other leaders. Again, there is something quiet but authentic in the voice of the Lord. It does not (normally) shout and neither does it override our own free will to obey it or reject it.
And then there are those events. Strange circumstances where things come together, ‘coincidences’ which lead us into actions or contacts with people. There are dates when things happen, anniversaries that none but ourselves knew anything about and they combine to make a picture.
We might say that this is all very well, but how can an individual make any difference? Writing to the church as a whole, James compared the idle use of what we say to the rudder of a ship or how a spark can ignite a fire. (James 3: 1-6) A little goes a very long way, especially when committed to the service of the Lord – or our own appetites and desires.
As we look at the times and circumstances we inhabit, we may want to step back from ourselves and look at them from another point of view. Instead of our own preferences, there will be questions on what aspects of life are important in the sight of God. Where do truth and justice lie? What is honouring to the Lord? In what course of action will we find that there really is an abiding peace? Maybe these things will help and sustain us in the privacy of the polling booth.
Every blessing,
Sydney Maitland
