Elijah, Disappointing Election Results, and Getting a Grip

From what I've heard, quite a few folks in America feel like this:

• 'Everybody except me has turned away from God!'
• 'They've silenced all the other believers!'
• 'And now they're after me!!'

The presidential election last week didn't come out the way I wanted. I'm disappointed: but not discouraged.

That's partly because I've read about Elijah:

"He replied, 'I have been most zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. But the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.' "
(1 Kings 19:14)

Elijah was not having a good day.

He wasn't alone, though. There were at least 7,000 left in Israel who hadn't gone along with the latest thing in spiritual fashions. (1 Kings 19:18) More to the point, God wasn't done with Elijah yet. (1 Kings 19:15)

When the dust settled, the score was: Elijah, 1; Jezebel, 0. (2 Kings 2:11, 2 Kings 9:30-33)

America, Hope, and the Big Picture

I think the next few years in America will be anything but tranquil. I'm cautiously hopeful, though, for reasons I've discussed before:

• Short term
  • "Remembering the '60s; Praying for America"
    (November 6, 2012)
    Particularly
    • 'The Good Old Days' - Weren't
• Long term
  • "We Won: Quite a While Ago"
    (January 13, 2011)

"Short Term," "Long Term," and Really Long Term

I'm an American, so "long term" can mean planning for late 2013. We're a mildly frantic people.

I'm also a Catholic, so "long term" can mean planning for eternity. (August 27, 2011) I'll get back to that.

A Man Who Wouldn't Stay Dead

A man said "I am God" about two millennia back. Then:

• The authorities had him executed
  • Publicly
  • Between two criminals
• He was
  • Pronounced dead
  • Buried
  • Mourned
• He stopped being dead

After that remarkable come from behind victory over death, I think it's prudent to take Jesus seriously.

Worry-Free, No; Final Victory, Yes

Jesus didn't guarantee a worry-free life for anyone. He did, however, give us a few assurances:

"And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, ¹³ and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."
(Matthew 16:18)

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"¹¹ Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

"Go, therefore, ¹² and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,

"teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. ¹³ And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.' "
(Matthew 28:18-20)

My Lord broke the power of sin and death, (1 Corinthians 15:21-22, Philippians 2:8, Romans 5:19-20; Catechism, 411, 420, 654, 1505)

Jesus told disciples, wannabe and otherwise, to "...follow me...."¹

Then my Lord marched through Hell. (Ephesians 4:8-10; Catechism, 631)

Remembering that, I think I can put up with disappointing election results.

That He ... Might Make Men Gods"

In a sense, life is the ultimate high stakes game. Depending on what I do with my life, I'll spend eternity with God: or not. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 988-1014)

I'd intended to discuss this bit from the Catechism today:

"The Word became flesh to make us 'partakers of the divine nature':⁷⁸ 'For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.'⁷⁹ 'For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.'⁸⁰ 'The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.'⁸¹"
(Catechism, 460)

We don't get the abilities, the attributes, of God. Catechism, 460, is talking about our being given a divine nature.

That reminds me of Genesis 1:27, among other things. I've mentioned this attribute/nature thing before:

• "To 'Make Men Gods' "
  (January 10, 2011)

There's more to say about divine nature, eternal life, and the grace of God. (Catechism, 1996, for starters) But that will wait for another day.

Related posts:

• America
  • "Freedom for 'People of Any Faith or No Faith At All' "
    (November 9, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Freedom, Citizenship, and All That
    • "Rooted in the Dignity of Every Human Person"
  • "An Objective Moral Order' "
    (November 4, 2012) 10:00 a.m.
    • America isn't Perfect
    • Voting Smart: Resources and Posts
  • "Huckleberry Finn, [redacted] Jim, and Making Sense"
    (June 24, 2011)
    Particularly
    • Shocking Best-Seller Banned
    • It's Different, When You're in Charge
    • Religious Freedom - for Everybody
  • "Anger, Hate, Love, Prayer and Trashing a Maywood, California, Catholic School"
    (May 26, 2010)
  • " 'Those Immigrants,' Assumptions, and the Catholic Church"
    (May 18, 2010)
• Hope
  • "Battling Sin, Living in Hope"
    (July 25, 2012)
    Particularly
    • 'Oh Woe, All Ye Faithful?'
    • 'Happy Time Gospel:' Not a New Notion
  • "The Man Who Wouldn't Stay Dead"
    (March 11, 2012)
  • "A Little Look at the Big Picture"
    (February 13, 2012)
    Particularly
    • You Think You've had a Bad Day?
    • Distressed, Not Depressed
    • Living With Immensity
  • "Hope, Joy, and 'More Despondent Than Thou?' "
    (January 8, 2012)
    Particularly
    • We're All Gonna Freeze Starve Get Blown Up Drown Uh, Change?
    • Hope isn't Irresponsibility
    • 'Gloominess is Next to Godliness?'
  • "Hope, Joy, and Working for a Better World"
    (September 13, 2011)
    Particularly
    • The Golgotha Incident
    • The Future Looks Pretty Good - - -
    • - - - And We Have Work to Do
• Getting a grip
  • "'I Love Humanity - - - ' "
    (October 15, 2012)
    Particularly
    • "Never ... an Abstract Attitude"
    • Love, Neighbors, and Bureaucracies
  • "Upset Applecarts: A Hopeful Sign"
    (March 5, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Economic and Technological Progress: It's Not Enough
    • Science, Technology, and Rules
    • Politics, Ideologies, and Moving Ahead
  • "Zambia, America, and Two Millennia of Weaseling"
    (September 26, 2011)
    Particularly
    • Freedom of from Religion?
    • State Churches and Me
    • The Catholic Church, Public Life, and Two Millennia of Weaseling
  • "World Refugee Day 2011, the Pope, and 'He Doesn't Have Family...' "
    (June 20, 2011)
    Particularly
    • The Catholic Church: The Opposite of an Exclusive Club
    • Africa, the Vatican, and Me
  • "No Open Season on Transgendered People, Please!"
    (April 26, 2011)
    Particularly
    • "Love" isn't "Approval"
    • Sex, People, and Rules

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¹ "Follow me:" Matthew 16:24-25; Matthew 19:21; Mark 2:14; Mark 10:21; Luke 9:23, 9, Luke 18:22; John 1:43; John 21, 19.