Election Rhetoric and the Genius of James

Election year is a season of rhetoric complete with intermittently inspiring ideas and frequently disappointing realities. Aristotle defined rhetoric as "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion." Translated into the vernacular of today, rhetoric is telling people what they want to hear so that they in turn will do what you want them to do. Perhaps this election year is a good time to invoke the genius of James: "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (James 1:22, 27 NIV). In other words, powerful rhetoric is word wedded to action. It is noun and verb together creating an unforgettable and unavoidable statement of truth. In this election season pray with me for our nation and choose wisely our next leader. More than anything else, refuse empty rhetoric and insist on truth validated by action.

Grace as Potential

First day of a new school year... Not a Western phenomenon but certainly a Western obsession. Some face the day with knotted stomachs, while others enjoy a Type A adrenaline rush toward over-achievement. No matter the individual response, collectively it is a rite of passage, more substantial than New Year's for change resolution. Lived now vicariously through daughters, grandchildren and university students, I cannot refuse the growing connection for me of first days with grace. Perhaps due to a better grasp of grace's saving grip on me, I detect grace in every moment of potential. How often we think 'If only...', 'I would have...', 'I'd give anything if...' Grace secures another chance, another first day of school--endlessly. Enormous potential resides in first days, and grace extends potential in every breath we enjoy.