Oh Say Where Is Truth? And....hope?

So I have decided to be a good citizen and become more politically involved or at least aware. My first step was to re-register to vote since moving into a new precinct (and re-register my husband whether he likes it or not). Next, I started trying to learn more about the political candidates. I started frequenting news websites and cable networks and actually read the political forwards sent in hoards to my inbox. I tried to learn of each candidate's policies and understand their views. I tried to learn of each person's character and determine whether he or she would each be a good leader for our country. I compared all of this to what I believe and what I would like in a president. Here is what I have learned:

I hate politics. Everybody lies! Everybody. All of the candidates from both parties. Everyone flip-flips. Everyone is vague and when anyone does say anything solid, there's a good chance they may go back on it just days later. I listened to someone at work rant and rave about how the Obama campaign is being smeared unfairly by the McCain campaign. My aunt's political forwards insinuate Obama's campaign is doing the same to McCain's. I also hate that the politics have to be this way. I'm not so naive as to think a candidate would probably win without a little bit of schmoozing or a little bit of fibbing and a heck of a lot of mud-slinging. But I hate that it is that way.

So where does that leave me? I have no idea what is true and what is false. I don't know which candidate to believe. I don't know which candidate to trust. Probably neither but I have to vote for someone! I find myself becoming more and more cynical as I question every news story I hear, every email I read, every conversation I overhear about politics. "Oh say, where is truth??"

And not just truth. But hope. The economy is in a bad way. I'm quite disturbed by the fact that the government has been handing out loans to the business giants as if these loans represented a few dollars' worth of food stamps. I don't know that our nation can handle this kind of debt but I don't know that we could afford to lose that many jobs either. How are we ever going to get out of this mess? It sure makes me feel hopeless too.

And then I realize how silly I am. I need not "wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east...run to and fro to seek the [truth], and shall not find it" (Amos 8:12). Even when I feel like young Joseph that everyone is "entirely lost in a strife of words and a contest about opinions" about what is best for our country, I know I can find the truth just like that 14-year-old boy. Truth is in the Lord's word. I can study the scriptures and apply them to the things that find in the world of politics. But even better than that, I can ask the Lord which is right. Even though, "none of them" is probably right, at least He can guide me to the best choice possible. And of course in this faith in God is also the place to find hope. I don't know how we'll work through this economic dearth, but I can still have peace. Somehow everything will work out. "But if not" I can still have peace.