People often say that they don't want to discuss religion or politics. Maybe you heard that a time or two in your life. Everyone has an opinion and there is usually a difference between yours and mine. It stands to reason these two topics tend to be full of emotion. We do not like to be told what to believe or how to vote. My guess is our Constitution allows us to pursue life, liberty, happiness and the right to be wrong. Like most people out there, I think my opinion is right. The world would be a much better place if it lived according to my opinions. That probably isn't really true but its how more than a few people think.

Let me remind you that I like our new President. There may not be lots of agreement with him but he is still the leader of our country. It may be better to say he is the elected leader as the jury is still out on who is really in charge. That is not meant to be mean toward Mr. Obama. It would be true regardless of which political party held the majority. Let me remind you that with President Bush that more than a few analysts of all persuasions wondered if his Vice President wasn't taking the lead. Our new President is learning the lesson that campaigning is far different than governing.

Someone once said that you campaign in poetry yet you govern in prose. The successful leader knows how to make the transition. My view is that our President can be enjoy his popularity as well as see some real accomplishment. It's also my view that in time his predecessor will be viewed in a much better light. We need to come to grips that the reality of the present is conceived over more than eight years. The crisis of now didn't just start in 2000. Leaders of each of our two parties contributed to this mess since the 1990s. Now we all must step up to contribute to the solutions.

We need to remember that our legislators work for us. We pay them with our taxes do represent our interests. Somehow, that idea gets lost these days. We also should do our Christian duty in praying for them. You might even write your Congressman to encourage them and not just complain. People need to also take the time to be truly informed on the issues that face us. Don't expect your favorite radio show host to always spell out all the facts. My suggestion is to read a wide variety of news sources so you can think for yourself. The worst idea you can have is from someone else that you warm up. Even if you don't agree with something at least know the solid reasoning behind your idea. Oh, you don't need to be ugly when disagreeing. It tends to cheapen the value of your words.

The problems we face in our country are the size of Goliath. Our government cannot fix them all. In fact, it can be argued that since they contributed to our calamity that they won't be able to cure it either. Our Founding Fathers could not envision the mess we are in today. I can imagine them taking our current government officials out to the proverbial woodshed. But here we are stuck for the time being. We cannot wish the dark clouds away. We can begin taking the steps as citizens to hold our elected officials accountable. We can remember that we "own" our country. We can and should pray much. But we also can and should be responsible. If not us, then who? If not now, then when?

Bro. Trey