Waiting for the Kingdom

It's been a very political two weeks - between the Massachusetts Senate election and the State of the Union, I feel very aware of my elected leadership.

This evening's address left me uninspired; the speech was fine, but it made me realize that the power of large government bodies to address our needs as individuals and a society is limited. There's so much about how we interact with each other that can't be legislated. For other things, when you try to legislate them, they become so complex that they are incomprehensible to many - and perhaps - most citizens who might wish to participate in the details of their own governance. (The health care is the obvious, but by no means the only, example of this problem.)

At any rate, I was hit very forcefully with the understanding that real peace, or justice, or safety, or health, will not be achieved until the Kingdom of God comes. That doesn't mean - as the accusation against Christians often goes - that I don't care about or will cease to work and live for as much of that good world as we can find now. But I think that work (for me) will be less about changing policy, and more about building the community of people around me who are modeling justice in their lives every day.

Which is a funny thing to say as a graduate student of public administration. But my sustainable urban commune will be the best managed community in the world!