This line from Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing was stuck in my head the other day. It seemed like a good blog address so here we are. I'll probably mostly post stuff about the bible here so as to have some thoughts in a retrievable format.

From todays epistle reading (Hebrews 11)

13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

This is an appropriate reading on "state of the union day". We are reminded that our ancestors in the faith (Abraham and co. ) were seeking "a better country." Tonight we will hear (or try to avoid) President Bush's agenda for a better United States of America, a more secure homeland, followed closely, of course, by the democratic response. We can be more the reasonably sure that both of these men will do everything in their and their speech writers' and wardrobe assistants 'power not to appear as 'strangers and foreigners on the earth." They will also make promises. It is extremely tempting to jump in this game, to bargain with the tempter for a few acres of moral influence but here we are told that Jesus calls us elsewhere.