Scripture: Proverbs 17:22
A cheerful heart is good medicine, sovaldi but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Thought for the Day: History was made yesterday when the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act. As soon as the decision was announced, ed pundits from both sides of the aisle began pontificating about how wrong the other side was for thinking whatever they thought about the decision. There was endless arguing over details and legal issues, and nearly zero mention about how many millions of people this law helps. Wow. Talk about spirit crushing.

Jesus was confronted with a similar problem in his time. He noticed that the spiritual leaders of his day were also trapped in endless, soul-crushing debates about the minutest details of the Law that God gave Moses for all Israel. They were missing the spirit of the Law. Jesus argued that God gave us the Law not to crush the people’s spirit, but rather to enlighten us; to help us become the loving, compassionate beings we were created as. Made in God’s image. The Law sets us free and makes us righteous—right with God. When we’re right with God, we are more concerned with the welfare of others than of ourselves.

Yesterday, my spirit was lifted a little. Perhaps there is hope that the United States is ready to join the rest of the civilized world in creating systems that provide for the basic needs of its people. Perhaps the crust of partisanship that has enveloped and slowly crushed our spirit since 9/11 is starting to melt away. Perhaps the United States is becoming, once again, a country that opens its arms to the helpless, the homeless, the hungry, the tired, the poor, the weak. You know, like it says on that statue in New York:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Prayer: God of compassion and grace, may your presence and love continue to be felt in our midst, and may our leaders continue to awaken to new life in you—renewed in spirit, cheerful of heart, and compassionate to the needs of others. Amen.