A different take on Mark Souder

My reactions to Souder's confession and resignation were probably like a lot of people. On a political level, it's all over the blogs. On a personal level, I'm sure his wife and family's disappointment is greater than any of ours. On a religious level, I'm sure there are a whole lot of people who at least have the first stone in hand. As much as I'd love to be among them, that's not me. And these things are not what really bother me here.

What bugs me is this: Satan threw everything he had at a good man and won. Suprising? No. All of us sin and fall short of the glory of God. But this particular man's fall tells me something beyond the individual case. A lesson I should have remembered anyway- The idea of having a good man in Washington, who will be an example and will not be a hypocrite, will not fall and lie about it, is an illusion. It won't be done, it can't be done. Satan will slowly but surely tear down every man in government, in our workplace, in our church, and in our family, and show to the world his feet of clay. It's not Mark's fault in that one respect: he was outmatched. We all are. That's why we pray to God and trust in Jesus for salvation. But the consequence of this man, who did so much to "walk the walk" to the public and had up till now set a very positive example, falling is devastating to me. Like everyone, I need hope to survive. As a Christian, our hope is for and in the next world, I get that. But while submerged in this life, I need hope here, too. I need to know someone will be at home with me at night to listen when I need to talk. I need to know I have a church family to back me up. (Thankfully, these two are covered.) I need to know that the long hours at work will someday earn a reward beyond the paycheck. And I need to know that there is hope for this country, this government. The one is on shaky ground; the other now lies, for me, shattered beyond repair. And like at work, I shall go on and try to be positive, knowing intellectually that we're not at the end of the world. But inside, there's yet another facet of my life in which I question the use in trying. Satan won. He always wins in this life. Is there a reason for the game to go on?

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On a less serious note, it is Italy and Kazakhstan who will be dropping out of the great 16 next season. USA topped Italy 3-2 in an OT shootout, while France dominated the Kazakhs 5-3 on Tuesday. Germany won its way into the final 8 with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Slovakia; they were joined by the Czechs who pulled out a 3-2 win over Canada, putting them in and Norway out. Canada for the first time in its history has 3 losses before the final 8. Wrapping up the quarter final round, a pair of 5-0 games: Russia over Finland and Sweden over Switzerland. Now the 2 groups of 4 will play a fresh round robin, the top two will go into the final round robin.