Those who know me at all are aware I’m not a voter. Discussion on why that’s the case is a subject for another piece. Suffice to say it’s related to my belief in God (and certainly a matter of contention between myself and many—maybe most—other Christians),.

Though I’m not one who casts ballots for various offices and matters put forth in referenda, It’s likely I know far more about both politics and current events than almost all those around and about me (and frankly, even those who are at a substantial distance).

For a person paying mind to the political process, its workings, and various and sundry things happening in society, it would be exceptionally easy to be “black-pilled.”

For those not up on modern day parlance, you could say something like, “I could be easily depressed, saddened, and angered by what’s happening in the things I see and hear.”

In fact, to be fair, I periodically have to check myself because I find I’m being dragged down by the things I’m viewing and to which I’m listening

Overall though, where a plethora of things to which one might find oneself exposed are likely to place one at least for a time “under dark clouds,” if one has the proper focus, that should not cause one to fall into a funk.

You might be asking yourself what your focus should be if you want to consistently continue in a positive outlook.

The answer—at least in my mind—is simple (though maybe not so easy to express).

I have to begin by restating something I’ve already made clear. I believe in God. Furthermore, I count God to be the One spoken of in the Bible.

God is, in my understanding, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the “God of the Jews.”

He’s “more” than that though. The God in Whom I believe, is also He on Whom those who are truly members of the Christian faith also “hang their hat.”

If you’ve at all taken the time to read and understand the sacred text of the Jews and of Christians (to wit, the Biblical writings), you must come to certain conclusions as I see things.

The first is, God is not “dead.” True adherents to Judaism and Christianity account God to be eternal—He has not died and can not do so.

Next in line? Jesus is God. It’s not a simple thing to explain how that even can be true. Nonetheless, true it is, and I believe it to be so.

Following this idea, is the concept of God being in control.

That’s a touchy one.

People want to consider it a “cop out” to say such a thing.

They often say—essentially—people making such an assertion are attempting to free themselves from the consequences of their choices and actions.

May it never be so!

I could get into details, but the simple statement of things, is that God’s control does not mean He decides what humanity does.

Simply, you are responsible for what you do and say.

Yet and still, I have a certainty that God ensures all works to the benefit of His children.

To be clear, that doesn’t just mean believers either. I’m fully confident all of us are being (often gently, but sometimes not) directed to the best possible outcome.

Because we have the right to choose, that may not be so wonderful. When we choose to do the things He would have us do, it should be pretty fantastic.

I’ll be the absolute first to acknowledge that I don’t nearly always do as I ought. Even though that’s true, I firmly accept that God is consistently working for the best outcome me-ward.

Part of what this at least implies (and really directly indicates), is that the choices of others that affect me, are engineered by God to my best outcome.

If you think that to be far-fetched, I would agree were it not for the fact that God is the One I account to be doing the engineering.

It’s when I forget this is the case, that I allow myself to fall down into the dumps.

Not a Christian? I’m sorry to tell you I have no hope to give you.

It seems pretty clear to me, man left to his own devices is a recipe for dismal outcomes.

Even with God’s intervention, man has done some pretty ugly things.

We’ve warred on a local, and on a worldwide basis, dropped incredibly powerful bombs on one another, attempted the genocide of others, killed in major ways (and without sanction) in the name of what we believe, and so much more.

These are the easy things to see. When countries or other large groups do various evils, even those without particularly acute perception will likely see it.

Though less obvious occurrences are more visible due to things like the ubiquity of cellular phones and stand alone cameras, we still don’t tend to see much that happens on an individual basis.

Without my acceptance of God’s existence, and work in the World—both at large and directly in my behalf—at this point, I would be pretty unnerved were I to simply cast an eye around me.

I hope I’m not alone in that.

All this considered, the intent of this post is to bring hope, not to cause you to fall into dark despair.

I’m by no means telling you either to ignore what you’re seeing and hearing, or to throw your lot in with those accounting evil good, and good evil. You should always seek and work to be the best person possible.

On the other hand, it should be obvious just by glancing around, and opening one’s ears, that others will at least not concern themselves with whether what they do or say, is the best possible thing. It should be equally clear that many will quite literally be intent on evil.

If you focus on the statements and deeds of such, you’re likely to find yourself in a figurative deep, dank, miserable, hole.

It should be plain what I’m saying. Rather than directing your attention to these things, if you’re a believer, set your face towards God, and what He’s doing around and about you. If you do this, you’re bound to find your outlook to be a great deal happier and healthier, than those who don’t.

As is my wont, I wish you the best of times. If you don’t find yourself in a happy place at the moment, I pray your lot improves in the course of (hopefully near) time.