So, despite the fact that my life is objectively fantastic, I've been having a bit of a hard time lately. Blame it on lack of stability, fear of the future, late-twenties angst (is there such a thing? I wasn't a particularly angstful teenager... maybe I'm just a late bloomer), or perhaps the weather. I'm actually about to make a powerful argument for the last one: the sun is out this morning (after 4 days of rain), and the sole tree in my backyard, which was pretty much the first tree around to drop its leaves last fall, is suddenly covered with tiny pink blossoms. And, despite the fact that I am under more stress today than I am emotionally capable of admitting, I feel much much better after a 2 minute gaze out the window.

I guess my main point is to marvel at how much human psychology is tied to nature's cycles. And also to express thanks that we're entering the fun part of the cycle. I remember when I lived on the east coast, Spring would come all at once with a dramatic showing of new leaves, sunshine and warm temperatures, and little baby plants emerging from the ground where the snow was nearly melted. Every single person would be high for one week straight, skipping everywhere, smiling and breathing deep for no reason at all, and being absolutely, genuinely good to each other. It's a brief experience in the context of a full year, but it alone makes 5 months of winter worthwhile.

I miss it, living out here, but today's sunshine alone is enough to get me through whatever problems my charmed life can throw at me. If I ever get any real problems, you can look for me in a cabin in Vermont, waiting patiently for nature to cure me.

With the recent election, there's been a lot of talk in the media about the role of Christianity in America's political spectrum. Actually, there's always a lot of talk about that, because the role Christianity plays in our politics cannot be understated. There is occasionally press on the minority Christian movement that chooses to follow liberal politics, placing the supreme Christian value of peace and not harming fellow humans at the forefront, as well as taking a more loving and tolerant view of those that follow a different path such as homosexuals or people who have premarital sex and abortions. There is also a growing Christianity-based environmental movement, arguing that it is a sin to abuse the beautiful land God has given us and we as the recipient of this gift have an absolute duty to maintain it.

It's really a shame that American Christians as a whole, a people who have as much of a common ideology as possible for such a large group, feel like they have to align themselves with either the Democrats or Republicans. The views, arguably, create the awkward and problematic relationship they currently enjoy with the Republicans (OK on same sex marriage and abortion, not so good on the issues of war, the death penalty, charity to the poor.) Alternatively, they could align themselves with the Democrats, who are perhaps better on the issue of peace and the environment but whose socially liberal streak makes many Christians too uncomfortable to commit. In reality, Christianity does not sit on the right or the left as they are understood in today's political spectrum. It embodies its own set of ideas of how the country should be run, a worldview that is coherent as a standalone perspective but is distorted when shoved into predetermined party politics.

So this is my point: there should be a third party in this country - a Christian party. This way, those who felt like religious teachings were the primary driving force behind their political beliefs would find direct and pure representation in our government. Similarly, those who belong to another religion (or no religion) or who are Christians but who derive their political beliefs from other sources, could align themselves with the left or the right, whichever one they chose. These parties too could now serve to more directly represent their constituents without having to bend to attract the religious vote, which may or may not align with them on any particular issue.

If we had three major parties in our Federal government, we could escape all the recent problems of one party rule we've so recently experienced. The argument against the two party system has been made before many times, and I don't care to rehash it. Suffice it to say, that if there is no clear ruling majority, but instead any group seeking change must look to the other parties for cooperation, we would have a more fair and representative government. "Reaching across the aisle" would go from being the subject of mandatory lip service to being an inherent necessity to anyone participating in the system.

The major failing of third party politics until now has been the difficulty in getting a new party off the ground. Of course, all of the established third parties have represented political extremes (except maybe the Reform Party??) and thus suffered from the immediate defect of few potential members. A Christian party, however, has millions and millions of potential members. If the leadership of the top 5 churches signed on to this idea, the membership requirements for establishment could be met in a matter of days. With such a built in base, this movement could completely transform our government in a months.

Of course, I must say that I'm no Christian myself and would not be joining this party. I am not suggesting this to further my own agenda but instead with the goal of a government that is more responsive to the will of the people. I personally don't like the idea of conservative Christian people having a say on the issue of same sex marriage, but they live here too so that's the way it has to be (besides, that's what the Supreme Court is for, not Congress). No individual issue is more important than a government that is truly representative of and accountable to its people. If Christians stopped waiting to be coddled by the powers that be, and instead took the initiative to become part of the structure of rule, our entire country, Christian and otherwise, would be far, far better off.