A Super Tuesday

So I watched Super Tuesday on English-speaking CNN with my host brother, who´s also a journalist. I can´t tell you how different it is to be here and watching speeches like Mitt Romney´s, in which he rallies his supporters by telling them that America is the greatest nation on earth and we´re going to keep it that way. If my host family understood that English, I´m not really sure they´d agree.

Being here has tempered my perspective on patriotism. While I love my country and watching election night was, as usual, exhilarating, it´s a little sobering when you know that every single policy touted by these politicians will intensely affect dozens upon dozens of other countries -- for better or for worse. It´s hard when they´re talking about keeping jobs in the U.S., improving schools, etc., and there´s no mention of any foreign policy except for Iraq. This next president is going to have control over the destinies of many a developing country and many individual lives, but there are painfully few advocates for our less-powerful brother and sister countries.

Yesterday, my host mom was talking to me over a breakfast of corn flakes and tasty Costa Rican coffee. She asked about the elections, and then she told me she prays constantly for America -- that God would bring our nation back to Him. She choked up. There were tears in her eyes and her voice broke. Although I think most conservative evangelicals think we´ll be on the right path as long as we get a Republican in office come November, she had a clearer perspective.

To be a nation under God is more than espousing a pro-life candidate. It´s doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God -- in regards to America, but also in regards to nations in every country around the globe.