So here's what we know. For whatever reason, it appears inevitable that John McCain is going to be the Republican nominee. It's not completely over yet, but I can hear the fat lady doing her warm-ups.

There are all kinds of theories behind who is voting and why they might be voting for McCain. I still think there's a lot to the name recognition and the sense that it's his turn, plus the fact that the Media has tried to do everything they can to get him in this position. But it doesn't really matter.

I could whine and get upset and spend my time now mulling this over and over and working up a nice ulcer, but the fact is this is completely out of my control. My voting is over until November. So I thought it might be time for some perspective.

If I lived in Darfur, Sudan, I could be one of the estimated 2-400,000 casualties of war, or join the 2.5 million refugees who have been displaced from their homes in the face of this catastrophic war.

If I lived in Saudi Arabia, I could be arrested, tortured or even killed for having public contact with a man that I'm not related to. (See this article in The Times.)

If I lived in South Africa, there's at least a 30% chance that I would be infected with HIV/AIDS, and certainly would live constantly surrounded by its grim reality.

If I lived in France, I'd be faced with 10% unemployement, an alarming rise in radical Islam and a newly-elected president who just married an ex-model and is traipsing her around the world wearing a red heart-shaped ring that looks almost identical to the one his ex-wife used to wear. I mean, that's just weird.

Ultimately, as we discussed in Bible study last night, the outcome of this election is not going to surprise God. This is one dot on the time and space continuum. And if I believe He is in control of all things, then I have to believe He's got this one covered too.

There is a lot of time between now and November. So many things could happen. Yes, I am discouraged. Sick to my stomach, even, if I allow myself to go there. But if I'm going to trust God, then I need to let it go.

"Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."
James 4:13-14

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
1 John 2:15-17

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."
Psalm 42:5

"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds."
Hebrews 10:22-24

Of course I will continue to stay involved in the political process. I'm stunned right now, and there is part of me that really does just want to walk away from the whole thing and leave my Party to lie in the bed it's made. But I don't think that's how God made me.

For now, I will take my time to mourn. But I'm so thankful that I don't have to mourn as those who have no hope. Today, at least, my eyes are on things higher.