"It is He who changes the times and epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding.  It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him."

     So said the prophet Daniel in the sixth century B.C.  I thought much about these verses (Daniel 2:21-22) as I reflected on the unexpected passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia last week.  Some people see his demise as an opportunity; others see it as the precipice of destruction.  Everyone, it seems, has an opinion about what Scalia's death means for the nation and, perhaps, the world.

     Yet no one, if he is entirely honest with him (or her) self, can, at this point, really grasp the full implications of the event.  How do we know?  I'm loathe to make specific predictions or prognostications.  I'm rather more interested in how, in the big picture,w e view it.  If we believe in the sovereignty of God over creation and that he is working through all things to realize his purpose and vision, although we may find changes in governors or governing structures ominous or distasteful, we do well to grapple with them carefully.  Regardless of how we see them (and we have every right to question why they happen as they do), we must recognize that, in the end, purpose, divine purpose, persists. Somehow, some way, reason prevails, and somehow, some way, humanity will continue. Like every other nation to appear on the planet, America is a very small player in a massive, massive flow of space and time.  Kingdoms and empires rise, and kingdoms and empires fall; rulers and judges come, and rulers and judges go.  Yet God remains.

     And we rarely fathom the full scope of his intentions.  We of course should be ready to respond to political change.  But we also remember the words of Psalm 46, "Let go, be still, relax, and know that I am God."