So much going on in America today . . . . the most prominent being, of course, the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as president of the United States.  My feelings toward Trump's election notwithstanding, I will note that his inauguration underscores that all other things considered, America's government still strives to make itself one ruled by laws and not by the people who run it.  Moreover, it indicates that whether Americans know it or not, in abiding by these laws, they are living out an oft-cited yet difficult to understand passage in the thirteenth chapter of Paul's letter to the church at Rome.
     In this chapter Paul encourages his readers to recognize that, the oppressive policies of the Roman Empire notwithstanding, governments and rules do not exist unless, somehow, some way--and this fact can be highly puzzling at times--God has acknowledged that they can do so.  Though I do not pretend to fully understand why this eventuality has worked itself out in history as it has, in light of how some of us in the global community feel about the immediate future, I can find hope in knowing that in the "remains of the day" (as one long ago novel put it), purpose--and love--far greater than this "day" remains.