Early in his epic “Aeneid,” the Roman poet Vergil describes the god Neptune arising to calm the stormy sea.
“The waves unruffle and the sea subsides.
As, when in tumults rise the ignoble crowd,
Mad are their motions, and their tongues are loud;
And stones and brands in rattling volleys fly,
And all the rustic arms that fury can supply:
If then some grave and pious man appear,
They hush their noise, and lend a listening ear;
He soothes with sober words their angry mood,
And quenches their innate desire of blood.”
Comparing the calming of the sea to a man “grave and pious” that calms people is Vergil’s way to praise Caesar Augustus. The Roman Republic had fallen into civil wars in the first century B.C. but when Augustus gained power, peace and prosperity followed. Tonight is the first presidential debate. Granted that we’re not in civil war, the United States is sorely divided, factious, unsettled like a stormy sea. Who will lead us and how? The debates and the remaining weeks of the presidential campaign merit our prayerful attention.
“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
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