Charles Krauthammer

Politics…

                -when benign, it allows all around it to flourish;

                -when malign, it makes all around it wither.  (Things That Matter, p. 2 paraphrase)

Pray for rulers and all who have authority,

-so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life

-with reverence and dignity. (1Tm 2:2)

Show proper respect to everyone:

                -love the family of believers,

                -honor the emperor and worship God. (1Pt 2:17)

Last Sunday, for Fathers’ Day, Linda gave me Charles Krauthammer’s Things That Matter. Yesterday he died. That moved him up to my Morning Fire Reading. Mom hopes such reading will keep me in the conservative fold. She’s right.

He thinks broadly and deeply with warmth, curiosity and delight. The same with people. He engages all sorts of people with warmth, curiosity and delight. That’s how he speaks of his older brother Marcel, or Winston Churchill, Christopher Columbus, Rick Ankiel who played ball for the Saint Lewis Cardinals, eccentric mathematicians and chess competitors. Folks are flawed, yet curiously interesting. Individually precious.

Maybe that’s the heart of conservative thought—that the individual matters. We want a political system in which individuals like Dr. Krauthammer can flourish. As the Apostle encourages us: “Pray for rulers and for all who have authority so that we can have quiet and peaceful lives full of reverence and respect for God.” (1Tm 2:2)