I'm tempted to ask for a show of hands. How many people here have passed on an email making fun of a politician or political leader? It can be fun to do that. Passing on a cartoon about a politician helps us vent our frustrations at the foibles of our government. We sometimes feel helpless in the face of all of the corruption, bickering, pandering, false promises, and just general buffoonery that go on in our government. We feel a bit better if we can poke fun at our leaders. If we are not careful, however, we can slide into cynicism. We can give up and stop caring.

We read today of an antidote for cynicism. First Timothy calls us to pray for kings and all who are in high positions. In the United States, we don't have kings to pray for, so we pray for the president and our elected officia…