O say can you see...

There's a lot of talk of "change" in the election rhetoric this year. Perhaps the most comes from the Obama campaign, which portrays him as someone we can look to for a new direction, a source of hope. "Change we can believe in." His political following is described as a "movement." And he does seem to be the most idealistic of the candidates.

But I don't think we'll see real change in politics, even if Obama is elected. Like the other candidates, he has chosen the path of power and wealth (even the campaigning costs in the tens of millions) to achieve his goals. Even if he is a much better leader than others, his leadership and accomplishments will point to the necessity and efficacy of political power—the power of organized people—and the importance of money to get things done. And of course he wouldn't even be applying for the position of president if he wasn't ready to assume the role of commander-in-chief of the country's military power. This is not change. This is still the politics of "We, the People":

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

As I wrote last fall, the only true alternative, the only hope for significant and real change in our politics, our way of interacting with one another, is to shift our dependence from human power to dependence on God. Faith in God instead of faith in ourselves. There's a "change we can believe in."