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Read Rich Lowry’s piece on McCain posted today at National Review Online.

National Review endorsed Mitt Romney about three weeks ago. Earlier today, when polling in Iowa was showing a Huckabee win and a Romney loss in the GOP caucus, National Review’s Jim Geraghty wrote that Iowans are not representative of the country as a whole, and they exhibit “quirks” in their “political tastes.”

It gets better, though. According to Geraghty, Iowans are also “flighty, fickle, that they fall hard for the political ‘flavor of the month,’ and have the political equivalent of attention-deficit disorder.”

Sheesh! Give me a break! What would National Review be saying about Iowans had their man Mitt won tonight? I bet they wouldn’t characterize them as “quirky” and ADD.

Khaled Hosseni’s bestselling novel The Kite Runner is a story of redemption. Almost.

The prologue introduces us to a thirty-eight year old Afghani émigré who for twenty-six years has carried a secret that has left death and tragedy in its wake. Now living in America, Amir is presented with an opportunity “to be good again.” Having been taught by his father as a young boy to disregard Islam as the teaching of “bearded idiots,” he turns to Islam in his approaching middle age in the hopes that through its prayers and rituals he can find “a way to be good again,” and relieve his soul of the guilt he has carried for twenty-six winters.

But Islam’s problem is the problem with all religions. Christianity understands what Islam does not. Man does not need a way to be good again. He needs a way to be new again. And this is the exciting message of the Christian gospel. God Himself condescended to us in the form of a baby – the Word made flesh and dwelling among us – in order to open for us “a new and living way” (Hebrews 10:19,20) to Himself through His own sacrifice for us in our stead. When Jesus gathered with his disciples in the Upper Room to celebrate his final Passover, he introduced them to a New Covenant (Matthew 26:28). Under the old covenant God had written his law in stone; now He would write it upon the hearts of his people. Under the old covenant only the priest had access to God; under the new covenant God has revealed Himself personally and all the people have access to Him by faith. Under the old covenant the people worked at being good again. Under the new covenant the sacrificial Lamb became the end of the law for righteousness to those who believe.

Out of this New Covenant comes a New Commandment (John 13:34) creating a New Community made up of New Creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) who are anticipating the return of their Savior for a New Celebration (Matthew 26:29). We don’t need a way to be good again. In reality we were never good to begin with. What we need is what God has provided in His Son: a way to be made new: “Behold, I make all things new,” is the cry from the throne which commences our eternity with God.

Redemption comes not from what we do, not from what any religious system demands of us, but from what God has done. By our faith in Christ, we cannot only be made new; we can boldly approach the throne of our Father in Heaven to obtain mercy and receive grace to help in time of need, something Khaled Hosseni’s protagonist searches for and never really finds.

Sorry for the lag time in getting your comments approved for posting. I began a stay at home “vacation” last Sunday and I have not touched my laptop since Monday morning.

FYI, I’ll not be blogging or doing much at all on the blog until January 7th. Occassionaly I’ll check in to approve comments, so keep them coming!

Thanks for your contributions to what is becoming a very interactive blog! Happy New Year!