By Betsy Gonwa, 
So that’s what happens when we put our hope in a leader, in our case, when we elect such a leader. We get false hope. When leaders make promises that they are unable to deliver, that’s all they are offering anyway.
False hope seems to be what people want. It’s what Jesus’ followers wanted, too. They wanted him to save them. They wanted him to be their leader and save them. And he said, “Nope. That’s not the way. The way to life is to suffer a little while. And be resurrected anew.”
As a teenager, I remember Jimmy Carter’s fireside chats. Always wearing a sweater, urging us to turn down the thermostats and drive 55. He was inviting us to suffer a little, together, and he was coming alongside us, to suffer with us.
We have a desire to be saved by a political leader. His disciples wanted Jesus to overthrow the Romans and assume political leadership. Israel asked for a king, so they could be like all the other nations. Reflecting on this pattern today, I wonder if this pattern goes even deeper than that. I wonder if this pattern is a result of the patriarchal culture of dominance and submission in which our society is rooted.
Until recently, there was no doctrine of original blessing, but only the doctrine of original sin which teaches us that our hearts are evil and that we cannot trust ourselves. Perhaps this is why, as adults, we prefer to follow someone outside of ourselves giving the orders. We start with our parents telling us what is best for us and move into the workplace where our boss tells us what is best for us, and we must keep our thoughts and opinions to ourselves. We are trained to hand over our authority and to rely on leaders, and we give up our autonomy and authenticity in exchange for belonging and security.
Not all of us continue on this path. Some of us learn to listen to our own hearts and choose to follow our own consciences. Some of us choose to walk into the unknown. It may mean loneliness. It may mean suffering. It always requires courage and it always means becoming new.
