Jon and I are again in the process of our annual residency renewal and one of the requirements is new photos. We are in our fifties and the truth be told we don't change much from year to year, but no photo older than six months is allowed, so we help sustain the photo industry with new photos each year at $30 a pop for the two of us. Normally this is a simple thing - sit on the stool, don't show your teeth, no smiling, expose both ears for facial recognition software, and snap, snap, snap. We pick the best of a bad lot and we are done.

This year our photographer was a young man who, when he found out we were American, wanted to talk a bit of politics. Normally if a European wants to talk politics with an American, it is about American politics, healthcare reform, Obama, etc. This young fellow surprised us by wanting to talk about the politics here. He shared with us his frustrations with the parliamentary system of representation. I knew a bit about it, but I didn't realize how little representation it actually gave and in many ways, how little of a sense of control in government for the people. In this system you vote for a party. If one party gets a majority, then they govern. If not, which is the usual case, then they must form a coalition. They have twenty or so parties here in Holland. The people do not vote for their Prime Minister, their equivalent of our President. He is chosen by the parties. He shared how he voted as conservatively as he could, but he said it didn't matter much here. There is no black and white in politics, just shades of gray. There is no one representing your area or a particular constituency. Instead the parties represent ideas or philosophies. For example our neighbors are proponents of the Dieren Party. This is the party for the animals. Their goal is to promote animal welfare and rights. They actually won three seats in parliament in 2006.

They also have a queen, Queen Beatrix, who functions much as the British monarch does. She and her family seem to be much beloved here. They have had a Queen for several generation, though Beatrix has broken the cycle by producing three sons, but the Crown Prince has returned again to the female fold by fathering three daughters.

He shared with us about their constitution. It has one important provision in it and with that one simple statement, he felt their constitution was deprived of all meaning. It ends with a statement that he summed up as saying, " Any law passed will overrule anything in the constitution." He called it a worthless document.

He was frustrated that the people of his nation, when given the chance, have often voted against European Union laws or initiatives, only to have their vote dismissed and their parliament pass the law anyway. Of this, we were aware. This has happened in other EU countries as well.

He talked about the conservative talk radio movement in the US and how many people listen to it. He shared with us about the one, somewhat more conservative, radio station they have here and that it has low listenership. He longed for a place to hear his own ideas expressed and shared by others.

It was actually a brief conversation, but we understood his frustration which amazingly had no bitterness in it. He is a young man, maybe in his mid-twenties. It was refreshing to see a young person who cares about politics and the course of his nation. I don't know if that is common here in the Netherlands, but more and more the young people of America are opted out of the political spectrum and their voting levels are usually low.

All of this as well as the things happening politically in the United States reminded me how important is the Biblical admonition to pray for our leaders that there may be peace and the spreading of the gospel. Being here has made me realize that though my prayers for my nation seemed large, they fell far short of encompassing the globe which is what they should have done. My horizons have enlarged and this encounter with this young man reminded me of that necessity.