Boris Yeltsin's funeral was held today in the Christ The Savior Russian Orthodox Church. Fascinating and fitting. Though his presidency was not without its problems, Yeltsin led Russia out of the darkness of communism, closing that chapter for now at least. The former Soviet countries still struggle but there is hope ... and I believe that hope exists because God exists there once again.

I have heard those who visited communist USSR say that everyone there seemed like they carried a huge weight. I have heard the citizens at that time likened to battered and abused children.

I do not like generalizations anymore than anyone but, now that Christianity is gaining a foothold in those countries (aside from inside prisons there where I understand it was always strong), things are brighter. And, regardless of whether he fully walked the walk of a Christ-follower (and I really don't know but I have read shadows of doubt cast on this), it is fitting that Yeltsin's funeral was inside a Christian church.

Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn once wrote that, throughout communist rule in his country, there was a saying that "Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened." He frequently pointed to the government-mandated lack of God as being the reason for the darkness that preveailed over the USSR.

I look at our country today ... how it seems to be flying out of countrol ... how media and music are displaying a lack of morality that shocks even this 40-something guy ... and I think about that old Russian saying "Men have forgotten God" ... and I wonder.

President Yeltsin, I pray that you rest in peace ... and that, just as you helped to pave the way for it in your country, a re-awakening to God may bubble up with love and compassion and grace in our country ... may we be raising up leaders who will grasp this concept and ensure that, in future years, no one will look at the USA and say that "Men have forgotten God."