Okay...trying to follow through...
So tonight the government shuts down. Each of us, will want to blame one party or another for their stupidity and all of us would agree that Washington seems to no longer be able to do its job. This, unfortunately, will most likely result in doubling down on our particular political 'belief' and the division will only widen with the next election cycle.
If, however, we step back and look at this from a broader perspective, I believe we see two dominant archetypal 'myths' of the American experiment coming into conflict. Let me explain.
On one hand, there is the myth of the 'rugged individual.' America is the land where individualism has been celebrated in ways unlike anywhere else in the world. The leaving behind of the old world and the family ties as we struck out to 'make it on our own.' The image of the cowboy on his horse conquering the west and 'pulling himself up by his own bootstraps.' This is the land of the entrepreneur like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates who through their genius were able to change how the world thinks. Yes, there is this myth or value of individualism alive and well here in America.
This runs contrary to another archetypal myth born out of our Judea-Christian roots. This is what brought the Puritans to America to form a more perfect society. This is the more perfect union declared in the United States Constitution. This is the wagon train circling up and providing a patch of safety in the midst of a wilderness trek of thousands of miles. Yes, there is this sense that no matter what one's 'class' we stand together, we take care of one another, for we are the people of the United States.
Throughout our history this two 'myths' have rubbed against each other, and sometimes we bend one way and at other times we bend another way. There has, it seems, always been an uneasy dialog between these two world views. Interestingly, at this point in our history, we have chosen to end the dialog. We have the rugged individuals in one corner, and the compassionate community in the other. No longer are we willing to get close enough to be rubbed the wrong way.
What does this mean for us today? The church, in my opinion, has a responsibility to help repair the bridge. One of the hallmarks of the Reformation (Luther himself) was the rise of individual accountability. Yet, nonetheless, the reformers always recognized that we have a responsibility to care for our brother and sister in need. Can the church broker a dialog, encouraging both sides to see the wisdom of what the other has to offer? Might we pray that we might....
Monday, September 30, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Hope in What?
Okay... it takes time to form a habit, and unfortunately I was imagining I could make this happen by shear force of will. So, we start again!
Isn't that, however, the nature of the spiritual life? We think we can make ourselves better by adopting certain disciplines only to find ourselves coming up short once again. People no longer want to make New Year's Resolutions because they don't stick again. Heart attack victims are told to change their lifestyle to save their life and yet 90% are back to their old patterns of life within one year again. People begin a diet only to find themselves weighing even more six months later again.
Our attempts to save ourselves, while valiant, often fail again. Soon we develop an attitude of despair and a feeling of hopelessness prevails again. We do our thing without much hope that things will change or get better again. From one perspective, that seems to be the spiritual malaise that exists in the mist around the edges of our nation today.
Didn't President Obama stir us with his campaign of 2008 inviting us to hope again? Isn't the failure to meet our hopes part of our frustration with Washington? Of course it is easy to point to the problem, but to paraphrase Soren Kierkegaard (19th century Danish philosopher), we have this sickness unto death, and it is only when we acknowledge our illness are we able to work toward the cure. Knowing that we (you and me) cannot fulfill our hopes, live up to our hopes, manufacture our hopes, or realize our hopes is the first step toward addressing what's missing in our lives.
Unfortunately, the Christian community hasn't been of much help as we tackle our dashed hopes. There is one wing of the movement that simply wants us to settle for a Jesus who will, upon the expiration of this life, whisk us into heaven. There is another sector of the church that believes through politics we can create heaven on earth. (Of course there are differing opinions as to what that would look like!) Then there are those who would suggest that simply by ordering our life around certain beliefs and actions that we can create a small microcosm of hope for ourselves regardless of what is happening in the world.
So where do I fall? Good question! I don't really see myself in any of those camps. Luther had a very strong awareness of duality of life. We live in the Kingdom of God already revealed but not yet real. We experience the tension of the incarnate but transcendent God. We are both sinners and saints simultaneously without the awareness of where one ends and the other begins. We desire to legislate God's design, but desire the freedom to act for or against that dream. It goes on and on....
Luther would have us begin with the realization that we cannot save ourselves or our world. This is ultimately God's work. Yet as the ELCA's motto would say, God's Work, Our Hands. Luther would have us see that God has called us into partnership with him, co-creators you might say. Luther was quoted as saying, 'Work as if it all depends upon you, and pray as if it all depends upon God.'
So I find my hope in knowing that God has not given up on this world. I find my hope in trusting that I cannot fully understand this God. Yet I find my hope in knowing that this God continues to forgive me and this world for our rebellion agains him. I find my hope is knowing that God keeps giving me another chance to start fresh. So I will add my hands to what God is doing knowing that like Moses I may only get a glimpse of that hope. Hebrews 11.1 reminds us that the life of faith is indeed the action of faith, trusting in a God who has the whole world in his hands.
Peace,
Pal
Isn't that, however, the nature of the spiritual life? We think we can make ourselves better by adopting certain disciplines only to find ourselves coming up short once again. People no longer want to make New Year's Resolutions because they don't stick again. Heart attack victims are told to change their lifestyle to save their life and yet 90% are back to their old patterns of life within one year again. People begin a diet only to find themselves weighing even more six months later again.
Our attempts to save ourselves, while valiant, often fail again. Soon we develop an attitude of despair and a feeling of hopelessness prevails again. We do our thing without much hope that things will change or get better again. From one perspective, that seems to be the spiritual malaise that exists in the mist around the edges of our nation today.
Didn't President Obama stir us with his campaign of 2008 inviting us to hope again? Isn't the failure to meet our hopes part of our frustration with Washington? Of course it is easy to point to the problem, but to paraphrase Soren Kierkegaard (19th century Danish philosopher), we have this sickness unto death, and it is only when we acknowledge our illness are we able to work toward the cure. Knowing that we (you and me) cannot fulfill our hopes, live up to our hopes, manufacture our hopes, or realize our hopes is the first step toward addressing what's missing in our lives.
Unfortunately, the Christian community hasn't been of much help as we tackle our dashed hopes. There is one wing of the movement that simply wants us to settle for a Jesus who will, upon the expiration of this life, whisk us into heaven. There is another sector of the church that believes through politics we can create heaven on earth. (Of course there are differing opinions as to what that would look like!) Then there are those who would suggest that simply by ordering our life around certain beliefs and actions that we can create a small microcosm of hope for ourselves regardless of what is happening in the world.
So where do I fall? Good question! I don't really see myself in any of those camps. Luther had a very strong awareness of duality of life. We live in the Kingdom of God already revealed but not yet real. We experience the tension of the incarnate but transcendent God. We are both sinners and saints simultaneously without the awareness of where one ends and the other begins. We desire to legislate God's design, but desire the freedom to act for or against that dream. It goes on and on....
Luther would have us begin with the realization that we cannot save ourselves or our world. This is ultimately God's work. Yet as the ELCA's motto would say, God's Work, Our Hands. Luther would have us see that God has called us into partnership with him, co-creators you might say. Luther was quoted as saying, 'Work as if it all depends upon you, and pray as if it all depends upon God.'
So I find my hope in knowing that God has not given up on this world. I find my hope in trusting that I cannot fully understand this God. Yet I find my hope in knowing that this God continues to forgive me and this world for our rebellion agains him. I find my hope is knowing that God keeps giving me another chance to start fresh. So I will add my hands to what God is doing knowing that like Moses I may only get a glimpse of that hope. Hebrews 11.1 reminds us that the life of faith is indeed the action of faith, trusting in a God who has the whole world in his hands.
Peace,
Pal
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