We are a deeply disappointed American people. Something has gone wrong with our economic and financial systems. Retirees have lost significant dollars from their 401K, if not the major portion of it. The challenges we face are greater than at any time in our nation’s story. We are weaker financially than we have ever been; or at least that is what we are told. We are worried about the future.
Did this happen because our moral fiber has shown itself to be no better or worse than any other country’s moral fiber?
We have always been a country of good, strong, caring people, as witnessed in our aid to other countries in need. Americans have thought we were a special country because of the words written in our Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
We haven’t always lived these truths, but we are trying, and with the help of human rights and civil rights activists, we are becoming a little more honest with ourselves as we look in the mirror each day.
Karen Armstrong wrote in 2006 in her book The Great Transformations:
"… suffering … is an inescapable fact of human life… People who deny the suffering of life and stick their heads, ostrich like, in the sand are ‘false prophets.’ Unless we allow the sorrow that presses in on all sides to invade our consciousness, we cannot begin …”
And in my words … we cannot begin to live our lives as God intended—with compassion and love.
Yes, we are a deeply disappointed American people. We will live through this and become a changed people, hopefully for the better. We must believe that there are other ways of being, other dreams to dream, and other treasures to behold. Let us allow the Spirit of Life to sustain us through these times. We are, after all, in relationship with the Ultimate Reality of Love, what more can we ask?
See you in church, Rev. Lillie