Patriotism
This is the first time in four years that I have been in our illustrious country on its Independence Day. I'm not at all sure how I feel about it. After showering I put on a red shirt out of some shadow of habit from years past, but I found myself responding with a new thought: Today I wear red in remembrance of all the blood that has been shed around the world and in our own nation in defense of what we believe is right and good and in the best interest of humanity.
I want to know how to celebrate the existence of the nation that gave me birth. I long to see some good in the culture that has become so repugnant to me. We hold up some ideals of promise and possibility for all that I find beautiful and moving, but we do little to give life to these ideals. Instead, we are consumed by our pride, we allow it to convince us that our perverted concept of self-interest as individuals and as a nation is an appropriate--even laudable, or, impossibly, Christian--guiding force for our lives. This perversion continues to lead us to destroy creation, as it has from the start.
I call it a perversion, because true self-interest cannot be self-centered. It is in my self-interest as a member of a community-oriented species in a delicate and interdependent ecosystem to heed and care for creation.
I recently read some thoughts a friend had posted on the difference between loving generally and universally, and I wonder how the love I have for this nation might fit in that discussion. For better or worse, I am committed to my relationship with the USA. But a nation is not like a human being. I want my nation to change, and I don't think that's unreasonable or unloving. Much like my feelings about my denomination, I know that who I am was somehow cultivated in this soil, and I think the fruit I have to bear in some way belongs here and can provide necessary nutrients.
I find myself remembering these words written just over two years ago by Kevin Footer: "None of us, after all, is perfect. Only forgiveness, generosity, and love are everlasting. My opinions come and go. My actions are only as much as I can manage at that moment and too often it is not enough. A life is a series of errors and attainments on the way to somewhere; a family, too. Needless to say, a nation is also a mixed bag with things one loves and things one hates, but, like a family, one belongs to it, whether one likes it or not."
I want to know how to celebrate the existence of the nation that gave me birth. I long to see some good in the culture that has become so repugnant to me. We hold up some ideals of promise and possibility for all that I find beautiful and moving, but we do little to give life to these ideals. Instead, we are consumed by our pride, we allow it to convince us that our perverted concept of self-interest as individuals and as a nation is an appropriate--even laudable, or, impossibly, Christian--guiding force for our lives. This perversion continues to lead us to destroy creation, as it has from the start.
I call it a perversion, because true self-interest cannot be self-centered. It is in my self-interest as a member of a community-oriented species in a delicate and interdependent ecosystem to heed and care for creation.
I recently read some thoughts a friend had posted on the difference between loving generally and universally, and I wonder how the love I have for this nation might fit in that discussion. For better or worse, I am committed to my relationship with the USA. But a nation is not like a human being. I want my nation to change, and I don't think that's unreasonable or unloving. Much like my feelings about my denomination, I know that who I am was somehow cultivated in this soil, and I think the fruit I have to bear in some way belongs here and can provide necessary nutrients.
I find myself remembering these words written just over two years ago by Kevin Footer: "None of us, after all, is perfect. Only forgiveness, generosity, and love are everlasting. My opinions come and go. My actions are only as much as I can manage at that moment and too often it is not enough. A life is a series of errors and attainments on the way to somewhere; a family, too. Needless to say, a nation is also a mixed bag with things one loves and things one hates, but, like a family, one belongs to it, whether one likes it or not."