Joshua Generation
I've been seeing a lot of despairing posts about how our nation could have elected Obama yet simultaneously stripped GLBT couples of the rights to marry and parent. blue_jay's post here particularly got me with the thought that "if God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt and not divided the sea, the army would have brought them right back into Egypt. We got Obama but not gay marriage. Was it enough?"
Yes, I think it was. For now, but not forever. And frankly, I don't think we have that long to wait.
I was riveted by Obama's reference to us as the "Joshua Generation",
"I'm here because somebody marched. I'm here because you all sacrificed for me. I stand on the shoulders of giants. I thank the Moses generation; but we've got to remember, now, that Joshua still had a job to do. As great as Moses was, despite all that he did, leading a people out of bondage, he didn't cross over the river to see the Promised Land. God told him your job is done. You'll see it. You'll be at the mountain top and you can see what I've promised. What I've promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. You will see that I've fulfilled that promise but you won't go there. We're going to leave it to the Joshua generation to make sure it happens. There are still battles that need to be fought; some rivers that need to be crossed.
We are so deep in it that right now I am grateful to have someone who might even just get us pointed out of Egypt. He's laying the groundwork, and doing what he can given the cultural divisions he's working with. I hate seeing the most fundamental right to create a family legally compromised, but I truly believe that the nasty fight we are seeing in California and elsewhere is because social conservatives recognize that they are a dying breed, and that the frameworks are falling.
The Civil Rights Act was signed just over 40 years ago, and when you really think about it, it's pretty astonishing how far our society has come in that time. God told Moses "Your people will wander for 40 years in the desert and their faith will be tested. If they hold fast, they will see the promised land. But you yourself will never see it, Joshua and the younger generation will take up the staff and lead them the rest of the way." The civil rights activists held fast. We've come so far as a nation. We're close, and progress will only speed up. So Obama himself or the nation that elected him this time around is not the promised land, but at least we can see it over the mountaintops.
Perhaps I'm being a bit melodramatic in my response to J.'s Passover post, but I'm just so excited by the cultural shift alone that had to happen in this election. Perhaps it will be a while before we see more action on the civil rights front, but when we do I suspect it will be strong and permanent. And I think Obama will be around to see it.
Yes, I think it was. For now, but not forever. And frankly, I don't think we have that long to wait.
I was riveted by Obama's reference to us as the "Joshua Generation",
"I'm here because somebody marched. I'm here because you all sacrificed for me. I stand on the shoulders of giants. I thank the Moses generation; but we've got to remember, now, that Joshua still had a job to do. As great as Moses was, despite all that he did, leading a people out of bondage, he didn't cross over the river to see the Promised Land. God told him your job is done. You'll see it. You'll be at the mountain top and you can see what I've promised. What I've promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. You will see that I've fulfilled that promise but you won't go there. We're going to leave it to the Joshua generation to make sure it happens. There are still battles that need to be fought; some rivers that need to be crossed.
We are so deep in it that right now I am grateful to have someone who might even just get us pointed out of Egypt. He's laying the groundwork, and doing what he can given the cultural divisions he's working with. I hate seeing the most fundamental right to create a family legally compromised, but I truly believe that the nasty fight we are seeing in California and elsewhere is because social conservatives recognize that they are a dying breed, and that the frameworks are falling.
The Civil Rights Act was signed just over 40 years ago, and when you really think about it, it's pretty astonishing how far our society has come in that time. God told Moses "Your people will wander for 40 years in the desert and their faith will be tested. If they hold fast, they will see the promised land. But you yourself will never see it, Joshua and the younger generation will take up the staff and lead them the rest of the way." The civil rights activists held fast. We've come so far as a nation. We're close, and progress will only speed up. So Obama himself or the nation that elected him this time around is not the promised land, but at least we can see it over the mountaintops.
Perhaps I'm being a bit melodramatic in my response to J.'s Passover post, but I'm just so excited by the cultural shift alone that had to happen in this election. Perhaps it will be a while before we see more action on the civil rights front, but when we do I suspect it will be strong and permanent. And I think Obama will be around to see it.