Thought provoking- as usual. Patriotism has always been a sticky concept for me, even as conformity with all church doctrine has been. There's this point when all Good Things and ideas which issue from God become colored by the presence of human ego and will, and then... we have oil worship or other misaligned behaviors. ( I have unfortunately known some pretty awful priests who thought the collar meant they deserved to be elevated above others. But I'm not trashing all ) It's also true that God is too often invoked to provide cover for bad ideas and behaviors. But. But! Good ideas - like a nation founded on the principles of religious freedom and personal responsibility/sovereignty- are worthy of being honored as emanating from God. The sacred is always in danger of being subsumed into the profane, but if we isolate our veneration of Christian principles and faith in cloisters and away from where even a flawed nation such as ours gathers for common celebration, how can we hope for the true blessings to spread? for us to share our Christianity by action and presence? I know it might sound la la - but when I see the flag and hear the anthem, I choose that moment to offer a prayer that we who are blessed to have been born here might - moment by moment - truly live those principles which Christ seems to have invited, and which those who were at this nation's founding chose to commit to text. For me, dismissing the exercise altogether seems like an abandonment of faith and maybe? a shirking of responsibility to embody my belief that knitting together one nation, under God, is a worthy project to undertake, day by day. When I think of the failures in practice, and the regular corruption of the ideals by ego-driven humans, I am always tempted toward the sin of hopelessness. But then I think: Christians aren't promised the easy road...
I'll stop before the rambling gets even more weedy-!
Thank you, LCNY. Your comments don't read as "rambling" at all to me. I'm quite grateful that you chose to share as I'm noticing an unusual lack of engagement for this post.
I hear you about the difficulty in discerning the intentions of those who invoke God in their seemingly contradictory actions. But, for the record, I am not defending the church or church doctrine.
A major component of this post is meant to point out how easily we mock others while remaining oblivious to our own hypocrisy.
For the record- I have come to see you as a man of thoughtful action - never a man proposing dogma/doctrine as the total of your Christian faith. You're an example for us all. In my provisional understanding: it seems that intention and then action are the keys to embodied practice- of any faith or belief or calling. "Belief" by rote - and without action - seems only to allow each of us to have our energy co-opted by the ever-present shadow, whether human or otherworldly. You way of living is an inspiration.
You're too kind when talking about me, my friend, but everything else in this reply feels germane. I really appreciate this: "Belief" by rote - and without action - seems only to allow each of us to have our energy co-opted by the ever-present shadow, whether human or otherworldly.
Sobering reading. While I am not likely to worship at the altar of games, caps or flags, what do I put before God? Or what would cause me to bow (or cower) rather than stand in the truth? I think not enough people take this question, this commandment, quite seriously. It is something I think about a lot. Courageous post.
Thought provoking- as usual. Patriotism has always been a sticky concept for me, even as conformity with all church doctrine has been. There's this point when all Good Things and ideas which issue from God become colored by the presence of human ego and will, and then... we have oil worship or other misaligned behaviors. ( I have unfortunately known some pretty awful priests who thought the collar meant they deserved to be elevated above others. But I'm not trashing all ) It's also true that God is too often invoked to provide cover for bad ideas and behaviors. But. But! Good ideas - like a nation founded on the principles of religious freedom and personal responsibility/sovereignty- are worthy of being honored as emanating from God. The sacred is always in danger of being subsumed into the profane, but if we isolate our veneration of Christian principles and faith in cloisters and away from where even a flawed nation such as ours gathers for common celebration, how can we hope for the true blessings to spread? for us to share our Christianity by action and presence? I know it might sound la la - but when I see the flag and hear the anthem, I choose that moment to offer a prayer that we who are blessed to have been born here might - moment by moment - truly live those principles which Christ seems to have invited, and which those who were at this nation's founding chose to commit to text. For me, dismissing the exercise altogether seems like an abandonment of faith and maybe? a shirking of responsibility to embody my belief that knitting together one nation, under God, is a worthy project to undertake, day by day. When I think of the failures in practice, and the regular corruption of the ideals by ego-driven humans, I am always tempted toward the sin of hopelessness. But then I think: Christians aren't promised the easy road...
I'll stop before the rambling gets even more weedy-!
Thank you, LCNY. Your comments don't read as "rambling" at all to me. I'm quite grateful that you chose to share as I'm noticing an unusual lack of engagement for this post.
I hear you about the difficulty in discerning the intentions of those who invoke God in their seemingly contradictory actions. But, for the record, I am not defending the church or church doctrine.
A major component of this post is meant to point out how easily we mock others while remaining oblivious to our own hypocrisy.
As always, I'll keep praying and pondering.
For the record- I have come to see you as a man of thoughtful action - never a man proposing dogma/doctrine as the total of your Christian faith. You're an example for us all. In my provisional understanding: it seems that intention and then action are the keys to embodied practice- of any faith or belief or calling. "Belief" by rote - and without action - seems only to allow each of us to have our energy co-opted by the ever-present shadow, whether human or otherworldly. You way of living is an inspiration.
You're too kind when talking about me, my friend, but everything else in this reply feels germane. I really appreciate this: "Belief" by rote - and without action - seems only to allow each of us to have our energy co-opted by the ever-present shadow, whether human or otherworldly.
Amen!
🙏
P.S. You should see how many free subscribers jumped ship here today. Shadow work is not for the faint of heart!
No doubt!
Sobering reading. While I am not likely to worship at the altar of games, caps or flags, what do I put before God? Or what would cause me to bow (or cower) rather than stand in the truth? I think not enough people take this question, this commandment, quite seriously. It is something I think about a lot. Courageous post.
Thank you, so much, Jamie...for your kind words and for your commitment to righteousness and leading by example. I appreciate you... 🙏