Proposing a New Social Contract

"Lo, the kingdom of God is within you."

        -- Luke 17:21 (American Standard Bible)

Generally, the Bible is not a huge wellspring of positive human portraits.  While it is perhaps spiritually instructive to see through another individual's struggles with sinfulness, it has left a strong residue of presumed unworthiness lurking in the shadows of every person of faith's self-esteem.  Too often, the Church has defined the worthiness of "good Christians" as those who stand before God and beat their breast, declaring what scums of the earth they've been and pleading for mercy (whereupon, they turn around and do again what they just confessed to.) Can I say at the start that this is not a healthy definition of being humble, much as you may have been told to the contrary? 

It is not an understatement that humanity, from its inception, has always been violent in taking what we need, both from the Earth and from one another. I would characterize this as humanity's greatest sin and struggle.  If we are to evolve out of "caveman ways" to stop the use of retributive justice and eternal trading up from clubs to nuclear weapons, we must correct the wretched theology that all are flawed and born into sinfulness. A new world begins with the re-creation of one's own self-perception.  It's not surprising that Jesus would be the keeper of that better, higher, more noble perception. 

If we can envision a Realm where shared plenty, kind interaction, fair treatment, honest interactions, benevolent understanding, ready forgiveness, and mutual respect are how the Realm operates, then we are well on the way to a truly transformed world.  If we could only adopt this vision as the New Human's social contract!

Paul Tillich, a well-known and respected theologian, used the phrase "Ground of Our Being" as a term for God. If the vision I just laid out there was this Ground, or the basis of the "Kingdom of God," it would be societally transforming. Jesus points the way to that: "It is within you." You possess it.  You can make it happen. Within that term, "Kingdom of God," lies God's affirmation of you.  You are complete.  You are born and live with what is needed.  You are worthy to be a resident and ambassador of the Most Holy. Others are looking at you, learning from you, and discerning the direction for their own behaviors from you! Are they noble, trustworthy, truthful, honorable, and loving? Those are difficult virtues to hang onto in the face of child abuse and separation and violence of all kinds, but we also have a model in Jesus of one who navigated well the use of his life.

The daily news out of the United States reeks of the 180-degree opposite direction life is going there. Reversing the racist, hateful trend is not a simple overnight fix, obviously. But it does begin with you; it spreads with you. It can be nurtured by you. Through you, a cosmic shift can begin. Are you up for it?    

  

Live Without Denial

 Oh, the house of denial has thick walls

and very small windows

and whoever lives there, little by little,

will turn to stone.

              -- Mary Oliver, "Hum Hum"

As humans, we go about our daily lives, frequently falling into the time and ego trap that the world and life revolve around us.  Yet it doesn't. Events and trouble suck us into thinking our participation in them is of earth-shattering importance. Self-help gurus have said and written about the importance of "staying in the now."  There is healthy wisdom in that, especially if one is prone to overthinking and catastrophizing imagined dangers. Getting out too far in front of your skis is hazardous to mental health as much as dwelling on unfortunate events or traumas of the past. But here I am thinking of our human calling and special abilities to improve our world. 

Much has gone haywire in the past ten months in the United States.  One of the most common questions arising in news commentary and posts online is, "What can we do about it?"  

Shrinking violets that so many of us are, think we're too small and insignificant to matter.  Being helpless and powerless was Moses' excuse initially to turn God down at the burning bush. Denying our capabilities is a sure way to freeze us out of making a difference.  Not seeing ourselves as worthy enough, strong enough, smart enough, or articulate enough turns change into stone; whatever is "haywire" then is allowed to proceed. 

When you look in the mirror, what do you see?  Commonly, we see all that's wrong with our face and wish it were different.  But faith affirms that we are made in the image of God, so when we look into the mirror, that person is God's image. So whatever is there, good/bad/indifferent, that is also God's presence.  With God's presence is the power to make a difference -- be that in your private life or in your communal life. 

You do not have to deny yourself. God wants you in the game.  Others in the game are counting on you, too. Live big.  Live boldly.