UNIFYING THE UNITED STATES

UNIFYING THE UNITED STATES

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A multiplicity of dreams is ripping the United States apart.  Without a common unifying dream, each individual group within the population reverts to forcing their own diverse dream, down the throat of their countrymen.  Unrestrained, this divisive tactic only accelerates the ever-widening gap.  If it is true that a house divided cannot stand, the lack of a unified strategy hastens the destruction of the United States of America.  Yet, there is dream buried within America that slumbers, unawakened.

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Finding a suitable compromise between separate dreams is not a unifying strategy.  Compromise is a tactic used successfully to implement a single shared vision…a common dream.  The compromise tactic serves to achieve a single shared dream.  It satisfies everyone who holds a common dream by giving something, while denying something to accomplish that one single goal.  Replacing a unifying goal with one of the many varied dreams held by a diverse population, tears at the fabric of the United States.  A unification strategy is one that inspires a nation behind a common dream. 

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Last winter I cited Abraham Lincoln’s quotation from Mark 3:23 to urge the cultivation of national unity.  The post did the opposite, igniting a long and contentious Facebook exchange.  A brief segment of that give-and-take exposes not only the divide, but reveals the desire for some unifying strategy.  As you read the tail-end of the argument, note the shared desire for a mutually acceptable uniting-principal, eluding both contestant “A” and “B.”

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“A” Replied

MAYBE others cultivate it by posts against the president?

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“B” Replied

I don't agree...as you know, I never attack Trump voters, because I understand the sentiment for the alternative, but Trump is now the leader and the President...it is HIS responsibility to help unify the country, not mine.  His speech on Saturday night merely fanned the flames of disunity…   Moreover, when he sends out a tweet on New Year's Eve (do you remember that one?) where he mocked those who didn't "vote for or support" him as being "among my many enemies," he reiterates his contempt for people like me... it's incumbent on him to win me over, not vice versa, and he continues to do the opposite. When he changes (which he shows no signs of doing), then I'll stop calling him out on FB.  

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“A” Replied

(“A” posted a disapproving remark along with an agree emoji)

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“B” Replied

Sorry “A”...I actually like him substantially less today than when he got elected, I tried to give him a chance but that New Year's Eve tweet set me off...and I assure you I'm not alone

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“ME” (Capt. John) Replied

It creates a "dammed if you do and dammed if you don't" conundrum.  If you say something, anything, you increase the destructive division; if you don't you allow the malicious onslaught to go unchecked.

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“B” Replied

I think attacking Trump voters would be divisive, but calling out Trump on his divisive rhetoric, and holding him accountable as the key person who has responsibility for cultivating unity is another thing...and is good and right! … I am just doing to Trump what many did to Obama...seems pretty fair to me.

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“ME” Replied

 Trunp voters are as passionate about their guy as we were, and still are, about ours. Now, they feel just as personally attacked as we did.  Yet, I do agree, it, "seems fair to me.".  The problem is attacking Trump just sends his supporters into defensive-mode, widening the division.  It will take cooler heads to find some uniting strategy…other than WAR…to draw the nation together.  If things don't come together, I predict that just before his reelection season, Trump will pick a fight with a nationally-perceived aggressor to improve his ratings.  Spun just right, nothing brings a nation together like a “just” war.  Watch and see.

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“B” Replied

I don't doubt that, but Trump, and certain of his core voters, simply cannot expect folks to just shut up and consent...I have had folks say things like "get over it" and "we put up with Obama for 8 years...”  I'm not wired to sit still and "shut up" and "get over it" unless/until Trump stops his awful and inflammatory words and behavior.  Did you see his speech Saturday night?  ...and standing up to it does not promote disunity nearly as much as the rhetoric he perpetuates.  …mark my words, he will be impeached.  I'll take Pence over Trump any day.

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“ME” Replied

One can only hope your tactic works.  It is a popular approach right now.  But, without a unifying strategy, no matter the party in power, these present divisive tactics will produce what Abraham Lincoln feared, "If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

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“B” Replied

I'm afraid we may never be unified again, but shutting up and letting despotic power take hold isn't in me...remember the tea party movement?  That wasn't unifying, but it was successful.  I guess one approach is to be quiet and leave the voices and rhetoric to people like Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones, but this is still America, and we have a long history of dissent leading to action… I remember a "voice" on one of your threads a while back, from an alleged former pastor, and that guy and his vitriol and Trump love is part of the problem, and I'm not going to let people like him fill the void that would be left by remaining quiet in an attempt toward unity.

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Did you notice the desire for a unifying strategy?  Well, there is good news…American has one.  It is not protection, production, piety, prosperity, or purity.  These are objectives to support a central unifying national goal.  A national goal, we once called the American Dream.

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 The dictionary defines the American Dream as, “The ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.”  In other words, The “American Dream” is our unifying goal, driving us toward the well-being of the every individual, family, and community that makes up these United States.  The problem is the objectives of protection, production, and prosperity, which support that dream, have replaced the nation’s historic unifying goal.  The result is not every citizen enjoys equal opportunity.  Worse still, treating a number of objectives as if they were essential goals, we fail to unite behind achieving the American Dream. 

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Equal opportunity to work hard, achieve success, and prosper through determination and initiative requires a governmental system that supports the well-being of every citizen.  Devices such as, good infrastructure, environment, education, health, and safety are features of a government sustaining equal opportunity.  When a government neglects these, they weaken a nation’s unifying goal, spawning national division.  It has lost its sense of purpose.

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Furthermore, directing our focus back on accomplishing our cultures primary mission, the American Dream, satisfies the longings of both the left and the right.  Our ancient national goal, the American Dream, fulfills the conservative yearning for the stability of the past, while granting progressives hope for the future.   

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Instead of engaging in the controversies that always accompany the implementation of the means (objectives), we can change the direction of the country by focusing on our mutually held American Dream (the ends).  Redirecting our discussion toward our established national goal provides openings for civil discussions about the means to achieve the unifying goal.  The advancement of the uncontestable American Dream is the unifying strategy necessary to reduce if not closes our nation’s destructive division.  I pray the strategy occurs between individuals, across the net, and on all other media sources.  If this strategy does not work, we must follow a strategy similar to unification attempts of other nations: as presented below.

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The Following are Excerpts from,

Wilson Franklin Brehmer, Bard College

A Study of National Unification

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“Because atheistic Marxism Leninism serves as the national ideology of the Democratic Republic [East Germany], the division of church and state is nearly perfect.”62  Atheism grew in popularity in East Germany and the region still

possesses one of the most atheistic populations in the world.  By the time of unification in 1990, 36.3% of East Germans believed in God compared to 77.6% in West Germany.63  “In contrast to the churches in socialist East Germany, the churches in West Germany have extensively integrated themselves into

the democratic society.”  The East German policies regarding social-welfare were better than West Germany’s.

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East Germans worked harder and longer for less which may have contributed to a desire for unification with the more attractive West German state.

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The 1972 Basic Treaty, signed by East and West Germany, fully recognized both states and led to their acceptance into the UN.

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 The 1974 World Cup saw East and West Germany play against each other in the first group stage.  East Germany won the match but West Germany would go on to win the World Cup.

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The East (17 million) willingly submitted most of their institutions to the (61 million) more stable and successful West German state. - This allowed room for the desirable aspects of the submissive state's structure to be implemented if seen fit.

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The success of Vietnamese and German unification where Yemen failed is very much rooted in Germany and Vietnam's lack of a balance of power.  Counter intuitively unification seems to be more successful when one of the unifying states submits or is forcefully dominated by the other during the unification process.  North and South Yemen went through the unification process as equal actors but suffered when in the post-unification period, North Yemen attempted to make the South subservient. 

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 Should Korean unification be attempted, it will be interesting to see how the question is approached.  More than the cases in this paper, homogeneity is not present in Korea; economically, militarily, politically, culturally.  In addition, almost all of their interactions have been hostile.  Korean unification would be a very good test of many of the ideas put forth in this paper.  National unification

is a rare event and has only occurred a few times in the current context of the international system so there is still much to be learned from studies of this phenomenon. 

THE LIGHT BEHIND THE POLITICAL CURTAIN

THE LIGHT BEHIND THE POLITICAL CURTAIN

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Embracing the morning, the old-timer opened wide the curtains.  Brilliance filled the suburban home with light, and exposed the sidewalk beyond the porch.  The view connected the old-timer to the children on their way to school, commuters going to and from the bus stop, joggers on their morning run, baby strollers followed by proud parents, and masters leashed to their dogs.  With the curtains opened, the old man enjoyed his connection with life in his San Diego neighborhood.

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The former breadwinner, now retired, could no longer afford the expense of him and his wife living in a single occupancy home in the tourist city.  That is why; they shared the home with their son and daughter-in-law.  The space, formerly called the living room, bore the designation of “the commons.” It provided the two families with many pleasant spontaneous get-togethers.  The co-occupancy created very few disagreements, except for that living room window.  The rest of the family was concerned that the old-guy’s open curtains, presented an invitation to burglars.   

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The aged patriarch excused his behavior saying, “I would rather put our valuables on the porch, for anyone to take, than hide away in a darkened fortress.  Let them have the junk.”  As you might guess, when alone, the rebellious old-fellow constantly reopened the curtains, to the max.  It was evidence of a values conflict between him and the other three family members.  Knowing they disapproved, he should have left the curtains closed, but it was too important to him.   

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I confess I am that old man.  Unfortunately, I have a similar problem with my Christian family.  I actually don’t want to irritate my brothers and sisters by exposing my unacceptable values.  Even though, I love them very much, I open the religious curtains whenever I think they are not looking.  Saddly, knowing it is unappreciated.   

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For example, I think Christians would be better-off putting our nation’s prosperity on the front porch if necessary, rather than hide within our fortified Christian national darkness.  I value opening the windows to illuminating values such as interpersonal civility, serving the needy, healing illnesses, focusing on infrastructural, scientific discoveries, atmospheric stewardship, national diversity, and international goodwill.  These run contrary to the values of the “Christian-right,” but I believe they are as important to God, as they are to me.

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As a Christian old-timer, I desire to open the curtains darkening the commons of the family of God.  I prefer the loss of all things, to perpetuating white privilege.  Shutting out the Light will not protect true Christianity.  No loss occurs, when, that which God in Christ has given us is displayed, seen, desired, and taken…instead it produces an increase.  Paul describes the loss of his financial, religious, and political power this way,

I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  Philippians 3:8-9 

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We are witnessing a large number of God’s family, who, “…have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.  (2 Peter 2:20)”

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The gift of the knowledge of God cannot be stolen by a corrupt society, culture, or world, nor can it be preserved behind a curtain of distrust, fear, or protectionism.  Instead, the loss takes place when unfortunate believers find themselves entangled and overcome in the same sleaze, venality, bribery, vice, dishonesty, fraud, and exploitation.  Protecting a brand of Christianity, with political corruption, is a brand not worth saving.  Unfortunately, it does little good to warn those already overcome by the corruption to “come out from among them and be ye separate.”  God alone can deliver that word, and even then, only listening ears can receive it.  I pray the authority of His word will free them anew.  Be careful, the admonition belongs to all of us…so listen.

ACCUMULATED LOVE

ACCUMULATED LOVE

Having prepared the rented sailboat the charter boat captain prayed, “Lord, may my passengers experience You within me today.”  The skipper has no intention to redirect conversations Godward, nor does he expect conversions on the excursion, yet ready for any sincere opening.  He just wants his passengers to enjoy being Loved.  He does so; trusting God will draw the patrons to Himself, as future exposures to Divine Love accumulate in their lives.

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GOD DRAWS

John 6:44  “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.  45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.  Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.  46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.

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LOVE’S ACTIONS

1 Corinthians 13:4  Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  8 Love never fails…

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LOVE DOES NO HARM

Romans 13:9(b)… whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  10 Love does no harm to a neighbor.  Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

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SO PRAY

1 Timothy 2:1  I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.  3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

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AND REMEMBER

Romans 2:4  Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

TEMPTATION TO LOVE

                               TEMPTATION TO LOVE

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A friend on Facebook posted this scripture without comment.  It describes an issue the psalmist dealt with two thousand eight hundred years ago, which affects each of us in the 21^st century.

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29 Remove the false way from me, and graciously grant me Your   law.
30 I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me.
31 I cling to Your testimonies; O Yahweh, do not put me to shame!
32 I shall run the way of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart.
Psalm 119:29-32

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Nearly forty-five years ago, as a new believer, I was seeing a young woman with whom inordinate physical intimacy was inevitable.  She was beautiful and willing, and I craved conjugal gratification.  I knew my desire opposed God’s ordinances, so I went to Him with my dilemma.  “God, I want this.”   

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It made no difference; at that point, that yielding meant long-term sorrow.  Knowing Jesus said, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching” was not enough to dilute my passion.  I remember, as if it were yesterday, telling God, “I’m sorry, but I don’t love You or me enough to keep from doing this.”  Instantly I sensed another Spirit reasoning with me, “I know you don’t love Me or yourself enough, but I know you can love her enough.”  Somehow, that word, enlarged my heart, and I was able to love her enough.  However, keeping that relationship pure not God’s ultimate objective.  God’s endgame is more than merely our righteousness.

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The 119th Psalm is the prayer of someone, personally acquainted with God.  He like all of us who are familiar with the Lord, love Him.  Why is that so?  It is because He is love.  When we recognize who He is, we see who we really are, and we know we are not Love.  Even though, the dissimilarities between God and us are vast, we long to know Him and His love more intimately.    

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Part of the gap stems from our inordinate passions.  He opposes much of what attracts me.  Obvious a more intimate relationship with God demanded a heart expansion.  However, just like the psalmist, I imagine setting some noble goals was the way to reach that intimacy. 

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The psalmist, likely King David, selected three goals he planned to take to achieve his heart increase.  He even had a couple of suggested he thought God should take.  Finally, in frustration, he whimpered, “O Yahweh, do not put me to shame!”  Only God’s Sovran power can affect the needed change.  David conceded that human determination was insufficient to “run the way of Your commandments.”  Knowing a heart expansion was God’s will, David relented saying, “You will enlarge my heart.”

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I ran the first twenty years of my Christian life as if my goals were a compact between God and me.  Frankly, I ran my Christian race, pretty well that way, for two decades.  Then disastrous financial and professional setbacks knocked me off stride.  Casting lust aside was no longer easily choice.  No matter how hard I tried, I was repeatedly ashamed of my performance.

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I lacked the strength to make the classic leap, between Romans 7 and 8.  The good I wanted to do, was not always what I actually did.  I too, finally realized choosing proper goals failed to get the job done.  I needed God to, “enlarge my heart.” 

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The “false way” is not something externally imposed on us.  It is rather, internally self-generated.  Removing the “false way from me” is and was humanly impossible.  It is our way…it is who we are.  That is why those four verses are not the shout of a victorious gold medal winner, but a plea from a runner, losing the race.  

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So, how does God enlarge our heart?  Well, He will do it only at our request.  The key to enlarging the heart has both a cerebral and a willingness component, neither of which we can do, on our own.  I will explain that element later.  For now, I need to point out that enlargement starts with us asking, not for victory over sin, but asking for awareness of Him in us, within a believing and willing heart.  There are two reasons recognition is essential.  1) He already gained victory over sin, on the cross, and 2) that victorious One is in our heart, by His indwelling Spirit.  As important as those intellectual aspects are, our “will” add two other essentials.  He will not override our will, so 3) we must be willing to acknowledge Him when we recognize Him.  Finally, we must also 4) be willing to yield to his will, preferring His will instead of our own.  This final consideration becomes easier knowing God, Who loves you, is not just standing with you, but is standing-up, in you. 

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  “O Lord, enlarge the chambers of my heart that I may find room for Thy love.  Sustain me by Thy power, lest the fire of Thy love consume me.”

Prayer from the 16^th century French dishwasher, Brother Lawrence The Practice of the Presence of God

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Now, what do we perceive when see Him within?  Remember, our spirit is the one that desires that which is inordinate.  It is His Spirit that desiring the good.  Psalm 119 is coming from the heart of a man, but what is voiced is, not solely, his desire, but the desire of God.  The desire for something godly, is never purely ours alone.  It is a desire influenced and shaped by God’s Spirit.  For that reason, when a Christian experience an unusually selfless giving type of love moving within, which is compatible with the Biblical record of Christ Jesus, he can rest assured he is witnessing God’s Spirit within his heart.  The believer’s spirit, at that moment, is looking at God.

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1 John 4:2 “By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.”  Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.”  1 John 3:23+24 “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.  The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them.  And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

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At that moment of recognition, you have a choice.  You can acknowledge His presence or you can tell yourself that, despite the general fallen nature of humanity, you are by nature an unusually godly person.  That is like pretending you are one giant step above the Apostle Paul, who knew God was in him but was unable to yield to God’s ordinances, admitting, “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”  If you can bring yourselves to confess that your mortal human nature is selfish, then you will recognize the immortal origin of those godly tendencies and their extra-mortal source.  When you do, as Paul did, you will likely, “want to know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection.”  There is a conscious that God is in you, which allows you to quietly yield to God’s ordinances contentedly.  God’s Spirit and our spirit inhabiting a single expanded heart in peace. 

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Therefore, running the way of God’s commandments is not us actually defeating sin, but our escape from sin.  His way is our turning to Him at the first sign of temptation (called repentance), and asking Him to allow us to discern Him within us.  Do not fight the evil desire, yield to God’s desire instead.  Sadly, if you are strong enough to fight sin and win, you not only miss the opportunity to know God within more intimately, but pride in your victory is a heart condition God hates. 

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Incidentally, temptation, in-and-of itself, is not evil.  Our selfish desires are.  Temptations remind us that our consciousness of our indwelling God has slipped, and needs renewing.  There is pleasure in finding Him alive in our expanded heart.  A joy we miss when we float along temptation free.  The Lord’s Prayer distinguishes between temptation and evil saying, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil.”  The prayer is more a reminder, than a request.  “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.”  That is why the prayer designates temptation and evil separately.  We need no one to lead is into temptation, as mentioned earlier, they have no problem finding us, on their own.  However notice, God is the One who delivers us from evil (not from temptation).  Evil reaches all of us, and usually accompany our yielding to inordinate desires.  

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It may surprise you that over these last twenty years, I have grown to cherish each invitation to sin (temptation) knowing they automatically causes me to turn to God within.  Acknowledging His presents here, in my heart, is a deeply pleasure-full experience.  In my life, experiencing temptation rescues me from spiritual complacency.  Unfortunately, Christians, who appropriate hate sin, usually confused sin and temptation, as the same things.

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Fixated on stamping out the sources of temptation has led us to amplify, rather than reduce the allure of a number of human urges.  Instead, we should focus on the individuals harmed by yielding to their inordinate desires.  Their constricted hearts are defenseless against self-destructive desires.  Our determination to arrest temptations seems to overshadow God, as the Way.  “God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” 

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Understood for what it is, temptation is not a disorder.  For those who know the indwelling God, it is a drastic, yet beneficial, reminder of God’s abiding love and presence.   

Therefore, let us say with the psalmist of old, “I shall run the way of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart.”

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