Notes from West Mountain
This Sunday will be the Fourth of July…that morning we will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper as well as recognizing and honoring our country’s 245th birthday. ( You could ask ‘O, it’s that old church and state issue’ right?) Or, not so much.
Most of our country will be on holiday, people are once again going places, gathering, and daring to be social. And while 245 years may feel like a long time, in respect to our deep religious roots or on the stage of world history, it is just a blink of an eye.
It is clear that our union, this United States, has been struggling. We are in the midst of a most turbulent time. Democracy has been rightly called an experiment, or at least a test case. And those who seem the wisest have noted that this nation is in a “very delicate moment”. One could suggest that the “test tube” for our common experiment has recently been more of a “crucible”, with the heat turned way, way, up.
Let us all take some measure of joy in the moment, nonetheless. Let us recognize that we are playing out this experiment without a road map or advance scouting. We are human and we are something special. In truth, we share a common humanity that spreads beyond race, color, gender identities, languages, traditions and preferences. God made us that way. Our imaginations can envision a better way to be, our hearts can too. Let us value freedom as a hopeful gift not limited to any one group. Let us delight in our fragility such that it becomes our strength. And may our nation and its faiths not be at odds but rather in communion.
I conclude with the last stanza of Leonard Cohen’s poem/song “Democracy”.
“I’m sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can’t stand the scene
And I’m neither left or right
I’m just staying home tonight
Getting lost in that hopeless little screen
But I’m stubborn as those garbage bags
That time cannot decay
I’m junk but I’m still holding up this little wild bouquet
Democracy is coming to the USA”
The Rev. Mark Diters
