Friday, August 26, 2011

The Myth of American Exceptionalism & Our Bloated Nothingness

As, centered in spirit, we work to see clearly, getting our bloated nothingness out of the way of the divine circuits, we can feel the grace that’s there, already within us, begin to flow, and we realize it doesn’t have to be this way, a world full of hate and terror, and in love’s light, we begin to understand that peace and progress are possible, even if we must work courageously to achieve them. Like the old WWII song said, “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition! Praise the Lord, we ain’t a goin’ fishin’. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition and we’ll all stay free.”

“Human hate has no legitimate mandate and no kingdom,” wrote Mary Baker Eddy. “Love is enthroned.” Realizing the truth of that statement in our lives is a process requiring vision, strength, diligence and lot’s of willingness to stop kidding ourselves and get our bloated nothingness out of the way.

The idea of American Exceptionalism is a big part of our bloated nothingness. It is a myth whose time has come…to die. If the dysfunctional way Congress and the White House finally avoided a default on US sovereign debt didn’t put the final nail in the myth’s coffin, it put in most of them. Imagine America trying to rescue the world economy as it did two years ago? The new austerity makes that largely impossible. And what of the surging demands of the baby boomers? Plus, the fact that well justified cuts in the Pentagon’s budget are on the way will not only embolden China and India, but reduce our world footprint.

The latest display of gridlock and the promise of more to come call for modesty, not Exceptionalism. America can be a good nation among other good nations, a noble and prosperous nation among other noble and prosperous nations, but no longer an exceptional nation. If we face this aspect of our bloated nothingness and get it out of the way, we can still experience God’s grace and still make a contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything.

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