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Sunday, July 03, 2022

Sunday of Independence Weekend: Facebook Reflection


Good Sunday morning, good people of Independence Day celebration. It rained all night last night so this morning feels like someone who's been out on a bender all night and only has one eye open and half the brain cells functioning. And, oy, what a headache!

It is currently 77 degrees, air quality is good at 21, the UV index is as low as possible at Zero, and the wind is coming up and over from the SW at 5 mph, causing a nice 'snap' every now and again to all the flags and banners hanging from flag poles and people's houses and boats.

The other day, I saw a young man driving a pickup truck. There were two other guys on the bench seat with him and a couple more in the bed of the truck. Shirts off, torn jean shorts, you could smell the testosterone from across the road.

They were whooping and laughing and their speech was just a tad slurred but the boys in the back were waving a flag and yelling, "Independence, baby! Independence, man! 'Merica the beautiful, bitches! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!"

And I thought, right. There it is. That's what caused the crack in the Liberty Bell. It's what keeps the crack in the longed-for unity in these very divided "United States".

Toxic patriotism.

It's love of country that is drunk on the idea of independence. It's the political version of "me and Jesus" converted to "me and Uncle Sam."

It's "I got mine, too bad about yours." It's "Sure, but not in my backyard." It's "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps," and "the Marlboro Man." It's "America First," and "Make American Great Again." And, all of that gets mixed together with a heavy dose of "Manifest Destiny," and simmers for a few generations on the fires of Nationalism and Populism while everybody sings, a verse of Lee Greenwood's, "God Bless the USA."

The most amazing thing to me is that all of these boys and girls who consider themselves "true patriots" also declare themselves to be "real Christians". Which is the great irony.

Jesus wasn't about 'independence'. Jesus was all about 'interdependence'. He wasn't about "Jerusalem First." He was all about "the first shall be last and the last shall be first."

Jesus wasn't about anybody or anything being "great" - except God. And, Jesus was all about welcoming the stranger and loving your enemies and feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, and sheltering the homeless.

His 'Founding Fathers" were the Prophets and Martyrs. His Declaration of Independence was The Lord's Prayer. His Constitution was The Beatitudes.

I think what makes toxic patriotism so poisonous is that it subverts everything Jesus stood for and taught and then claims the right to do damage to others in the name of Christ.

I think Jesus weeps on this day. Certainly, people of color have never been able to fully enter into a celebration of this day. It took nearly 100 years for women to get suffrage and even then, we've only had the right to vote since August 18, 1920.

Oh, of course, we all celebrate the freedoms we enjoy as a nation in the present moment, but this year, especially, with the most conservative SCOTUS we've seen in almost a century and with the stench of Fascism and White Supremacy lurking in the chambers of the House and Senate of our nation and in many of the state legislatures, the freedoms for people of color, women and Queer people are under attack and threaten to be further eroded.

So, this year is an odd sort of celebration - certainly not as full-throated as it's been in the past. Not after Roe was overturned. Not after the John Lewis Voting Rights Act is still stalled in the Senate. Not after we're learning all the details of just how close we came to losing our democracy during the J6 Insurrection.

Meanwhile, over at the lectionary page, Jesus still has his face set toward Jerusalem. There's an urgency to his words and his teaching. He knows that he's not going to get to go to all the places he intended to visit so he's appointed 70 more to do the work of his mission.

Stay focused, he tells them. Don't be distracted by what you want, focus on what you need and take only that. People don't want to listen to your message? Move on. People do like your message? Stay for a while and let it all sink in.

But, know this, he says. Whether you are a success or an abysmal failure, whether you win a few or lose a few, that's not what matters. It's not about you. It's about the message. The message is what matters. The work is what matters.

Because, because, because, because, because (deep breath), here's the real deal (another deep breath): No matter what, your names are written in heaven.

Just take that in for half a heartbeat.

Your names are written in heaven.

My name is written in heaven.

You - YOU there, yes, You, too- your name is written in heaven.

Knowing that changes everything. Or, at least, it should.

The preacher is going to be talking about that for a little bit this morning. She's only got a little time to preach because she's doing that service she's been doing for a while - that "Service of Lessons and Hymns for Independence Day" that she developed about 15 years back.

It allows voices from the past - the Mayflower Compact and the Preamble to the Constitution - along with voices that have not been heard in our country or in the halls of power and authority, including Abigail Adams and Chief Seattle.

There are also lots of hymns and verses we don't usually sing. When you hear the words of the Mayflower Compact and then sing, "We gather together" you don't think of Thanksgiving Day. And, when you hear Cheif Seattle's words and then sing, "God Bless our Native Land," you begin to raise a left eyebrow at the word "native".

Join us, if you've a mind to, at 10 AM over at Sirach 26:10. It promises to be an inspiring service - just not, perhaps, in the way you might have expected to be inspired.

Hopefully, as Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem, we might be inspired to set our faces toward D.C. Because, you know, our names are written in heaven.

So, off we go, then.

It's summer and we're in a resort area so the COVID positivity rate is hovering around 12% here, but it's on the rise all over the country. Do be careful. It can still be dangerous.

And, as will be said and sung on the steps of every Federal and State House of Government and every Local Town Hall, which I hope we'll sing like a prayer, because, God knows, we need it:

God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above
From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home.

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