Which America

A few years ago I was on a flight and got talking with a woman who was an orthodox Calvinist.  Before we left the plane she remarked that we worshiped a different Jesus.  She was probably correct.  There are more than one important areas of life where such a distinction is possible.

I've been thinking a lot about patriotism since a few days before the 4th.  I walk around my neighborhood and see lots of American flags.  I hear the arguments about the flood of child immigrants and what should be done about them.  I read questions about the on-going mess in Iraq, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, and more other places than I can name and wonder what we can do, should do in the wider world.   I hear folk of various political stripes claiming patriotism and often accusing other folk of not having any...  I think that we are often talking about a different America.

Now I realize this is a caricature and an over-simplification,  but there are those for whom America is a white, middle class,  Protestant country whose actions in the world are always righteous and good and for whom the free market is the answer to any and all problems.  When one of these folk says that Obama is not a "true American," they are being literally accurate.  When one questions or worse yet, condemns, the actions of the US in the world, they really are being traitorous to this understanding of America.  Likewise when someone who holds this view of the US looks at me and says that I am not patriotic, they are absolutely correct.  Indeed, I have always been wary of calling myself patriotic for fear that I would be seen as ascribing to this understanding of the US.

It is not the only picture of America though.   There is another way to see America, forgive again the caricature.  That vision says that America is a nation of immigrants - all colors, all cultures, all religions - coming together to build a new kind of society.  It is a nation that speaks of justice and mercy and welcome first and foremost and which truly believes the inscription on the Statue of Liberty.  It is a nation where the government is by and for the people, which while imperfect, really does seek the good and is necessary for society to be its best.  To this second vision, I proudly affirm I am patriotic.

a vacation report

The longest portion of our vacation was in Pennsylvania and the setting was as different as possible from the first days of our trip. We went from the heat, unrelenting sun, and barren landscapes of Phoenix to the hills and bridges of Pittsburgh and the fecundity of central PA. Christian got to see lightening bugs for the first time and we enjoyed the lush greenery of that part of the world - walking in the woods, enjoying the lakes and rivers, and even driving down country roads and across bridges in Pittsburgh. We stayed in a wonderful little B&B in central PA called Crampton Manor, that I would highly recommend to anyone visiting that part of Pennsylvania. My in-laws live near there and we will certainly be staying there again. We had great visits with family and friends and truly enjoyed being away. Two weeks allowed both Cheryl and me to disengage and it was good.

On July 4, we visited a United Methodist church in McConnelsburg, PA. The worship space was full and seemed representative of the small town and surrounding rural areas. The service came straight out of the 50's with very traditional music and an electronic organ. Much of the language was reflective of a conservative church from that same era with one huge exception - the pastor's sermon. While it certainly reflected that same theology and worldview, it diverged in a very significant way. His text was from the book of Jonah. The title was Praying for Osama Bin Laden.

The service was full of nods to patriotism and American civil religion and I was more than a little apprehensive about the sermon. I was afraid it would be some call to arms and revenge. Instead, the pastor called the congregation to pray for Osama Bin Laden... not that he be killed or even captured (although the pastor did say that Bin Laden needed to be held accountable for his actions), but that he would know grace. The service ended with a hymn This Is My Song, with which I was unfamiliar but I found deeply moving. The tune is Finlandia - one of my favorite hymn tunes - and the words both acknowledged patriotism and pride in our own country while seeing the humanity, pride, hopes, and dreams of others and praying for their peace as well.

It was a church that I'm sure I would not attend if I lived there but I was deeply touched by the courage of the pastor to call for actions that are clearly counter-cultural, especially in his setting, and also clearly based both in the text he was using and in the message of Jesus.