Dreams Too Big To Manage
On Friday night we checked into a hotel in Philadelphia. We had tickets to a play and decided to make a weekend of it. The next morning I opened the drapes. There, across the street, stood the Museum of the American Revolution. Let’s go! I said.
The exhibits, enlivened by Hollywood-quality videos, were dramatic and inspiring. The American revolution was unlike anything that had happened in Europe. We Americans, at least, see it as an exceptional quest for liberty and justice for all. I was feeling my chest filling with pride, and then I read this sign:
In 1776, when Congress declared that ‘all men are created equal,’ approximately 400,000 African Americans lived in slavery. Most colonies limited political office holding and voting to men who owned property. Women could not vote and typically could not own property.
The authors of the Declaration of Independence probably never imagined their words would inspire calls for equality from women, slaves, and the poor. But that is what happened.
The promise of the Declaration has been expanding ever since.
Isn’t that the way? The founders of this nation were roused by a sweeping new vision for humanity, but it was bigger than they could take in. Yet their ideal took on a life of its own, which often happens when we let loose even a little truth. It expands.
I stood there, feeling still a sense of pride, but also a sense of humility. Immediately I thought of the Bible and the church. How the Scriptures, written over centuries, hold out an astonishingly beautiful vision for the world—what Verna Dozier called “The Dream of God”—and yet how we have mostly been unable or unwilling to take it in. Still, God did not give up on us. Contemporary prophets rose up to call us back to that divine dream—of racial equity, reverence for the Earth, Jesus’ equal regard for women, the nonviolent struggle for peace, God’s preferential option for the poor, and the ongoing liberation of class after class of burdened people.
We don’t need a perfect nation, just an honest one; not a perfect church, just a humble one. After all, life is not a line dance, it’s a cha-cha: two steps forward, one step back.
P.S. Lent takes flight in just a few days—February 14th. This year I’ll be offering a short daily reflection, “Companions on the Way.” You’re invited to walk this pilgrimage.
I love “we don’t need a perfect nation, just an honest one; not a perfect church, just a humble one.” So good!
Looking forward to your daily reflections, David. Peace, Johnna
“Life is not a line dance, it’s a cha-cha: two steps forward, one step back.” Brilliant!
I love your correlation of the Declaration and the Bible, both revolutionary in their time.
And every revolution has an expiration date. Once I realize that, it’s much easier to read these inspired but historical documents in peace.
I look forward to Lent, moving through it with you.
Well, we might hope some of those verses would just expire! But the beauty of the Bible is that all those hurtful passages are still there, the inevitable expression of the assumptions and biases of a certain age–but the biblical prophets (and those who collated and assembled the canon of the Bible) didn’t say, ‘Tear those pages out!’ They left them there as a reminder of what we got wrong. And right beside it, they laid down another compelling and powerful vision, and invited us to tell another story.
Yes, a good reminder–those who could’ve purged the canon didn’t. At least not the biggest parts of it. And the choice to leave those damning passages in there, I wonder if they had any idea that future reforming zealots would use them as a pretext for declaring war on Judaism. Christians did. Also Islam. Also Joseph Smith. “Look,” they said, “don’t listen to us, listen to them. Their own scriptures condemn them.”
Thanks again, David, for a great piece. Disturbing in the best sense of the word.
Yes, a good reminder–they could’ve purged the canon but didn’t. At least not the biggest parts of it. And the choice to leave those damning passages in there, and the original choice of the Hebrew authors to include them in the first place, I’m sure they had no idea that future reforming zealots would use them as a pretext for declaring war. Christians did. Also Islam. Also Joseph Smith. “Look,” they said, “don’t listen to us, listen to them. Their own scriptures condemn them.”
Thanks again, David, for a great piece. Disturbing in the best sense of the word.
I love “we don’t need a perfect nation, just an honest one; not a perfect church, just a humble one.” Those statements are also true of me. I feel encouraged by your positive analogy that the world, nation, church and I are “doing a cha-cha”, instead of my judgments…. when I am impatiently awaiting progress.
You’re right, Ann–the cha-cha is also our own individual lives. Growth is not a straight line graph!
I love the”we don’t need nation just an honest one. We don’t need a perfect church just a humble one.” How do we make that happen? I’d dance down any street if I thought I would find true honesty & humility at the end! in the mean time I will dance to my own music hoping that sometime “equal” will become a reality and not just a sentence and a dream!
Keep dancing the liberation cha-cha–you’re already making a difference.
David, you have a wonderful talent of expressing the hope, tempered by the reality.
Well, if we have honest hope, we can face reality.