Rev. Dr. Devin Strong
Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church
Did you feel like celebrating? On Tuesday the whole nation paused to celebrate our country on Independence Day. For some it was just a day off work and a chance to grill out with friends.
For many others, especially those on active duty in the military, July Fourth is a sacred day to honor both our history and the present blessings in our nation.
Did you feel like celebrating? I admit that celebrating has been a little harder for me lately.
In addition to the usual partisan political bickering, in the last couple of weeks, there have been four significant rulings in the Supreme Court which are sure to divide Americans more deeply.
Perhaps you took note of them. On the “liberal” side was the ruling rejecting the ability of state congress people to overrule either their own state courts or federal courts when it comes to declaring winners in elections. On the “conservative“ side was a ruling eliminating Affirmative Action as a criterion for college admissions or a means of promoting diversity as well as the ruling allowing businesses to deny service to members of the LGBTQ community if serving them violates that business owner’s religious beliefs, and finally, there was the ruling that effectively ends President Biden’’s Student Loan Forgiveness Program, at least for now. Regardless of where you stand on any or all of these issues, these Supreme Court rulings are huge, and all four are sure to lead to more anger and conflict in our society. The level of anger in our nation today makes it harder for me to celebrate.
Still, I find wisdom in Diane Ackerman’s short story, A Slender Thread.
Diane is a volunteer at a suicide hotline, and she shares what she has learned.
She writes, “Suicidal people have tunnel vision—no other choice seems possible.
A counselor’s job is to put windows and doors in that tunnel.”
Diane goes on to describe in detail how she does this for a young mother who calls her on the verge of ending her life. The counselor does not—as I might do—ask the caller to list blessings or positive things in her life. Instead, she listens deeply to the distressed mom and reminds her that she has a choice, many choices, about how to respond to the legitimate struggles in her life. It is a disturbing story but also a hopeful one.
Where I find a reason for celebrating this Fourth of July week is not in the state of our national politics. To my eyes things look more petty, tribal, and power hungry than they have in some time. My hope comes in our ability to respond individually and collectively as Americans. The Constitution gives us this right, and God gives us this ability.
It is up to you and me to figure out how we are going to exercise our freedom to respond. Perhaps we will write letters to the editor, join protests, become more educated or issues that matter, or maybe we will choose to act simply, defiantly differently than our politicians in our own little corners of the world. The point is that you and I have a choice, many of them. If we do not like what is going on in our country, we can respond. The tunnel is not nearly as dark as it first appears, and as citizens and Christians, our job is to start cutting windows and doors in the tunnel.
God Loves You, and So Do I!