"God Bless America"
A sermon by Rev. Judy Tomlinson
November 4, 2007
SERMON:
"God Bless America". I wonder what you think and feel
when you hear that phrase . . . Let me tell you what a few people
have said about it, mostly with faces getting red and steam issuing
from their ears.
A Catholic woman at my gym who serves lunch at the Salvation Army
and collects warm clothing for homeless people that she knows personally
in Newark said to me, "This really makes me angry. It's a subterfuge,
a smoke screen so that people can feel patriotic while ignoring
issues like feeding the hungry and providing health care to children."
One mother told me that, instead of using God with an expletive
when exasperated and angry, she would say "God Bless America".
It got to the point that her child thought "God Bless America"
was a swear word and was very confused after 9/11 when people kept
using the phrase. The mother was trying to protect her son from
the curse word, but with the feeling she put into it, "God
Bless America" became a curse for him. How did this phrase
go from one that would fill our heads with courageous historic moments
and our hearts with love and pride to something so hollow and empty?
I have to confess that it steams me when I hear politicians using
this phrase at the end of every speech. To me it's like asking for
a special privilege from the All Mighty.
As if God were up there in heaven doling out special gifts and
rewards; and they project the image that we Americans are so good
and righteous, we should get a extra helping of God's blessings.
When politicians make such a point of their "patriotism",
we're supposed to unquestioningly revere these very important people
in their authoritative leadership positions as if they have some
special power to call down God's blessing on us. Well, it is my
contention that America has already been blessed. We have an extraordinarily
beautiful country with extensive land and abundant resources. We
have an amazing Constitution. Throughout the land, people of all
descriptions and backgrounds are learning and working together every
day. What more could we ask for?
And maybe that is the thing. How much are we going to ask for,
for goodness sake? We are the richest nation in the world. We have
an abundance of just about everything.Frankly I can hear God sitting
up there and saying "You want what?"
When some people say "God Bless America," it's like they're
saying, "Dear God, we want to be blessed. We want more happiness
and better fortune than the great happiness and tremendous fortune
we already have. We want you to sanctify us because we need to make
the world safe for democracy.
So, we're going to need special dispensation to use illegal means
during a time of war. And, by the way, we need your permission to
break several commandments like not bearing false witness - that
is, we don't really need to tell the whole truth - and if we covet
our neighbor's resources you'll look the other way for us, right?"
Frankly I don't think that is going to fly with the Almighty. The
God of the Hebrews said that his commandments were an important
covenant and the Hebrew prophets called the people back to the covenant
time and time again. People like the prophet Micah who railed against
socioeconomic injustice. He spoke in defense of the poor and powerless.
And said that, without social justice, religious worship was meaningless.
Listen to words from the Book of Micah: "With what shall I
come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?" asks
the wealthy person who has been exploiting the powerless. The wealthy
man asks, "Shall I come before the Lord with many sacrifices
and that will justify my wrong doing?" And Micah answers, "God
has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does God require
of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly
with your God?" That is the answer.
No, I don't think these politicians praying in public is going
to work with the God I've read about in the Bible and that's the
God I assume these folks are praying to in their very public way.
I wonder if they notice that that too is frowned upon by that very
same God. That God, through his representative in Jesus, said to
pray in your closet rather than going about in public and praying
aloud for all to hear and see and acknowledge you as a holy person.
So let's see a few of those who this God said would be blessed and
would receive special favor.
Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven". I would interpret that as relating
those whose faith had been tested, like ours after 9/11. We asked
then, "How can people be so cruel? What kind of a world do
we live in when such things can happen?" Good questions. Important
questions. Where do they lead?
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
And then you saw people helping other people in need. You saw people
donating blood. You saw people pouring in from around the country
to help. You saw nations pulling together to for the common good,
and that could have been the beginning of the kingdom of heaven.
He said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness'
sake." I just heard a man on the radio describing the use of
water boarding. Not something I like to talk or think about but
we actually have a man nominated to the highest seat of our nation's
law enforcement being questioned about whether or not water boarding
is a form of torture - and unwilling to give a straight answer.
Meanwhile, this man on the radio, a consultant to our government
who trains troops in resisting while under going torture, was very
clear that it is a form of torture. Brian Lerher, the interviewer,
asked him at the end of the program whether he feared that he or
his company would suffer from his outspokenness.
He said that he was prepared to deal with whatever came his way.
He referred to the signers of the Declaration of Independence who
all knew that if we lost the Revolutionary War that they would be
hanged. They and he had the integrity to stand up because of righteousness
and were willing to let the consequences fall where they may. May
he be filled.
Certainly we all bring our values with us wherever we go, including
the public square. We can't help but do so. Our values are a deeply
held part of us and I don't ask our political leaders to divorce
themselves from those values. But I do ask them to act on them with
integrity rather than making a show of their piety. Especially when
it is so clear that their actions do not match the public display.
"God Bless America." Would America still feel so blessed
if we lost our democracy? If, in the process of fighting those we've
identified as monsters, we lost our soul? If all democracy means
to us is a vote on election day and taking the consequences until
the next time around, what do we do when we have someone who is
not responsive to the will of the people? When that happens I feel
that our democracy is in danger.
We need to make some noise. We need to be loud enough and persistent
enough to let our political leaders know that we are not going to
go away. We will not take "No" or "Be quiet"
for an answer.
I think we do want America to be blessed, but we certainly don't
think that means some supernatural power is going to come down with
a magic wand and turn our blighted cities and environment into paradise.
We don't think that wishing makes it so. We don't think that praying
for a blessing excuses us from our moral obligation to honor the
inherent worth and dignity of every person.
What would it look like if you and I really put the blessings America
already has to good use? Maybe we would know the names of the poor
because we would be working with them to create a better life together
right here in Montclair. Maybe we would comfort those who mourn,
including the families in Iraq whose culture and loved ones have
been, and are being, destroyed. Maybe, just maybe, we would work
for peace through justice and be called the sons and daughters of
God.
Maybe this is what irritates me most about "God Bless America".
Asking God to bless America more than we have already been blessed
is such a greedy thing to do. Especially when we open our eyes and
hearts to the way people in the rest of the world live. If you look
around it's obvious that America has already been handsomely blessed.
Now what are we going to do with this amazing country we've got?
Are we going to let our civil liberties be eroded en mass?
Are we going to continue to concentrate wealth and perpetuate class
divisions? Are we going to say that we can't afford health insurance
for our children? These are signs of serious soul sickness.
But we need to keep heart. Despair is not an option. It doesn't
matter if they don't listen to us this time. It didn't matter that
the judge in the story I told earlier was unjust and uncaring. The
woman just kept coming back time after time after time to say, "You
have to do the right thing". She couldn't afford cynicism and
despair and ours will not help her or her children. If we partner
with her, hers and our persistence can make a difference.
What would it look like if that partnership took place? We would
have good schools and teachers for all the children. They would
grow up healthy and without fear of violence. We wouldn't have to
fear losing our jobs and our homes because a greedy and corrupt
financial system is collapsing. We wouldn't have to cry when polar
bears are stranded on a shrinking piece of ice with no food and
no hope of finding their way back to land because of environmental
degradation.
What would it look like? It would look like a sustainable energy
system that doesn't pollute. It would look like a farm production
system that grows healthy food that is safe to eat. It would look
like communities of people who know and trust and care for each
other. It would look like elderly people and young children being
well cared for.
What do we need to do to achieve that vision? We need to take moral
leadership. If the political leaders can't afford to stick their
necks out, they will have to get out of the way and let us lead
the country. As I heard some time ago, one politician said "I
want to do the right thing but I can't do it and stay in office
unless I have a strong base of support pushing me all the way".
So let's do the pushing. We have to create the climate of healthy
change so we and our world can be healed. We are inflicting so much
damage on the earth and other people that the wounds are deep. But
the world is a living system and I believe it will correct itself
- if we just give it a chance.
It doesn't come with a magic wand. It comes from people joining
hands and hearts because we love each other too much to lose our
souls. We need to do this thing together. Individually and collectively.
So find out what the Green Sanctuary folks are doing. Buy Fair Trade
so people in developing countries can make a living wage.
Become connected and join hands with those working to create good
schools in our cities. Teach our children kindness and honesty so
the next generation will know what it means to love their neighbor.
I have been thinking about how the World War II generation left
us a world free of Fascism and a wealthy and powerful country with
expanding civil rights. What do we want the Baby Boom legacy to
be?
What if, as the Baby Boom generation retires, and that is not so
many years from now folks, if instead of retiring to tropical paradises
and gated communities, we instead retired to the elementary and
high schools of Newark, Irvington and Camden? If we flocked in there
and rolled up our sleeves and added our volunteer energies and our
experience and our brains to the vital work of educating our country's
children. I believe that in less than a generation our inner cities
and country would be completely different. Of course it wouldn't
be that easy - we would need to work with the schools, the unions
and the parents to make sure our talents and experience were utilized
to their greatest effect. And we would need educational training
and schooling in cultural, racial and ethnic sensitivities but we
could start preparing for that right now.
I think part of the decline of our democracy and being involved
at the town meeting level is because people are working so many
more hours. This has taken us out of the public square and put us
behind desks. But maybe we can get out from behind them. Maybe we
don't have to wait for retirement. Perhaps we could inquire about
whether our employers have a policy allowing employees to devote
work time to public service. Right now.
I read a book last November about a young man named Cedric Jennings
who was from a poor Washington D.C. neighborhood. Only half of the
teens in Cedric's high school graduated. Imagine if only half the
students at Montclair High or West Orange High School graduated.
And of those in Cedric's school only a handful were accepted into
college. Of those only five or ten could actually go because, without
full scholarships, their families just couldn't afford to send them.
Period. I just heard a woman on Bill Moyers' show say that when
the State University of New York raises their tuition $1000 a year,
40,000 students drop out, at least temporarily. Cedric was both
lucky and hardworking as well as courageous. He did get a scholarship
for his tuition but he also had a benefactor. Someone who gave him
money for books and food and incidentals. What if we had $25 dollars
a month deducted from our bank accounts and put it in a savings
fund so that we could help one of those teens who graduates from
high school like Cedric's at least have a chance to go to college?
Again, this is something we could do right now.
This, week, maybe while you are watching the Nets or the Giants
or at some other spare moment, why not write a letter to your Senators
and congressperson about an issue that's important to you. And I
will too.
And we can't just do it once but over and over and over again until
the ones that don't care just don't want to hear from us anymore.
Until the ones that want to do the right thing feel that they have
a base of support. Send them an email from your Black berry while
you are on the commuter train. Chose your own way, do what feels
right. Talk to others about what they are doing.
But let's all do something to make sure that America doesn't lose
the blessings it already has. Don't stop. Let's be persistent and
hopeful and act for justice, love kindness, for the children of
our country and those all around the world.
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