"A New World in the Shell of the Old"

Most of us will be gathered around our television sets tonight watching whatever cable station or network we prefer as the voting results in our respective states and around the nation start trickling in.  Most notably we will be watching the vote tally for President of the United States.  Who will win?  Will it be Romney or Obama.  Political pundits as I understand it have been leaning towards another four years for President Obama.  We'll see if they're right soon enough.

But whether it is President Obama or Governor Romney, I am of the opinion that it won't make that much difference especially as long as our congress and our nation are in gridlock, vying for its own political advantage, gain, greed, power and control, expecting to get what they want with seemingly little real concern for what is best for the country and for the common good in our nation and around the world.

I am of the opinion we are an empire in slow decline.  I know that can be hard to hear for many of us Americans cause we can somehow think we are an exception (ever heard of American Exceptionalism?) to the historical fact that every empire down through the ages has come apart - and we will be no exception.  It's just a fact.

It seems to me that so many of our systems and institutions are broken, not working, in disarray with no apparent viable solutions in sight. I mean look at the post office, the political system, the educational system, the economic mess, the medical system, infrastructure.  Need I go on?  They all are in a quagmire within political gridlock and little political will for positive change and meaningful solutions.   Just rhetoric. Sickening rhetoric.

Now I am a Christian (or as I like to say, an imperfect follower of Jesus) but please don't tell me, "Oh, it will all be alright in the great bye and bye when Jeeeesus returns!"  If I hear that, or something close to that one more time I think I'm gonna throw up!  Look, I believe the Apostles Creed, etc, etc, but I think Scripture makes it plain, especially since the resurrection of Jesus that God desires his will to be accomplished on this earth as it is in heaven.  So, what are we doing?  We play politics with the gospel!  Shame on us!  We talk and talk and judge and put down and talk some more.  My God, forgive us for resting in our comfortable homes, making our comfortable livings, going to our comfortable churches and giving from our comfortable checking accounts funds to add another wing to the church or buy that new pipe organ all in the name of Jeeeesus.  It pisses me off!.....and it makes me sad. 

I don't even know where I intended to go with this post other than to say I'm tired.  I'm heartbroken that we play at the gospel.  Not all of you, but far too many of us.

So, each day we need to listen for God and carry out one concrete way to live the gospel through prayer and action.  We need to follow the example of Jesus (you know I don't think Jesus ever made an explicit command to worship him, though I do, but was always saying "follow me"), We need to be about the real business of as Dorothy Day was fond of saying, "Building the new world (read kingdom of God) in the shell (that's what it is) of the old.

Peace for real,
Dennis