Word to the Wise
Sunday, September 25, 2011 - 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
[Ezek 18:25-28; Phil 2:1-11 or 2:1-5; Matt 21:28-32,24]If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others.
One of the best studies of American culture and character was made in the 1830's by the French aristocrat, Alexis DeToqueville, who visited and toured around the United States as it existed at that time. His book, DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA, remains one of the most insightful views of the way we look at things, especially the trait of individualism. We Americans are known to be the most individualistic people on the planet! In the late 1980's, another very insightful study by sociologist Robert Bellah and associates, HABITS OF THE HEART, showed that DeToqueville's observations continue to be true, and, if anything, the trait of individualism has strengthened. Still another study more recently, BOWLING ALONE - The Collapse and Revival of Community in America (2000) by Robert Putnam, shows that individualism has eroded all kinds of relationships - family, church, work! The highly polarized flavor of our national political scene, which finds local expression in "enclave" or "gated" communities, is an obvious example.
St. Paul's plea to the Philippians to develop a common understanding of themselves as a community, based on the example of Jesus, shows that the trait of individualism did not originate in America, but seems to come from the ancient Greeks! Frontier and pioneer conditions in the United States made for fertile ground for this trait which had found ideological and spiritual strength in European movements such as the Enlightenment and Reformation! Individual reasoning and individual interpretation of religious belief - the tyranny of the option - face the preacher in every congregation and may indeed be the way the preacher interprets the gospel!
I have painted in broad strokes here, but I encounter this individualism in myself and in those whom I serve. One of the pastoral situations in which it shows up is baptismal preparation. On more than one occasion, couples who come to arrange for a baptism have told me that they know no one whom they would choose as a godparent for their child! Commitment has become a commodity! In short, the individual chooses to belong or not. There is no overarching sense of purpose and faith that determines this. St. Paul urges us to think of others as more important than ourselves! We may know individuals who are personally humble enough to act this way, but whole communities? The scope of the challenge is immense when we think of the diversity of our nation. The call to conversion, to the attitude which is that of Christ Jesus, is loud and clear but until there is a common listening, there cannot be a common response. AMEN
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