Word to the Wise
Thursday, July 4, 2013 - Thursday in the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 22:1b-19 and Matt 9:1-8]I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing.....
These words from Genesis are one of several incidents where God restates the covenant with Abraham. On this occasion God responds to Abraham's willingness to offer Isaac in sacrifice! It is this covenant that gives rise to the idea that a particular "people" might be "chosen" by God out of all the humans on earth. Some historians use the term "exceptionalism" to describe this collective consciousness! It has been used to describe the way the United States of America thinks of itself!
The fourth of July is our national holiday. At thousands of gatherings around the country we will celebrate "the blessings of liberty." We will recite the "pledge of allegiance" to our national flag and sing our national anthem (or "America the Beautiful" or "God Bless America") and set off fireworks. Speeches will be made and in those speeches there will be more than a hint of "exceptionalism" to the effect that our nation is "unique" among all the nations on earth and especially favored by God. (Our atheistic citizens may agree about the uniqueness without attributing that to God!)
I will be as grateful as anyone can be for the "blessings of liberty" but I read too much history to put my faith in exceptionalism! We are much too young as a nation to presume God's favor! God's covenant is open to all human persons. Our task individually and collectively is to be faithful. In our secular and consumerist society, it is becoming more and more "exceptional" to be faithful! Yet, this is what we are all called to do and can celebrate it today. AMEN