Seeing the United States as Ezekiel’s “great high cedar” and the “fowl of every wing” singing from their nested branches as denominations of various and sundry belief systems we can be persuaded to think of it in an Utopian fashion. But the caveat is that unlike birds of nature much of this singing has selfish intent. They are not just thanking God in hymns for the sunlight and the shelter, the food, raiment and other blessings; much of it is vying for dogmatic dominance over the entire tree. Much of it is seeking to “poach” dissatisfied fledglings out of their home branches. America — while being the fulfillment of God’s Promises of national greatness to the Patriarchs is the best this age has and will ever produce, it is not yet nor ever will it be God’s Kingdom on Earth. We all need to give up the dream of being able to create even a tiny microcosm of that. Once in a while we may get it momentarily, but then something always takes it away and the disappointing untrustworthy character of this life again takes over. We birds of faith are apt to sing our songs not purely for the Lord of the tree, but in an attempt to get the others to sing along in the mistaken and self-seeking belief that this will engender the Beatific Vision to our immediate surroundings. And then, of course, we will by seniority be promoted as the song leaders. In this we are like Peter trying to disabuse Jesus of His “self-destructive tendencies” (see Mat. 16:21-23). Rather than a help to our neighbors we are a stumbling block on the path that the real evidence of God is leading them upon.
Instead of having one Pope or a Luther leading the national flock America now has hundreds, thousands — even tens of thousands of “Vaticans”, each proclaiming with it’s signs and billboards, websites and televangelists that within the walls of the spiritual ideology and Scriptural “insight” is the convincing proof you’ve been looking for. “Come and see,” they say. This was a phrase used both at the beginning of Christ’s ministry and near the end. But once inside having experienced the “fellowship” and “joyful song” for a time you may find that if you are not fully persuaded that the Lord is actually in residence there more than any other place or that the spiritually dead are actually being raised to life there — that and other evidence having involuntarily seeped through the cracks in the dogma. Then you will probably find yourself being coerced to give up your outward rebellion and doubtfulness or leave. This is the same treatment the Roman Catholic Pope would get if he were to admit publicly that he was as susceptible to error in thought and deed as anyone else.
But once you walk out the door you are back in the place where the freedom to follow your conscience is guaranteed by the full force of U.S Constitutional Law. I have found the key is — no matter where I choose to sit, relax, look and listen while I’m living here in the United States — to never leave it. I am an American Catholic. I even check out what the Pope says before I will believe any of it. And I have an inkling that the Popes in my lifetime would have no argument with that — as long as they didn’t have to agree publicly. What a strange doctrinal conundrum it would be if a sitting Pope were to issue a decree that stated that he was not “infallible” when making such decrees. He could neither be lying nor telling the truth ….
But I’m an American — I don’t have to worry about any of that.
{ 0 comments… add one now }