It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes. - Psalm 119:71
Virginia speaks not just for many Canadians, but many Americans as well, when she writes of feeling “betrayed, threatened, and bewildered” by the assertions and actions of our government. (There might also be a few Ukrainians, EU members, Greenlanders, and Panamanians who share the same reactions.)
These times have clarified for me in whom (or what) I have placed my trust and where my allegiance lies, and. While governing occurred in a rational and competent fashion, it was easy for me to place trust in the government for my sense of stability and well-being without even realizing I was doing it. It was virtually unconscious, and was only brought to light when government no longer seemed trustworthy. While a strong visceral reaction to the cruelty and lies of the last couple of months is natural, the depth and vehemence of my response surprised me. I have come to realize that it is the response of someone whose trust has been broken — and I have spent Lent repenting of misplaced trust and learning anew to trust in God.
My government’s betrayal of our friends in Canada and elsewhere has also led me to reassess where my allegiance lies — and where it should lie. As Alasdair MacIntyre has so trenchantly pointed out, giving allegiance to the nation-state is about as meaningful as giving allegiance to the telephone company. My primary allegiance is to the Kingdom of God, and I share more in common with a sister or brother in Christ in Canada then a fellow American who does not follow Christ. God’s Kingdom transcends nations, and our unity and love for each other should demonstrate to the world an alternative society, the life of the true Kingdom that stands in stark contrast to the nation-state’s parody of it.
So Virigina, I acknowledge that you feel betrayed, threatened, and bewildered — as do I, and many of your brothers and sisters south of the border. But also that that border is not an ultimately important one, and that the things that bind us together are infinitely greater than the human borders and lies that ostensibly divide us.
I find the discipline of the Daily Office particularly helpful. The recurring pattern of morning prayer, noon prayer, evening prayer, and compline (when I am able to make time for them!) repeatedly pulls me back from the crush of the daily into a quiet and open space where I am more prepared to connect, or reconnect, with God. There is something basic and grounding in returning to pray the Benedictus every morning, the Magnificat every evening, the Nunc Dimmitus before retiring, and praying through the Psalms all day. Over the years at various times I have used Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours and the prayer books of the Episcopal Church and the Church of England as guides.
Posted in: What Does It Mean to Be a Bi-National Denomination When the Rhetoric Between the Two Nations Becomes Bitter?
It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes. - Psalm 119:71
Virginia speaks not just for many Canadians, but many Americans as well, when she writes of feeling “betrayed, threatened, and bewildered” by the assertions and actions of our government. (There might also be a few Ukrainians, EU members, Greenlanders, and Panamanians who share the same reactions.)
These times have clarified for me in whom (or what) I have placed my trust and where my allegiance lies, and. While governing occurred in a rational and competent fashion, it was easy for me to place trust in the government for my sense of stability and well-being without even realizing I was doing it. It was virtually unconscious, and was only brought to light when government no longer seemed trustworthy. While a strong visceral reaction to the cruelty and lies of the last couple of months is natural, the depth and vehemence of my response surprised me. I have come to realize that it is the response of someone whose trust has been broken — and I have spent Lent repenting of misplaced trust and learning anew to trust in God.
My government’s betrayal of our friends in Canada and elsewhere has also led me to reassess where my allegiance lies — and where it should lie. As Alasdair MacIntyre has so trenchantly pointed out, giving allegiance to the nation-state is about as meaningful as giving allegiance to the telephone company. My primary allegiance is to the Kingdom of God, and I share more in common with a sister or brother in Christ in Canada then a fellow American who does not follow Christ. God’s Kingdom transcends nations, and our unity and love for each other should demonstrate to the world an alternative society, the life of the true Kingdom that stands in stark contrast to the nation-state’s parody of it.
So Virigina, I acknowledge that you feel betrayed, threatened, and bewildered — as do I, and many of your brothers and sisters south of the border. But also that that border is not an ultimately important one, and that the things that bind us together are infinitely greater than the human borders and lies that ostensibly divide us.
Posted in: What Spiritual Disciplines Connect You to God in a Disconnected Age?
I find the discipline of the Daily Office particularly helpful. The recurring pattern of morning prayer, noon prayer, evening prayer, and compline (when I am able to make time for them!) repeatedly pulls me back from the crush of the daily into a quiet and open space where I am more prepared to connect, or reconnect, with God. There is something basic and grounding in returning to pray the Benedictus every morning, the Magnificat every evening, the Nunc Dimmitus before retiring, and praying through the Psalms all day. Over the years at various times I have used Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours and the prayer books of the Episcopal Church and the Church of England as guides.