“If we are going to use history for our pleasure and amusement, we must also use it for the education of the people; and if we are going to distort history to suit our own ends, we must remember that the truth will always come back to haunt us.” ~ W.E.B. Dubois
One person who was haunted by the history of his time was President Abraham Lincoln.
A war raged. It had been 250 years since the inception of slavery and in his second inaugural address he shared with nation his angst — what can only be considered a prayer.
“Both sides read the same Bible and pray to the same God, each asking His help against the other, though it seems strange that any should seek a just God’s aid in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; yet let us judge not, that we be not judged…
Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.
Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.'”
Similarly, in this 250th anniversary year of the founding of the American republic, we are also haunted and many are, in one form or another, composing their own prayer for America.
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Let me share mine…
Holy One,
You who meet us not in our triumphs but in our torment, hear my prayer for my nation —
— a prayer achingly familiar, for I, too, once stood where so many now stand —
— when I trusted in only myself and was drunk with my own sense invincibility and certainty, and headed in the same direction — toward a bottom I could hardly imagine.
So, before I dare speak of my country, let me first acknowledge my own experience.
I was a young man who once believed he could think his way into a meaningful life armed with
- degrees
- hubris
- willfulness
I wore my achievements like armor, believing with intelligence, drive, and the right companions, I could/would change the world.
I thought myself a servant of the world when, in fact, I only served myself. I had not the humility to see myself in others. I was the focus of all my endeavors.
So when my grand ambitions collapsed, I reached for the bottle to numb the sting of failure, only to find I had reached the cliff that would surely end my life.
My strong will — once my pride — became the engine of my destruction, sweeping away all that was dear to me.
It wasn’t until life had its way with me, and I hit a bottom that no cleverness could explain away —
— that there — in the rubble of my own making —
— I found the power beyond myself upon which I would build a new life.
So it is from this place of humility that I lift up my prayer for my country.
For I see in my own hubris the story of America unfolding:
- A nation believing it was preordained to lead the world
- A people believing wealth to be a personal blessing
- A culture so drunk with pride it sees only its own reflection
Humility was shunned for hubris — we became a nation of peacocks.
And then, when our grand ambitions began to falter:
- wars dragged on,
- factories closed,
- towers fell,
- trust eroded
— we reached for the bottle of illusion that only fed:
- anger,
- tribalism,
- denial,
- distraction,
— and an intoxicating fantasy world where we shall always be the blessed among nations.
Now, as the truth sets in, we have bred nothing more than:
- cynicism.
- fragmentation,
- fear
— a nation nursing a shattered ego.
So, Holy One, hear my prayer:
If we must be at the bottom —
- Let it be a bottom that saves us.
- Let it be the place where illusions fall away.
- Let it be the ground on which humility grows.
Grant us the courage to see ourselves for what we’ve become.
Grant us the grace to find our humanity.
Grant us the wisdom to become who we could be.
May we — weary, wounded, and wandering — find our bottom —
— and may it come quickly.
Oh, Lord,
Abide in Me.
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Just a thought…
Pat