So, I just watched the tail end of Trump's speech to the UN and I can honestly say that I didn't watch enough to have an opinion about any policy or decisions represented. But I was thrown by one particular part, the ending. I am not against people of religious backgrounds and I am not one for getting into a debate about which god should prevail when the apocalypse hits ground. That doesn't concern me. But what has always gotten under my skin (and my wife's too) is when a president says, "and God Bless America." Could you imagine leaving a dinner party and as everyone is filing out you say, "and may those wearing button up shirts get home safely." Or better yet, "I wish the best for my own private future." There is something about this way of addressing life that baffles me.
When I talk to my six year old son about why he hits his brother, he says, because I wanted to play the xbox first. I, from there, proceed to provide circumstances in which sharing and reacting to strife tenderly actually create better outcomes than resorting to violence. It can sometimes take years for this to sink in, for boys at least. That is a six year old. I'm growing to believe that for many of us this mentality doesn't simply fall to the wayside over time by itself. It seems as though we don't naturally evolve towards maturity. As a child I honestly believed that the wisdom grown-ups held was something that could only be embraced through time and patience. It wasn't something you could just understand from the get-go. Often, you have to endure hardship in order to strengthen the fabric of a belief. This tests its durability in times that don't favour its outcome. Its like being honest when the time probably calls for not necessarily "whole truths". I tend to believe that the discomfort will forge the circumstance and produce trust. Because when people find out that the truth was otherwise, they begin to wonder why you kept it from them that whole time.
Now, what does this have to do with God and America? For too long America's six-year old mentality has been armed to the gills,
telling the world it walks lightly with a heavy stick. The truth of the matter is that there has been very little light walking. The footprints of our "way" have come crushing down upon many societies for the past 100yrs and despite the good that has come out of some of the situations, we do have a very cautious responsibility to that larger whole. Companies now are becoming larger than nations. Apple and Amazon are bigger than Spain's entire economy. In 50 years, our loyalties will be to industries and brands rather than flags. Our nationalities will be no different from identifying which media player we use to watch movies. The world will change without us and the results of that change will be upon our shoulders. What I mean is, how we respond to that change will define the world we live in. If we honestly believe that God will choose 'us' over someone else, we live in delusion. If we place ourselves in front of the over-all well being of even our enemies, we will also find ourselves at great loss.
Let's face it, nice guys don't win. Honest people don't make billions of dollars. I can't imagine a single multi-millionaire that hasn't made his/her business without taking economic advantage of any certain group of people. I'm not saying we should wear the same clothes and become communists. I'm saying that in order to re-fabricate a more balanced future, we need to re-evaluate the balance of power. The next generations are going to always seem loose and lost, playing with their phones and busying themselves with what we think is irrelevant. That is going to happen. But how we choose to regain the core of our trust will be the deciding factor. The persistence we engage towards achieving the old virtues of honour and loyalty in some shape or form will still always be the bond that sustains our fabric. And it is when we no longer allow the trust that we've built over generations to be broken that integrity will rise to the forefront once again, redefining what we know as "good natured". So, don't just stand behind a particular person and their flailing rhetoric. Don't be duped by half-truths and emotional sentiments. Allow everything that gives YOU strength and purpose to be a part of those around you too, and be patient with those that need a little bit more time to figure things out. Its not easy, but if we are going to get out of these seemingly dark times, we must also remind ourselves vividly of the outcome we favour.