Gospel Reading: Luke 15:11-32
- In times like this, when the day to day news is so unsettling, I find myself calmed by big picture thinking.
- So, I’ve been reading a book by the social scientist Robert Putnam called “The Upswing”.
- He’s the person who wrote “Bowling Alone” 20 years ago, about how America was losing “social capital”– our ability to affiliate with each other for the common good.
- This new book studies the sweep of the 20th Century, into the 21st, and how we have vacillated from a culture that values community and mutual aid communitarianism)
- to one that values individualism—the assertion of individual liberties)
- He calls this the “I-We-I” curve between these two tendencies through history
- Moving from the Gilded Age at the turn of the century, when wealth and power were concentrated in the hands of a few
- And then the Progressive movement through the mid-century, when we came to value civic engagement, redistribution of wealth, protection of workers, bipartisan politics and working together for the common good.
- Although he admits that many were left out of that common good because of pervasive racist and sexist structures
- And then, in the late 60’s, this communitarian trend began to fall back as we pursued more individual liberties (civil rights, women’s and gay rights)
- and then this evolved into the embrace of more individualistic values – both conservatives and liberals
- He sees pros and cons in both directions:
- The assertion of individual rights is needed when people feel
- stifled by conformity to cultural norms,
- or need to challenge racist or sexist structures,
- dissenters have to stand up for individual freedom and rights
- but that same tendency toward individualism can lead to
- laissez-faire economics; tax policies that favor the rich
- and situations where wealth and power can concentrate in the hands of a few wealthy individuals, so they can do things like buy elections
- (but not in Wisconsin!)
- Communitarian values have strengthened the nation during the Progressive era:
- These values built our labor unions and mutual aid societies, and strengthened churches as people stepped up to work together
- But that tendency can also become dangerous when taken to the extreme,
- It can lead to dangerous groupthink;
- or pressure to conform to the status quo;
- the exclusion of outsiders
- Putnam documents that BOTH liberals and conservatives swung toward a more individualistic set of values since the 1960’s
- Which helps us understand why, today we are so hopelessly divided.
- Our individualistic values are tearing us apart.
- The assertion of individual rights is needed when people feel
- I found myself applying some of Putnam’s ideas when I read the familiar parable of the Prodigal Son;
- The younger, prodigal son was born into an old tradition where the eldest male inherited the land, and younger siblings were expected to care for it without claiming any ownership or control; just for the good of the family and future generations
- But the prodigal son chose to dissent against the old system of land transfer
- He wanted “his share” in cash—
- something that was unheard of in a land-based economy;
- not to mention highly disrespectful toward his father!
- And he takes the “cash value” and estranges himself from the family and travels off to assert his freedom and individuality.
- As we know, this doesn’t go well for him.
- But instead of trying to crawl back and reclaim his place in the family, he asks to be treated as just as an ordinary worker/slave;
- He doesn’t expect to “belong”. He just wants to work for food.
- He wanted “his share” in cash—
- Meanwhile, the older brother chooses fidelity to tradition, and to his father and the land.
- He is supposed to be the “good brother” but clearly, he’s ALSO resentful about having to conform to the old communitarian value system that pays no attention to what he would want as an individual
- He would have liked as an individual was to party with his friends like the younger brother did!
- But he chained himself to tradition and worked like a slave.
- So both the sons are estranged from each other and from their father, who is attempting to reconcile them.
- The story ends at an impasse as the father embraces one child with forgiving love and reaches out to the other with yearning for connection.
- The children seem to have learned that love and acceptance are transactional; we get only what we have earned or inherited
- But the parent’s love is not transactional;
- The parent’s love seems open, compassionate, forgiving and persistent.
- We all vacillate between those two poles
- individual freedom and rights
- versus the need for belonging and cooperation for the common good.
- Whether it’s your family of origin, your chosen family, your church, your workplace, your neighborhood, your political party…
- Sometimes we look for belonging and unity; (several of us were buoyed up by attending Hands Off rallies this weekend!)
- Other times, we need to self-differentiate and step out of the herd.
- Maybe you stay quiet when you disagree with your group, because you don’t want to be shamed or shunned
- Maybe you have given up relationships with people you once belonged to because you just can’t abide their actions or opinions?
- For spiritual resilience, we need both:
- To hold onto our individual liberties and self-differentiation.
- But also to find belonging and build cultural cohesion to get us through the crisis we are in.
- I think those two brothers in the story must have also felt terribly lonely for each other; after growing up working side by side;
- Americans are experiencing a deep loneliness, too.
- Humans are made to belong; we want to belong to a PEOPLE
- And God’s people are shaped to belong to more than just our sectarian tribes;
- We are to keep our circles always open to the stranger and the different and the prodigal.
- What does all of this mean for us right now?
- In this historic moment: we need to remind ourselves again and again, that authoritarianism thrives on people being divided and estranged from each other;
- We’ve created a seedbed for authoritarianism by feeding our divisive tendencies
- So we need to think carefully about what we will emphasize now, going forward; we need some unity now.
- And we may need to give up some individualistic tendencies to get that
- In this historic moment: we need to remind ourselves again and again, that authoritarianism thrives on people being divided and estranged from each other;
- We’ve been talking about spiritual resilience.
- But it’s not just our own personal resilience we need to regard;
- It’s also the resilience of our nation and our democracy and culture
- Putnam suggests in his book that if we want to dial back the division in our culture,
- WE have to put aside some of the sectarian anchors we’re holding onto
- We must re-learn and teach the tools of social engagement: how to take civic responsibility (some in this room can teach us about that)
- We must be ready for a long game; for accepting losses but not giving up; it took decades for the progressive movement to have concrete effects!
- We must look for every opportunity to find common ground with people outside our small circles;
- Not to accept attack or disrespect, but to find opportunities to persuade others and even be persuaded; to show that we are willing to work for the common good.
- As people of faith, this may involve surrender to an inward transformation so we can meet at the common table with others who are different from us.
- We are in a moment, with so many lost jobs, tariffs and economic uncertainty;
- we will be tempted to curl inward and protect what’s ours.
- (Not the best time to do a pledge drive!!)
- But the story of the Prodigal Son is Jesus’ way of showing us a different way:
- We don’t have to be either child in the story
- We can be the parent figure (the grown up!):
- reaching out to our siblings to begin rebuilding a culture where even when we vehemently disagree, we can still be there for each other.
- respecting our individual freedoms while we take up communal responsibility for each other and our world.
- And trusting God to help us with all that.
- Some weeks ago, I came across this Hopi teaching, and its been in my mind.
- It’s a parable of the dilemma we are in as a nation,
- AND the trust that is required to let go of our fears and desires and pursue a common good.
- Listen and put yourself into the reading:
Let the River Carry Us (A Hopi Prophecy)
Here is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid,
who will try to hold on to the shore.
They are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.
Know that the river has its destination…
The elders say we must let go of the shore,
push off into the middle of the river, and keep our heads above water.
See who is in there with you and celebrate.”
See who is in there with you and celebrate. (Silence)
Ask yourself:
- Where in your life are you clinging to the shore?
- Who might you encounter in this river when you dare to let go?
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