Make America Good Again

With all the effort to restore American greatness, there has been so little effort to define "greatness." That ambiguity may be intentional, so that the voter can support a politician, assuming that they agree on the meaning of greatness. 

Based on current political agendas, greatness appears to mean:

• Military dominance
• Economic prosperity at any cost
• Purity of American culture as defined by a select few
• Winning at the expense of other nations and persons
• Using force and violence to advance greatness

This kind of greatness minimizes human dignity, embodies might-makes-right philosophy, and leads to a more selfish, violent culture. A this kind of great America seems poised for self-destruction. I don't want to live in a society where the only thing that matters is strength and wealth. 

I hope we can make America good again. I remember when we could expect our government to be more truthful than dictatorships, when we did not kill people with drones in international waters without any due process, when law enforcement was not masked, when we did not try to bomb countries into submission.

There was a time when use of force required moral justification, something deeper than you-can't-stop-me. There was at least a pretense of moral underpinning to government actions. We tried to look like we were doing a good thing, even if we were rationalizing.

Now there seems to be no nod to goodness. "We are in power, we have the guns, you better do what we say or we will kill you. We don't need moral justification because we have all the power."

With American leadership setting the tone, a cruel, selfish mentality works its way into societal interactions. Industry freely preys on the weaknesses of the public--think sports betting--and makes millions at the expense of nearly all its customers. Stewardship of natural resources takes a back seat to profits. Powerful corporations run roughshod over small businesses because they have the money and the lawyers. Hey, it's the law of the jungle. Kill or be killed.

Maybe goodness is quaint and old fashioned. But if we let go of goodness, I wonder if there is anything worth holding on to. 

According to Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), "The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."

We have that ability. We can choose new leadership. We need leaders who will make America good again.

A New Dimension of Life

I am learning that the profound peace of Jesus is perpetually in reach of my heart. That peace calls out to me like Lady Wisdom in the Proverbs. As I remind myself that I can fully trust Jesus, I enter that peace. It is always there. I need to learn to dwell there. Dwelling in his peace should be my default mode of existence. This is where life is--being engaged, not threatened, being fully awake, listening to the Spirit, caring about others, being filled with the Spirit, being in Christ with Christ in me, overflowing with the fruit of the Spirit, dwelling in the kingdom of God.

This is a whole other mode of existence, the mode for which I was made.

This is what Jesus meant when he said, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand." The word "repent" means a changing of the mind. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that no one could "enter" the kingdom of without being born again. The work of being reborn allows us to enter that mode of existence we call the kingdom of God.

My problem is that I exit the kingdom of God and make my home outside of it. By God's grace, I'm learning to dwell in his kingdom where there is life, love, joy, and peace.

A Life Well Lived

I haven't posted a blog since April 30, 2026. That was the last day I would see my mother alive. I took her to the Afib clinic that day, as her doctor urged the day before. Her heart was running out of gas, a technical term for her cardiac condition. For years Mom had said that her body had passed its expiration date. She went home to be with Jesus on May 5, 2026, while I was at the beach with my family.

She's been gone now for nearly three months, and life is so different. I keep wanting to tell her family news. I met a cousin a few weeks ago. He's my half second cousin once removed (for real), and he lives just a few miles away. Mom would have loved to know about that.

I miss our weekly trips to Walmart and breakfast at the Friends Home West bistro. I want to show her so many pictures of my grandkids. I have more family questions to ask now, although I did my best to think of everything before she died.

She kept her mind for her whole life, never needing help with medications or finances. In her last few weeks she asked me to change her hearing aid batteries; her hands had gotten too shaky. 

She lived as a widow for 25 years, and learned to manage so many of life's chores after Dad died in 2001. She moved to her retirement community in 2018 where she continued to thrive. In 2021 she broke her neck in a car accident, but recovered remarkably well. She didn't drive after that, and I had the privilege of taking her grocery shopping every week. It became a sacred routine, a time of checking in and catching up. I would show her pictures of my grandkids and tell stories. I would ask her questions about my childhood and her childhood. She kept up with all the family news, and asked about all my work. I treasure those conversations. 

Mom was a great hugger. She got energy from hugs, she said. She's right. I got energy from them, too. 

She lived long, 90 years. She saw all kinds of hardship, growing up during WWII, losing her father in a farm accident when she was only 15. Twice she overcame cancer. She gained so much wisdom. She listened well. She loved so well, very quietly, steadfastly.

She touched more lives than I ever realized, as a school teacher, non-profit director, sister, mother, neighbor. She left a legacy that lives on. But my sister and I are the only ones to whom she was mother. We had that special bond with her. Her goal for us was that we love each other. Mission accomplished, Mom! We now have the profound responsibility and privilege to carry on her legacy. What a joy!

The New Human Mind

Experience shapes our minds, sometimes in ways we don't realize. Science is just beginning to understand how neural pathways are developed and lost. I believe the human mind is rapidly evolving in today's society. Today we find teens and young adults who don't want to drive, fear speaking to a person (in the flesh or on the phone), and generally avoid human interaction. I wonder what mental pathways we are developing and losing.

The human mind is a mysterious thing. It is constantly influenced and shaped, whether we realize it or not. Sometimes the shaping is intentional and malicious. In the old days we talked about brainwashing. Now we talk about gaslighting and grooming. Sometimes the shaping is neutral or benign, just a part of being alive.

We are shaped by activities like exercise, reading, screen time, conversation, meditation. But technology has moved screen time to default mode for experiencing life. Attention spans have become shortened to mere seconds. I heard that Netflix is producing shows based on the assumption that viewers are constantly distracted by their phones. The scripts explicitly spell out plot points that used to be subtle: "If we go into that scary place, we might find the monster..."

So what is the new human mind going to be like? I have some guesses.

Rapidly changing: As generations adapt to every new technology, each generation perceives the world differently. I hate kiosks in fast food joints, but my kids perceive them as frictionless ways to order. Our minds are different.

Divided: We are constantly on the alert for interruptions (i.e. notifications). Full attention is a rare commodity.

Disembodied: The virtual world, captured in pixels and bytes, feels like the real world.

Brand-minded: Our minds will consider life as a presentation, something to be curated for our followers. "How will this look on social media?" instead of, "Will this be fun?"

Neurotic: Quick access to psychological diagnoses will lead to constant self evaluation and labeling of all our little quirks. We will consider ourselves and others as psych case studies.

Is there anything positive about smart phones? No doubt there is. But I wonder if there is anything positive about what they are doing to our brains.

Kill the right people

History is full of power plays. In high school I had a class called, "Wars." It was mostly a recounting of twentieth century history. So much of history is about killing the right people. Of course the tricky part is determining who needs to be killed. The French thought the aristocrats had to die. The Nazis thought the Jews had to die. The Allies thought the Nazis had to die. 

Vladimir Putin thinks his political enemies have to die. Washington policy makers think the radical Muslims in Iran have to die.

Worldly power is all about killing the right people. Unfortunately the "war to end all wars" didn't. America used to stand for freedom, justice, human rights. Now America just stands for brute force winning the day. And the U.S. is killing people because it can. It has the power to kill alleged drug smugglers with drones. It has the power to kill U.S. citizens who are protesting. It has the power to capture heads of state and kill people in the process. It has the power to blow up meeting rooms of supreme leaders.

There is no shortage of people who need killing. Especially when everybody gets to add to the list. Maybe we are all on someone's list. Killing the right people never ends. It just leads to more people who need to be killed.

Jesus found himself on the hit list for lots of people. Judeans of many stripes put him on the hit list. And the Romans came to agree. 

In contrast, Jesus had no hit list. He pled for forgiveness even for his executors. He even gave up his life for the sins of others. He absorbed the hate pointed toward him. 

He calls his followers to, well, follow him. We need to follow him with forgiveness. We need to give up the "kill the right people" mindset. We need to see that the real power is love. That sounds so sappy. It sounds out of touch. It sounds like the fast way to lose almost anything.

And yet this is the way Jesus chose. He did lose. And then he defeated death itself. If we follow him, we will follow the way of love and sacrifice. We will give up killing the right people. And we will have to trust God himself to work it all out.

One More Thing

I feel overwhelmed, and then I make some progress on my to-do list. I finally reach the place where life feels manageable. I take a deep breath and then...

One More Thing.

Just this week I was knocking out dreaded items on my list, and really feeling rather pleased with myself. I had checked off several honey-dos with my wife out of town. (Score!) Then I got up to fix some supper, and as I open the freezer, the door handle just falls off. Yes, it's broken. It's One More Thing.

Life can be overwhelming for everyone. Some days we feel like all we do is put out fires and deal with the needs of other people. It's a challenge. Often you end the day feeling like you have not done enough. There are unfinished projects and open loops. You don't know how it can all get done.

After prayer and worry and strategizing, you finally feel like there is a way. You can picture the resolution. And then One More Thing. Something breaks, you get that phone call, the thing was done is now undone, that person really needs help right now.

I have found this to be a pattern in my life. I am beginning to wonder if this is where God wants me. He wants me to be at the place where I must depend on him. When I feel like life is smooth sailing because I'm clever enough to work it out, that makes me proud of my self, and not in a good way. But with the unexpected coming at me, I constantly have to ask for God's wisdom and power. He keeps me humble. But I also worry, stew, and fret.

I want to get to a new place. I want to stop the worrying and fretting, not because I have it all under control, but because Jesus has it all under control. There will always be One More Thing. But I can trust Jesus to see me through it. Yes I have to deal with it. But I can do it in his power.

There will probably always be One More Thing until I'm fully resting and working in the Lord's love. Then One More Thing will feel like an opportunity for Jesus to show his love and power. Yeah, I'm not there yet.

Brutality and History

Most of human history has been characterized by the powerful ruling over the weak through brutality and fear. A quick survey of history will show one empire after another conquering as much of the world as they could. Big, powerful nations get the headlines in our history books: Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece, Rome. Many of the most famous leaders were also quite brutal: Caesar Augustus, Hannibal, Attila the Hun, Herod the Great, Alexander the Great, and plenty of familiar names from the twentieth century.

For most of history, most people have had to cope with oppression. They have fought for survival, trying to avoid the reach of the powerful. This is just the way of human history. Philosopher Thomas Hobbes described human life as "nasty, brutish, and short." He had a lot of evidence for his point.

There has always been incentive for the powerful to oppress the weak. The powerful can get what they want. They can provide some measure of protection for the oppressed. The powerful make sure to kill all the right people to ensure the outcome they desire. The domination of the strong is just the law of existence. 

One exception to this rule, flawed as it may be, has been the United States of America. Objective history will reveal plenty of abuses of this nation, from slavery to slaughter of Indigenous Americans to internment of Japanese American citizens during World War II. But for most of American history, our leaders have acknowledged the danger of rule by brute force and fear tactics. Leaders have gone out of their way to justify any violence and claim the moral high ground. We Americans know that we are not like most nations in history. We look down on the brutal dictators of any century. We launched a revolution to free ourselves from oppression.

But now we find American brutality being justified without any claim to moral high ground. The world is a violent place, our leaders remind us, and the strong are right to dominate the weak. Our national interests are all that matters. We take what we want and need because we can. We use force on our own citizens and dare local officials to stop the feds. We bomb foreign nations at will, with no authorization from Congress. We bomb boats and kill people in the open sea, stating categorically that only drug smugglers have died. Meanwhile, Congress is too afraid of raw power and retribution to provide any check on executive power. 

What we Americans fail to realize is that most of history has been like this. The strong have crushed the weak, because they can. The strong dare anyone to stop them. Leadership is defined by what you can get away with. And these stories are the stuff of history.

So now, Americans, welcome to normal history. It doesn't feel so good to me.