Patriotism and Love of Country

9/18/2016

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I love my country. I was born in southern California but grew up (elementary school) in the Washington, D.C. area. I loved it! We were always spending time at the Mall…not the shopping one but the area between the Capitol building and the Washington Monument with the Lincoln memorial in there, too. I remember feeling connected to our nation in energetic but not quite tangible ways. I have such awesome memories of chasing pigeons, learning about our history, and feeling like I was part of it all. We were always attending shows at the National Gallery of Art, the Air & Space Museum (I thought it was Erin Space Museum!), and the other museums at our fingertips. I participated in the Easter egg roll on the White House lawn. I was an extra in a movie filmed on the steps of the Supreme Courthouse. I learned how to use public transportation. We went to Jamestown and I realized how much I loved learning about history in a hands-on approach. My sister and I were in the Northern Virginia Patriots marching/parade ensemble. We spent the Fourth of July on the lawn of the Capitol watching fireworks at the Washington Monument with the national symphony accompanying the display. Like I said, it was AMAZING!

It wasn’t until I was a little bit older and moved around the country when I learned that what I experienced was unique. It was special and only a select part of the population had such opportunities. I was lucky. It took a little longer to understand how much this was part of my foundation. I have a deep love for things red, white, and blue. I’ve only been back to the D.C. area twice as an adult. I knew where I was once I got off the plane—there was something in the air. I had a visceral response to seeing the monuments again. I was reunited on a cellular level. I love this place on the planet.

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This deep love for our nation’s history and monuments is one reason why perhaps I am struggling so much lately. The struggle I’m talking about is in regards to the tension between several populations in our culture and what our nation did to them. I stand on the side of human rights and so it’s a no-brainer for me to support the many populations who’ve been wronged. However, I have to unlearn basically all that I’ve learned. This isn’t an easy task, but I’m willing to put in the work in order to support people the best way I can.

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable...
Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and
struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
~Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, a long time supporter of women’s rights and access to health care, a long time supporter for LGBTQ+ rights, and recently getting onboard with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against the DAPL, in favor of gun sense legislation, and more. Yes, I am into social justice and using my authority as clergy when and how needed to promote it.

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America will never be destroyed from the outside.
If we falter and lose our freedoms, will be because we destroyed ourselves.
~Abraham Lincoln

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When people say that because I am into social justice that I can’t love my country it hurts on many levels, but specifically because people don’t know my personal history and love for this nation. It is because I have such a deep connection and love for our nation that I am interested in holding it to a high standard. I want our country to be the best we can be and that cannot be possible if people aren’t willing to look at ugly parts of our nation’s history and the atrocities that have been committed on behalf of furthering our nation and its endeavors. If we aren’t willing to let go of the lies we’ve been taught in history class then we aren’t going to be able to progress forward. And let me be clear—we already are a great nation that has made amazing progress on so many levels. However, there are countless people who don’t have access to these opportunities and that’s why I am interested in helping things shift. We are already great and there is room for growth and improvement.

I am guided by my faith through all of this. Many people adhere to keeping the church and state separated and I agree with this. At the same time, it is because of my faith that I choose to do the work of improving our country and culture. In his book, True Christianity, Emanuel Swedenborg explains: “Our country is our neighbor more than our community is, because our country consists of many communities. Love for our country is therefore broader and higher. Loving our country is also loving the well-being of the general public...We are to do good to our country with love according to what it needs. Some of its needs are earthly and some are spiritual. Its earthly needs center on its civic life and order. Its spiritual needs center on its spiritual life and order...We are to love our country not merely as much as we love ourselves; we are to love it more (#TC414).” I simply cannot let things stand when I know when so many people are hurting. I may not always get it right and I have an incredible knack for putting my foot in my mouth (I call it part of my charm)--but I will continue to strive for for equity and justice. It is what I am called to do and I take this calling seriously.

Prayer

Dear Lord, We pray for the leaders of this country and every other. May they not be swayed by false politics but listen instead to the spirit of truth. May they not harken to the false and bitter voices of a frightened world, but instead hear the angels who minister unto them. May the world make room for their leadership and resist no more their growth into greatness. May their virtue shield them. May their lack of virtue be forgiven and corrected. May their words be true. May their strength go before them, to cut like a sword through all illusion. May they see the innocence and brotherhood in those who oppose them. May they grow beyond a shallow fight. And thus may we all be taken with them into new light, new peace, new politics, new hope for all the world. Amen.

~Marianne Williamson
Illuminata: Thoughts, Prayers, Rites of Passage

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