The Story has only just begun

But I do not interpret any of these signs to mean that humanity has lost its promise and the world is on a self-destructive path. Indeed, as a Calvinist I cannot accept the proposition that there is enough good in our nature to redeem us eventually. We call it sin, others simply say none of us is perfect; what we both mean is that our selfish nature will always tend to pull us below the level needed to maintain a perfect society.

My interpretation comes from a long overview of history. Five thousand years of human development has been a succession of the rise and fall of communities built on a common struggle to discover the mostly hidden potentials of living on this planet. Centuries before the Christian Era, incredible advances were made in science, art, philosophy and theories of government tinged with ideas of justice and the good life. At the same time, this very progress brought to light elements of incomprehensible self-hate and monstrous brutality that characterize persons or groups given power. Great religious movements are enabled by civil war, slavery and exploitation beyond mercy.

The factor I dare to raise is that of religion. One cannot stroll through the giant columns of Karnak, look across the steeple-cluttered rooftops of Americana, crawl through the jungle at Angkor Wat or struggle up the steps of Chichen Itza, without marveling at the energy released by the spirituality of our ancestors. The recent controversy over a monument depicting the Ten Commandments in a public courthouse only reveals that our present predicament about religion is an unhealed wound. Those who consider religion to be no longer relevant as a motivating power are evidently afraid that it is still an undeniable reality.

My concept of our present situation is that we are involved in an enormous change of direction. Of course, we are always in some kind of transition, but this one is happening faster than any other. Technology has moved faster than our ability to digest it. Suddenly, we have access to each other before we know how to handle it. As President Lincoln remarked when news that the telegraph system was complete from Maine to Texas, “It’s not important that Maine can talk to Texas unless Maine has something to say to Texas.”

Now I must confess my bias. As a Christian, I believe that the Creator of all, who brought this universe into being for a Grand Purpose, is still the greatest of realities. In all faithfulness, I have to be willing to surrender many of the signs and omens on which I carried out my life. It may be that the church in which I vested my hope and faith is no longer in its form and practice as important to that purpose, and that other communities of faith and practice will take up the high ground. It may well be that the institutions which to me have always had a degree of sacredness are due to be greatly redeveloped. Democracy as we know it may no longer be the magic political path to the perfect society, though I have no other model to suggest.

Ah, yes. Democracy! The word is tossed around as though everybody understands it and agrees as to its nobility. The current interpretation of that political theory is based more on permissiveness to pursue individual hopes than a collective goal for a virtuous society. In my study of democracy, and a deep look into the Reformation developments, it appears that it is not a communal arrangement for appeasing individual ambitions, but a method to discern God’s will for the community.