Spiritual Discipline, Better Angels
Dr. James Howell, Senior Pastor of Myers Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte had a good column:
Just before Memorial Day, I began reading Jon Meacham's newest book, The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels. He surveys dramatic moments in American history, times of intense division and fear, and how leaders and then the people chose to move forward rather than fleeing backward, to live into hope instead of being crippled by fear. The title is taken from Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address, spoken as the country was splitting over irreconcilable enmity: "We are not enemies, but friends... Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
Such eloquence. The thought intrigues, though doesn't it? Human nature is a mixed bag - with dark, dastardly, hurtful, angry, fearful and selfish motives, and yet with what we religious folks might call the image of God, the bright, hopeful, noble, loving part of us that can dream God's dreams. How do we let ourselves be touched by these better angels of our nature?
Just naming it helps. You may respond to a news story, or to another driver, or a neighbor or loved one, or a daunting situation with rancor, trembling fear or apathy. But this is the false you, or the lower beasts of your nature. The better angels are there, and you can notice them, hear them, be them.
Spiritual discipline changes you over time. You pray. You immerse yourself in God's Word. You worship - even in the summer time, even when travelling. You cultivate friendships with others striving for God. And you do some disconnecting. Turn off the TV. Don't let the internet drag you down. When you see and hear rage, cynicism, bitter judgment or jaded chatter, walk away, or say to yourself "I have my better angels." Expose yourself to heroic lives, holy lives; you become what you consume.
July 4 is upon us. There is a kind of cocky, partying patriotism that is a prideful strut of freedom and superiority. This is not of God. Our better angels will draw us toward humble gratitude, and a generous spirit, a reverence for the good, and a shimmering hope in a future in which our country is quite simply good.
James
