Morning Thoughts: December 23, 2017

“Blessed are ye that weep now, for you shall laugh.” That’s how Luke told it. “Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” is how Matthew reported it.

Both were, of course, telling of the words of the Galilean at the Sermon on the Mount, one of the most respected writings, historically, ever recorded. Mahatma Gandhi claimed it as a favorite work, but berated Christians for their lack of observance. The Sermon was a foundation of the now much-reviled Social Gospel, so comforting to those who mourned during the Jim Crow era of our country. Its teachings have fallen much into disuse in this age of “doers,” and “takers.” As Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. observed, there has been no proposal to place the Beatitudes on a statehouse lawn.

Those who espouse the so-called “Prosperity Gospel,” find the Beatitudes an embarrassment and consign them to the ash heap of history along with the entire sermon. They use the ubiquitous “out-of-context” defense by which we discard any Biblical teachings that contract our long-held beliefs or imprinted biases.

Anyway, one couldn’t help but recall this particular Beatitude during a week when three-quarters of our country mourned. What did they mourn? They mourned what they saw as the successful attack by a minority upon the poor and others of the “least of those among us.” Their counterpoints viewed their success as what they termed a Biblical prophecy, although exactly which one remains a mystery.

This dialectic frames the condition of our country now, it seems. Dissension ferments a bitter fruit within us, because finding common ground with those who trust in such diametrically opposed viewpoints is difficult, if not impossible. A divide, as great philosophically as the Grand Canyon is geologically, renders finding common goals difficult. What, we wonder, will happen to those standing on the side of the chasm that turns out to be the wrong side of history?

A holy heart residing within is the belief of a person with deeply embedded beliefs, implanted by nurture. A troubled soul can confront one who thirsts for knowledge. So we stand, tongues lashing and fingers pointing across the divide, each side hoping for history’s absolution.

Maybe the answer would involve what we currently refer to as a paradigm shift. As with the squirmy concept of what some people call the “axial age,” i.e, we find ourselves in a situation where the old paradigm is ending and the new paradigm isn’t ready yet.

We can only hope that cool heads and reasoned communication prevail in its formation.