A House Divided

A house divided against itself, cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South. — Abraham Lincoln

     The past few days have left me feeling quite discouraged. We are a nation that is divided against itself. It feels like the divide is getting wider by the day. My heart longs for a change in how we communicate with one another as fellow citizens and as human beings. We need leadership that will bring us together and unite us once again. We are divided by ideologies and political parties. We are divided by racial tensions and mistrust. We are divided by our socioeconomic status. We are divided by our religious beliefs. We are divided by our gender. We are divided! How will we stand?

     The answer is to begin a new conversation with one another. We must turn toward those whom we do not agree with and begin to listen. We all want to be heard and understood. I believe that the majority of people want to do justice and live in a world of kindness and compassion. So we must raise up leaders that will lead us toward these goals. 

     When Abraham Lincoln gave this speech in 1858 it was in hopes of becoming a US senator. He lost the race. However, he held onto his belief in uniting the country against slavery and continued the struggle to achieve that ultimate goal. A few years later, he got the chance to put his leadership into practice as the President of the United States. It took a bloody war that claimed 620,000 American lives before we could find our way to peace and unity again. Ultimately Lincoln paid the price for unity with his life. A wealthy, angry, confederate actor and a few of his friends plotted an assassination. You know how that turned out. 

     Lincoln's concept of a house divided was not original. He was quoting a very famous man named Jesus. As the story goes, Jesus was going around town healing people and showing kindness and compassion to those in need. This activity instilled fear in the rich and powerful leaders of his day. They accused Jesus of doing the devil's work. The bible tells us that Jesus knew their thoughts and replied with these famous words:  

“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”  Matthew 12:25 

Jesus had a vision for peace and unity on earth. This is the message that he preached and lived. He was what some people would call a "do gooder." He walked the earth doing good, seeking justice, and caring for those in need. Doing the right thing can be very costly. The rich and powerful men of  Jesus day got together and plotted an assassination. You know how that turned out.

     Hope is what keeps us moving forward. Hope comes from resurrection. After the Civil War, the country was resurrected from the ashes. We came to see that we needed to find a way forward out of the chains of slavery. While we have made great strides in that direction, we still have a long way to go. Just look at all the unrest that we find ourselves in today. We must work together to bring justice and unity and peace to our nation. Lincoln's vision and leadership was to bring hope and unity to America. Jesus' vision and leadership was to bring hope and unity to the world. Out of the ashes of the crucification came the hope of resurrection! Hope is about new beginnings. Both of these men gave up their lives to see their vision fulfilled. Let us move forward together in this time of social unrest for the  hope  of our country and ultimately for the hope of the world!

Generosity Wins!

Christmas is a season for celebration. We come together with loved ones and express our love with various traditions and ceremonies. I am deeply thankful for my family and friends and the joy I feel to share life with them. However, I am also deeply aware of the growing concerns in our world. In my view, we live in a world that is driven by greed. The powerful people in the world oppress the powerless driven by their greed. There are many examples of a life of greed and what greed accomplishes in this world. Christmas is the time when we choose to revisit stories about greed. Let’s look at a few together.

Charles Dickens gave us Ebenezer Scrooge in 1843 to try and change our minds about greediness. Scrooge was the protagonist in A Christmas Carol. Ebenezer was taken on a journey through his life so that he could see the events that led to his greed. He had allowed the suffering in his life to turn him into a closed-hearted man. He had gained all of the wealth one man could ever need but had lost his soul. This story has been told over and over because it is filled with truth. In the end Ebenezer sees the error of his ways and becomes a new man; a generous man. Generosity wins!

One hundred years later, in 1943, another story was published called, The Greatest Gift. This short story was about a man named George Pratt who is dissatisfied with his life and contemplates suicide on Christmas Eve. The story was later adapted to film and we know that man as George Bailey and the story as, It’s A Wonderful Life. George Bailey, the protagonist in this story, is also taken on a journey through his life. George is the antithesis of Ebenezer. George’s life was sacrificial. He was a man who set aside his own wants and desires in the service of others. George’s nemesis throughout the film is a greedy man named Henry F. Potter. He is the local banker and the richest man in town. Potter’s greed drives his every move. His goal is to destroy George’s good will and rule the town. In this film, we see the contrast of life as a generous person or life as a greedy person. In the end, the whole town celebrates life with George Bailey. Generosity wins!

 Sixty years ago, in 1957, another story was published that has become a standard of our Christmas tradition. How The Grinch Stole Christmas, written by Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel. Once again we are given the gift of seeing what greed does to the human heart. The protagonist is the Grinch whose heart is two sizes too small. I always had a difficult time watching this story in cartoon form as a kid because the Grinch was so evil and scary looking. Boris Karloff did his job well. The children’s story is designed to teach our children the value of living a life of generosity, the opposite of greed. The Grinch was a hoarder. He though that if he could steal Christmas then everyone would be as unhappy as he was himself. But as we know the plan backfired and the inhabitants of Whoville celebrate Christmas anyway. This causes the Grinch’s heart to grow three sizes and he becomes generous. He gives back everything that he stole and in return is given an honored place in Whoville. Generosity wins!

We love these stories because intuitively we know that they speak the truth. All of us fall somewhere between greed and generosity. We would like to see ourselves as the generous ones in these stories and point the finger at others who are more greedy than we are to prove the point. We pull these stories out at Christmastime to remind ourselves to be givers not takers. This is great because we do not live in a very generous society. We are constantly bombarded with messages of America first. These messages are shrouded in fear designed to control the masses. The rich and powerful among us are filled with greed. The man that we have chosen to lead us in this country has lived a life of greed. He may gain the whole world but where is his soul? If he showed up in one of these Christmas stories which character would he most resemble? Men like these would like to steal the heart of Christmas from all of us.

So how do we respond? We must examine our own hearts and see the greed that is within us. We must turn our hearts toward kindness and compassion. This will lead us toward generosity. And we have to take this generosity into our hearts 365 days a year lest we become sucked back into the vortex greed.

I choose to follow the teachings of Jesus, a man who was sacrificial and generous. He teaches me how to live a life of compassion and love. I still have much to learn. He wasn’t afraid to speak out to the powerful men of his time and call out there life of greed. He made a lot of enemies with those in power and it got him crucified. His life was about love and justice. I want my life to be about love and justice too.

God teach me to be generous instead of greedy.

Teach me to live in trust rather than fear.

Merry Christmas,

Cathy