Ghosting God, Ghosting Self
Day 61
“Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” are themes woven throughout the history and meaning of being American, of what the United States stands for at its core. As always, these “founding principles” are once again under attack. Rather than hear the call of the spirit of these words, there have been members of Congress, Presidents, regular janes and joes, like we the people, who have bastardized and remained blinded by prejudices and fears so they have narrowed and narrowed the scope of these words.
We learn in the Bible that “all people are created in the Image of God” and “God blew spirit into the human” and we came alive-so how can any of these principles, which come from the Bible, be narrowed into only ‘the white race’ should have the privilege of these principles while the rest of us Jews, Blacks, Muslims, Hispanics from Latin America, refugees from Haiti and Syria should be subservient to ‘the white man, the master race’? Sounds a little familiar, oh yeah, this is part and parcel with all Fascists, all authoritarian governments! 81 years ago we won a victory over this type of government in Europe and, it seems, lost it here at home, Lindbergh, Coughlin, et al are cheering the current government on, I am sure.
“Liberty” in Biblical terms is Freedom. “Liberty” implies being able to do what one wants to do, whenever one wants to do it and this is not the spiritual calling of the founding fathers, rather, as the Bill of Rights asserts, it is about Freedom, the surrendering of our false egos, the ending of our servitude to Pharaoh, and joining, signing the covenant with God. This covenant is found throughout the Bible, it is found in the words of Jesus-not necessarily Paul- and it never ends, we can never break it. While we can turn away from it, there will always be a prophet to remind us of our covenant, remind us of our duty to obey and our duty to disobey, as Rabbi Harold Shulweis, z”l teaches us in his book by the same name.
In this moment, We the People are once again faced with the decision that the Israelites were faced with, that so many peoples throughout history have been faced with: Will we surrender to Pharaoh, or will we join with God-in both cases, we are “turning our will over to the care of” some entity other than our own ‘self-sufficiency’. The question is not will we surrender, the question is to WHOM/WHAT will we surrender. When “the pursuit of happiness is understood in its narrowest form, ‘how can I have fun’; we once again are bastardizing the concept. In every Holy document, the language is terse, is expansive, is pregnant with various meanings: the literal, the allegorical, the homiletic and the mystical. For far too long, the racist, xenophobic white trash-I mean anyone regardless of economic status, who believes their whiteness gives them superiority over anyone and everyone else, who believes their Non-Christian christian nationalism makes them closer to God(IDOL) have been in charge, they have taken over the country and spread a virus that makes Covid look like child’s play. These Fascists have infused our country with, what I believe is the worst sins, Indifference, Mendacity, Virtual Reality that is not even close to Truth, and, their favorite-accuse another(s) of that which you are guilty of.
“Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” can only be realized when We the People stand up for God, for the Covenant We made with God, for the spirit of these words, for the gift of our Constitution, for the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the needy, the poor. When We the People ensure that our way of being is congruent with the words on the Statue of Liberty, when We are ensuring the word on the Liberty Bell are being fulfilled, to ensure that “all people are created equal” is the goal and the ways of living We the People are pursuing and commanding our Government to pursue these goals and ways as well.
These three words in and of themselves can take days, weeks, a lifetime to unpack. I know from my personal experience with slavery, with following a Pharaoh of my own making, of being a Pharaoh to the people who loved me and whom were so deeply impacted by my evil ways, how important living these words out loud, living the spiritual meaning of them and making sure that everyone else has the same opportunity. I can have no life if I allow suffering that I can help heal go on unabated, if I I want freedom only for me and mine and not all, if my “pursuit of happiness” infringes on anyone else. This truth seems to be missing from those ‘fine white christian nationalist prejudicial men and women who bow down to them’! It is WAY PAST TIME to take our country back, to honor the Declaration!
ACTION STEPS:
Do an inventory on how your are pursuing “Life, Liberty, pursuit of Happiness” in honorable ways
Define the ways you bastardize these principles to “get ahead”
Ask yourself why you go along with, don’t fight the Fascists at our Gates
How is America similar to Ancient Israel and Ancient Judea
GOD BLESS, STOP GHOSTING GOD, GHOSTING SELF, Rabbi Mark