Axial Age

"Christ, through his Incarnation, is interior to the world, 

rooted in the world even in the heart of the tiniest atom."

Teilhard de Chardin

I finished reading today John F. Haught's The New Cosmic Story: Inside Our Awakening Universe.  I found it difficult but exciting.  He begins by pointing out that a shift in human consciousness began between 800 and 300 BCE, in what has been called the "axial age."  At that time and without any communication between them, persons in China, India, Persia, Judea, and Greece simultaneously developed the spiritual foundations of humanity.  In the book Haught argues that this interior development is as important as the exterior developments of evolution.

Oldest Enduring Republic

"...that government of the people, by the people, for the people 

shall not perish from this earth."

In the midst of a war that threatened to split the nation, Lincoln encouraged us to work together to make our form of government endure. We are the oldest enduring republic in the history of the world, fifty very different states, amazingly large geographically   Our union endures only if we citizens cherish and protect it.  As we celebrate the beginning of our nation, we pray that we might work to be what we name ourselves - united states.

Still There

"....proof through the night that our flag was still there."

(You have to click on the picture to enlarge it.  Is there a metaphor there somewhere!)

The Commonweal

In his Farewell Address George Washington was already warning the country about the dangers of political parties.  He argued that they "gradually incline the minds of men to seek security...in  the absolute power of an individual."  The partisanship  that we are trapped in today distracts us and our politicians from working for the common good.