The Advent of Thoughtfulness

At first glance, my tag-line, "Messenger to the Thoughtful" appears to be one more PR ploy or elitist label. In fact, the opposite is true. "Thoughtful" does not mean a Mensa IQ, vast education, or brilliance possessed by a few uber-intellectuals. My aim in using the term is to create a community of inquiry that will pause and reflect rather that pontificate and react about the central issues of our day.

The most difficult virtue for many to master is self-control, especially control of the tongue. The Stoic philosophers considered mastery of words a sign of virtue, a demosntration of inner self-control. St. James commented that the tongue is the human eqivalent of a ship's rudder or the match that sets a dry forest ablaze. Maturity is marked by the words we use.

Today's Information Age opens avenues of commerce and communication that startle the imagination and foster hope. The downside is that anyone (including me) can publish their thoughts and create "knowledge" that may or may not be valid. Add to this the "edutainment" we are subject to on radio and TV, with instant analysis from experts and we have a recipe for domination by demogogues. Reasonable, reflective voices are drowned in a cacophony of egocentric, ideology-driven claptrap.

Advent is a great moment to pause and be thoughtful. For Christians, this is the season of waiting and welcoming Christ the Lord, who is the final and full message of God's love. For Jews, Hanukkah is a moment to remember the Providential preservation of a faith and a people in the midst of oppression and subversion.

From these two traditions, all thoughful people can mine some precepts that will increase integrity and the impact for good. For Christians, the challenge is to let the Good News win out over ideologies and philosophies that subvert the power of the Incarnation. Jesus (to borrow C. S. Lewis' great phrase from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), is "not a tame lion." Dr. Peter Kreeft of Boston College reminds his students that Christ will not fit into the boxes of conservative or liberal, pure capitalist or Marxist, ot any other constructs.

For those who are Jewish or God-fearing, moral monotheists, the miracle of Hanukkah is preceded by spiritual and military courage. There is a time to resist evil, both personally and nationally. A small band of Maccabees routed a larger force led by the sinister Antiochus IV.

Here are some starting points for an "Advent of Thoughtfulness":

• The Sovereign Lord worshipped by Jews and Christians is the "God in search of man" (Abraham Heschel). Compassionate communication and service is the hallmark of true faith.
• The great enemy of sound morality and theology is ideology - any terms that end in "ISM" have the potential to subvert the power of real piety. One can be conservative or liberal leaning; however, conservativism and liberalism can take on a life of their own and blind the adherent to deeper insight. Listen to liberal or conservative talk shows and chart how ideas are presented: most often, opponents are presented in the worst possible light and then irrationally trashed. This is not a way forward for civil society.
• St. John told his readers, "Brothers and sisters, let us not only love in word or tongue, but is deed and truth." Concrete service to those who can not return the favor is the source of true moral authority. The Salvation Army is a church - an evangelical (gasp!) one - yet its record of service to all people is unsurpassed. What an example for all of us.
• An Advent of Thoughtfulness requires a common commitment to "First Principles", transcendent ideas that are foundational for the freedoms we claim and enjoy. The Founders of the USA knew that liberty rested on a moral citizenry. May I suggest that we no longer wink at extramarital sexuality, runaway consumerism, spirituality-without-sacrifice and parentless children.

Each day gives us the opportunity to choose a better future. My prayer this Advent Season is that we will choose the glory of God and the good of others over our self-centered proclivities.

Right now there are millions of unreported acts of kindness and love taking place. Let's join this band of brothers and sisters and begin a real revolution: exchanging animosity for humility, ideology for theology and talking heads for helpful hands.

Merry Christmas! I will write again as 2006 dawns, unless events compel me to speak out.

Focus

One of the challenges social reformers face is keeping the attention of a distracted public. Stimuli come from so many directions that getting folks to focus on anything for longer than a minute or two is a minor miracle!

Maybe we need to start a new movement that declares a weekly Sabbath from all media except classic books and real human conversation.

No, I am not becoming the leader of a new cult!

Why did all the recent California Initiatives lose? Opponents will argue that they won on the merits (and $80,000,000+ in spending). Proponents will re-examine the "messaging" and try again.

The real issue is focus. No one is taking the time to think deeply and examine thoroughly all the ramnifications of various policies. When too much is happening too fast, everything gets lost. To expect voters to reform teacher tenure, correct a century of gerrymandering, understand prescription drug markets, and do anything on abortion rights at the same time is unrealistic.

Just as humans beings can not change more than one or two personal habits at a time, why would we expect the entire public to focus and follow-through on multiple issues?

My advice to political leaders: do not try to fight on a dozen fronts at once and stop treating the public like imbeciles.

But my most important advice is for all of us known as "the public".

We can choose to slow down and focus on the important issues that confront us. We must choose to look beyond our personal circumstances and think of the "commonweal" that binds us all together.

Back to my Sabbath idea. Regardless of religious affiliation, I challenge all of us to find a 24 hour period free of email, web, TV, radio, cell phones and any other media. Use the waking hours to think deeply, converse intelligently, and see what emerges from an uncluttered mind!

We might even discover new solutions to apparently intractable problems.

Almost Wise

In January I will turn 47. My kids have made sure I know that this means that I am in my "late" forties and therefore entering the "middle age" zone.

Why does this matter? I am not in a mid-life crisis of direction, faith or identity. I am enjoying good health, a great marriage and the maturing of my children into outstanding adults.

My wife Kathy pointed out that 47 is a prime number. I am still pondering the meaning of this; however, I will enjoy mild self-delusion and consider myself in the prime of life.

47 matters because it is a moment to reflect upon the wisdom I have gained in the first half of my life and the insights I have yet to discover in the seconf half.

In my present "Almost Wise" state of mind, here are some things I have learned:

• A happy marriage and healthy kids are the greatest assets of all.
• Lifelong friendships provide good soil to plant the seeds of new ones; there is always room for another good friend.
• Regretting past mistakes and dwelling on how others have disappointed us paralyzes our progress. It is vital to get help where needed, work through real issues, and keep moving forward.
• When we build our lives as a service to God and others, personal fulfillment comes naturally. Conversely, when we dwell too long on our own selves, happiness escapes like the morning mist.
• Significant social progress only comes when ideology takes a back seat to deeply-held convictions of love and sacrifice.
• The Left wants to redistribute others' unprotected assets. The Right wants to hold on to as much of their own as possible. Both sides need to ask, "How am I personally improving the lives of others outside my comfort zone?"
• Misdirected religious zeal yields great sorrow. In contrast, people with no moral or spiritual convictions can be manipulated toward totalitarian self-destruction.
• Faith and Science are not incompatable. We do not need to live in the dichotomy of two spheres of knowledge. A believer in Genesis needs to synthesize the theological goal of the narratives with good science. Scientists without faith need to welcome colleagues who posit an Intelligent Designer behind the processes they are postulating.
• There are real moral issues that can not be avoided. It is impossible to propose any law or regulation without considering the deeper values underpinning them. If it is wrong to lower taxes, why is it wrong to let parents know about their children's medical care or sex education?
• Americans are spoiled. We need to appreciate the hard-won gains of our soldiers on the battlefield and the saints who brought civil rights and equality. We have forgotten that the majority of those we esteem for their sacrifices were people of faith and profound moral convictions - notions considered "out-of-date" by too many today.

This is a sampling of some of what I have collected during my 46+ years on terra firma.

As I write, I realize that this is an early Thansgiving column.

I like what a friend mentioned to me yesterday, "Instead of one day set aside for giving thanks, how about one day set aside for all our complaining? Then we can live thankfully during the other 364 days a year."

My friend is among the Almost Wise!

Enough!

Hello again and please forgive my delay in posting a new blog. It has been a busy fall for the Self family.

Our oldest son Michael has a new job, our daughter Charlotte a new University back East and our son Christopher a new schedule with Drivers' Ed at the crack of dawn.

Today I can think of only one word to describe how I fell about the current public debates on the issues of our day: ENOUGH!

Enough blaming about the Katrina responses - how about more energy and thought into how to rebuild without bankrupting our economy?

Enough bluster about "Bush Lied, People Died" - how about some real solutions for a peaceful tranfer to just rule in Iraq?

Enough racial posturing and overheated rhetoric - who is going to call on all Americans, rich and poor, to show some moral responsibility and restraint?

Enough nonsense about security - until we enforce the rule of law and secure our borders.

Enough blathering about waste in government - a mere 11% cut across the board in State spending in California would create a surplus in two years.

Enough foolishness about dialogue with the downtrodden who want to kill the infidel - what is our plan to find and destroy terrorists who threaten every nation's security, not just our own?

Enough hypocrisy about the separation of Church and State - do we want the Salvation Army to go away or keep delivering the goods to those in need?

Enough about both global warming and "environmental wackos" - let's grow past the cliches and realize that good ecology is good economics!

Well, that is enough for now.

OK, one more thing: we need to tell ourselves, "Enough of talking, I am going to DO something to make my world better."

If we all did this, it would be enough.

A Principled Future

For half a century, our public square has been a cultural battlefield.

We have seen much progress. Millions of African American and other non-white groups can vote without fear because of the labor of Martin Luther King and thousands of hard-working folks.

Many farm workers now have living wages and reasonable conditions because of the efforts of Caesar Chavez.

Young adults can now vote as well as go to war for their country.

Our environment is cleaner today (in some regions) that 50 years ago thanks to public and private efforts.

We need to pause and be thankful for a land of freedom and opportunity that is always "in the making," always seeking to improve and live up to her highest ideals.

But there are ominous signs as well.

Religious and secular communities are engaged in a titanic struggle to define the values that will govern our future. In the early 60s, many of these folks (or at least their parents) cooperated to see the aforementioned changes. Now they are in a legal and verbal war that threatens to unravel the tapestry woven for 200+ years.

For the sake of this discussion, I am not going to refer to either extreme - theocratic cultists and communist/fascist enemies of all religion are not the focus here.

Most Americans want an environment of mutual respect and tolerance. What we are observing all too often is a kind of weird "McCarthyism" coming from both sides. The secularists lump together all "fundamentalists" and see bigotry and control behind every attempt to say grace in a public forum. The religiously observant are stunned by the callous attacks on their faiths and the militancy of those who want to change the public moral universe of America.

Is there a way forward?

Yes! But it is a "road less traveled", a principled thoroughfare that is not for the faint of heart and mind. We must return to the rich veins of moral gold mined by our Founders, who created the world's first major polis with complete freedom of conscience.

The beauty of our land is that we can be people of many faiths or none because of a common commitment to First Principles of personal virtue and civic responsibility. Not all our Founders were religious. But they all affirmed the necessity of moral rectitude that flows from adherence to Judeo-Christian values.

OK, great nostalgia, Dr. C, but this is the 21st century. We have gone beyond traditionalism and even modernity. No one has the right to impose any standards on anyone...

Here is nexus of our dilemma. Without First Principles, we can not have a cohesive society. Two centuries of civil religion and fifty years of defacto secularism leave us in vacuum.

What is the way forward? A fresh reffirmation of lasting values that move us toward a non-coercive future.

Here is my challenge: What are these principles? Can we build stability without Deity? What will define personal virtue, family cohesion and social responsibility for the next century?

For now, it is enough to know that we must find common ground before the center no longer holds.