Independence Day

Independence Day-- Two-hundred thirty-three years ago, we declared our independence from our mother country, Britain. The boldly defiant words of Thomas Jefferson still ring in our ears from that childhood time when we had to memorize them: When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. (from the Preamble) When the Constitution of these United States was written it stated in those famous words: "We, the people of these United States, in order to form a more perfect union..." In these two documents we have the two opposites of independence and dependence: independence from those considered tyrannical, arbitrary and neglectful and a new dependence on those more closely allied in location, culture and interest. Today is the celebration of the first of these, the RATIFICATION OF THE declaration of our severing of our dependence on Great Britain. Many and bloody are the declarations of independences that preceded and followed our own separation from Mother Country. The entire history of mankind is one long battle of that seeking after independence from or the resistance of its imposition, of one government or another. Every government resists those who wish to be independent from it. Our own Civil War was a shining example of this. We, as a nation, pride ourselves on our independent individualism. It is a prime strength of our nation. We can think out of the box; we act with initiative when confronted with problems; we don't go with the pack when a difficult choice confronts us; we consider the rights and feelings of minorities and individuals. Much of this comes from our declaration, so many scores of decades ago. It is our strength; it is our weakness. As I thought on the act of declaring independence from one government, it dawned on me that one could carry the same process down to the level of the individual and beyond. After the establishment of the mutuality of these united States, there was a time when it was not absolutely clear that the new union would stand. Each State wanted its rights and for a time it seemed that another series of disintegrations would occur with the result of 13 tiny independent nations as a result. To this day, the debate over States' rights versus the role of the Federal government divides us. Ultimate States' rights would be complete autonomy from centralized government; a State could close its borders and refuse the assistance of and loyalty to the other States. The counties within a State could do the same, followed by the rebellion of cities and towns, of neighborhoods and families. Finally, each individual could declare her and his independence from anyone else; the ultimate rugged individualist. It is when we come to the next level of independence, that the weakness of individual action reveals itself. A bodily organ that becomes independent jeopardizes its own welfare; cell becoming independent of the organ forfeits its existence. Finally, with the rebellion of a key organ or the defection of enough cells, the body itself dies. It is interesting to note that, in all of Paul's illustrations of the ecclesia, the church, independence and individuality have no place. Body, building, homes, bride; each word is the kernel of a corporate idea. We have lost the concept of clan, tribe and family in this headlong search for autonomy. Covenant is degraded to contract which no longer holds even the slightest tinge of its original vow of unity to the death. Mutuality, unity, communion, in our culture are all filtered through the lenses of individuality. So perhaps,, though I value the freedom and even the independence of this great nation, we have been robbed of a sense of a deeper truth, a deeper necessity-dependence. Most Christians would say that dependence on God is a strong part of their belief system (though rarely of our practice). But few there are who understand and fewer still live in the experience of mutual human dependency. What a lofty ideal and how few find it even among those few who seek it. I pledge myself, in a new allegiance to a deeper and broader dependence on you, my sisters and brothers and to a more open willingness to being a supportive member of our portion of the Body. 7 4 09