Pratt: We are commanded, enabled to build communities of love, freedom
What if we could simply hit a “delete” key on all the things we have said or done that embarrass us to remember Would we do better? Maybe, maybe not.
Perfection does not dwell within the human heart, beset by wrong-doing. That is why we desperately need guidance from the heart of God.
Even then, we seem disposed to failure as a selfish and self-aggrandizing attitude worms its way into our speech and actions.
Read biblical stories, history and today's newspapers to see one thing absent. That common thread, whether in the lives of the saints or in present day heroic figures, is a lack of perfection. That does not mean we do not learn from their examples, both positive and negative.
It is foolish to dismiss the amazing and positive achievements of those history deems great in human terms based on what some consider today's “enlightened” judgment.
The silliest thing done in recent years is the attempt to destroy respect for the wisdom of our founding fathers. Just as we are, so they were people of their time. They had uncommon experience, courage and vision for righting many wrongs.
They truly did introduce a “new” world, forming a government by and for the people rather than a class of “royalty” living off the labor of the common people. It was as perfect as the people who gave their lives to make it happen and as imperfect as those who are trying to destroy it today.
All too often, we look for reasons to defend our bad attitudes or misjudgments by trashing the reputations of those with whom we disagree. While we may claim to do so in defense of achieving a more perfect society, we tend to assume an air of perfection that none of us actually possesses.
It is true that this infectious attitude of “my way or no way” permeates the human condition, it is also true that we are the recipients of many blessings from our imperfect historical figures as well as from many of our peers.
When we consider the essence of that which upsets us, we must admit that we owe our freedom to those willing to fight evil and pursue “a more perfect union” than the world had seen. That union seems in real jeopardy today as we are in the grip of a lawlessness described as freedom by those who support it behind closed doors while touting their “concern” for those in need.
Our young children have become pawns in a nasty game of who is in charge of their education, with subsequent loss of integrity in education, or so it seems to me. When I think about the teachers of integrity I had in the smaller country schools and later, the teachers of my own children, I know there are many who still work for the best interests of children. Our only true wealth is our children.
But change sweeps across the country. It becomes more and more difficult to defend children from evil intentions of a few, determined to manipulate the future in a way that history shows us is destructive.
Under the guise of offering “perfection,” some of the worst crimes are committed today against children. Parents need to be able to trust the people who instruct the children, but we also need to be alert to warning signals that all is not well in the classroom.
I do observe that many of our societal issues, including education, are reflections of the growing disintegration of family, home and church.
In the Judeo-Christian perspective, God gave us the basics, the Law, as in the Ten Commandments, followed by the grace of redemption as illustrated in the life and sacrifice of Jesus. Thus, we are commanded and enabled to build communities of love and freedom, which includes instructing our children.
Beth Pratt retired as religion editor from the Avalanche-Journal after 25 years. You can email her at beth.pratt@cheerful.com.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Pratt: We are commanded, enabled to build communities of love, freedom
