The Security of a Vain Imagination

Americans are afflicted with a certain malady common to hegemonies. The ancient Romans caught it. In fact, it was the seed of their demise. It appears in much of our self-help literature--a self-affirming, self-congratulatory, self-buoyancy that damns the torpedos of fate that can only afflict less enlightened peoples. This self-sufficient self-satisfaction is never rash nor abashed. Our assumptions are laced with it--assumptions about how to, what's important, and who's who. Some suggest that this is a strength of ours. I believe, if anything, it has reached the dimensions of a delusion. And daily, it is more delusional. We ask ourselves, "aren't we":

"Buoyant"—who have never really been fated to sink?
"Optimistic"--who have rarely hoped in vain?
"Settled" who have not been removed by conquest?
"Sensible" who haven't really experienced the senselessness of human barbarism?
"Pragmatic"--who haven’t known the exasperation of predator nor the desperation of prey?
"Resourceful"—whose resources have almost always sufficed and been sustainable?
"Enterprising"--whose returns have usually been predictable? 
"Enlightened"--who haven’t endured a long night of totalitarianism?

Of course, I hope that America can remain buoyant and never sink. But we see wilder waves now. And it may not be the fate that God Almighty grants us.

Perhaps as we war with words, mutiny, face existential threats of our own making, and scrap God, we might yet buoy and keep ourselves up with the ballast of our indomitable attitudes? Perhaps our concentrated, happy thoughts will mount a vigorous defense--while our military is dismantled and while the world burns around us? Perhaps if we were more monomaniacal about channeling the American Dream--if we believed more, doubted less, worked longer, spent less, saved more, strove harder for the secular, conformed our every conviction to it, and censored ourselves in favor of the Dream (isn't there yet a dearth of online advice about how we might do these things?)--our federal liabilities, totaling about $530,000 per household, would never come due and would be indefinitely deferred?

I do not hold with those who would afflict America for her hubris--those who would have her or make her abject. Nor do I sympathize with those who believe she was never exceptional--those who pejoratively call her "Merka" even as they are carried by her. These are blind guides and blind observers. They are blind to the protection, prosperity, and preservation of the Almighty.

But even as the bankruptcy of our choices and policy appears, as a nation, as individuals, we are in denial about how we got here. It isn't because we didn't rely on ourselves; it is because we didn't rely on God. It isn't because we lack outward certitude--that which makes for good "optics"; it is because we lack the inward fortitude of faith. It isn't because we didn't fault others for our failures; it is because we didn't find them in ourselves--and amend our ways. It isn't because we didn't have credible reasons to act or to omit actions; it is because we didn't love the truth. It isn't because we have lacked means; it is because we have valued possessions and power more than God, truth, right, and others. It isn't because we didn't have grievances; it is because we didn't seek to be reconciled to God and others. As we remain in denial that we are in demise, how can it be averted?

A group of fishermen once found themselves tossed by a tempest. As the gale shrieked, they knew their seamanship would not suffice--it could not save them. Wisely, they turned to the Master of Sea and Earth and Skies, Jesus Christ. We might do the same. Or not--and perish from the earth as a people.