Daily Lesson for September 25, 2020

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Nehemiah chapter 9 verses 32 through 37:

32 “Now therefore, our God—the great and mighty and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love—do not treat lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 You have been just in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly; 34 our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law or heeded the commandments and the warnings that you gave them. 35 Even in their own kingdom, and in the great goodness you bestowed on them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their wicked works. 36 Here we are, slaves to this day—slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts. 37 Its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins; they have power also over our bodies and over our livestock at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.”

One thing I deeply appreciate about the Jewish tradition is its willingness to admit the faults of its own people. There is and always has been a tradition of truth telling about it. And the idea of collective confession -- acknowledgement of the sins of the past, even the sins committed by the patriarchs and matriarchs Abraham, Sarah, Moses, and Jacob.

Would that our country might embrace a deeper truth telling about itself. Yet attempts to tell a more accurate and complete truth are contemptibly labeled as "unpatriotic".

But I've always liked what the 20th century prophet William Sloane Coffin said about patriotism.

"There are three kinds of patriots, two bad and one good," he said. "The bad are the uncritical lovers and the loveless critics. Good patriots carry on a lover's quarrel with their country."

Right now the uncritical lovers want to set our nation's curriculum and textbooks from pre-K through graduate school. And those opposed aren't all loveless towards this country. Most, in fact, are good patriots, who love their country enough to tell it the truth.

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible through this year. Over the weekend we will finish Nehemiah, read Psalm 126, finish the Old Testament with the book of Malachi, and begin the New Testament with Luke 1 and John 1. Wow!