Where Lies the Soul of America?

                                                                Where Lies the Soul of America?  

Joe Biden, in announcing his candidacy for President and many times since, has explained his campaign as one to restore the "soul of America"? Have you wondered where it went and when did it go? Many of us are are quite certain that Biden is mistaken in his assumption...

​Are you? 

​Can it even be said, that a nation, unlike a person, has a "soul"? Perhaps Biden meant his analysis metaphorically... By means of delving deeper into the idea of an American national soul, I'd like to propose a series of hypotheticals... First, Biden is elected President. Second, within days Trump resigns as President (Reasoning? He can't get his head around the idea of being civil and welcoming to the new President, and secondly, he knows that Vice President Pence sorely wants to become President... and, there could be a favor that would come his way...) Third, President Pence nominates Secretary of State Nicki Haley to the Vice Presidency (Reasoning? He hopes to diminish the prospects of her seeking the Republican nomination in 2024... And next, President Pence grants an absolute pardon to Trump for any and all crimes or potential crimes up to and through his Presidency...) And Biden is sworn in as President in January of 2021...

​So, these hypotheticals swings me back to the idea of an American national soul... and to the mystical supposition that soul is, or rather, has its abode in forgiveness... How could soul be anywhere if not in the everywhere of forgiveness: the practical application of empathy and compassion... For those of us who have either experienced or believe in a Cosmic Consciousness pervading, supporting, and evolving all consciousness, life, and matter, forgiveness in personal terms is an essential aspect of faith... We tend to imagine mercy as an integral / operating principle of the Divine Being... or at least, we are most hopeful that it is! 

​If soul has its abode in forgiveness, and if it follows that there is an American national soul, can its place of residence be anywhere other than in forgiveness? That there is a tendency to equate soul with unquestioning patriotism, flag, and status, is the mere idea of forgiveness being the abode of our national soul too far of a stretch?

Well then, I ask you to stretch: stretch like the tree-become-art-become-arm-and-outstretched-hand: s-t-r-e-t-c-h..... in meditation upon the above photo... stretch until you can feel the power in art, in nature, in passion, in beauty, and and, keep going, keep going all the way into your j-u-m-p into our national soul... It is (and will be) only in the will to forgive that we can seize the opportunity of this moment in time. Only a fool would not think that our nation is seriously @RISK... as our nation, so too, is our very Planet...

​So here it is, regardless of my list of hypotheticals, are you ready, willing, and able to forgive? Here lies soul: a motivating dream and a personal responsibility, and an unlikely, though possible, political reality... Can you forgive all that has occured in our national history that caused incredible harm, grief, and despair? Can you forgive all those who caused harm? Can you forgive the unbounded rage of all those who have been harmed or have been the descendents of harm's first, and many continuing, victims? Of course, this list is not one of hypotheticals: it is a short, very short, list or summary of harm, grief, and despair... But it is precisely here, right here in this exact place, that our national soul resides. We can either choose to embrace our soul and begin to practice the beauty of forgiveness, or we, of course, have the option of continuing to trash both the abode of, and our national soul... in which case, America will simply become another in a long line of sad myths...