The psychologist Michael Tomasello says: “A fish is born expecting water; a human is born expecting [social] culture.” Humans evolved as beings with the need to touch and be touched; talk, debate, laugh together; smile and flirt with one another; and communicate in groups. As an ironic twist, James McBride, author of ‘Deacon King Kong,’ stupefied me when I heard him say on a radio talk show:

             “It’s a sin that politicians in Washington pit Americans against Americans.”

McBride makes a point. But isn’t there a graver sin, blindly following truths?

Earlier in the day, I tuned in to Krista Tippett interviewing anthropologist Augustin Fuentes. Boy, did he impart nuggets of wisdom:

             “Humans aren’t nearly as bad, on average. Most people are actually doing great stuff all the time. [Yes,] we have an amazing capacity to be horrible, but day in, day out, most people are pretty cool with one another.  

             Trust is not just about convincing people to put their faith in you; it’s demonstrating predictability, reliability, and compassion. If our politicians’ goal were to show predictability, reliability, and compassion, I think we might be in a different place.

             The metaphor of connective tissue is great because as trust breaks down in the human niche, pieces fall out or get wobbly and insecure.

             And wisdom, I think, is essential because I’ve come to believe — to be convinced — that wisdom is the capacity to learn, to understand, and to experience, through perceptions and ways that facilitate different kinds of effectiveness and success in human lives.

             Wisdom is this capacity to take knowledge and experience and do something with it that offers the opportunity for change.

             And I like to connect wisdom with hope because I think it’s that deep perspective, that thinking, that offers you this incredible thing that humans have the capacity for, which is hope: this ability to imagine better possible futures, and to strive for them, despite what’s materially going on around you.”

In ‘Let Us Pause and Reason Together,’ Saint Pope John Pope Paul II expressed his “profound esteem and friendship to the American people.”

             “I come to Denver to listen to the young people gathered here, to experience their inexhaustible quest for life.

But how do we help them?

             Only by instilling a high moral vision can a society ensure that its young people are given the possibility to mature as free and intelligent human beings, endowed with a robust sense of responsibility to the common good, capable of working with others to create a community and a nation with a strong moral fiber. 

America is built on such a vision. Let us pause and reason together (Isaiah 1:18 Message Translation). 

             To educate without a value system based on truth is to abandon young people to moral confusion, personal insecurity, and easy manipulation.

             No country, not even the most powerful, can endure if it deprives its children of this essential good. 

             The ultimate test of your greatness is how you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenseless ones.

             The best traditions of your land presume respect for those who cannot defend themselves. 

             The bounty and providence of God have laid an enormous responsibility on the people and Government of the United States. But that burden is also the opportunity for true greatness.  

             The American people possess the intelligence and will to meet the challenge of rededicating themselves with renewed vigor to fostering the truths on which this country was founded and by which it grew.

I share the profound hope that the United States will spare no effort to advance authentic freedom and foster human rights and solidarity [unity]. May God guide this nation and keep alive in it – for endless generations to come – the flame of liberty and justice for all.” 

Neighbors around us are busy putting up the Christmas lights. One fellow citizen even tried to install a super-sized snowman on his roof. We rooted for him. It’s now back on the ground. We come together and talk outside with never enough time to share all the stories.

The election is history. Tomorrow is another day. Leave no stones unturned? Complicated!

With Every Good Wish to You, I am,

 

Sincerely,

Building the Bridge Foundation, The Hague

Abraham A. van Kempen

Senior Editor

 

* ‘Christian Zionism … Enraptured Around a Golden Cal” (2nd Edition)

www.surrenderIsraeltoGod.com

www.buildingthebridge.eu

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A Theo-geopolitical eye-opener expounded with conviction, common sense, and compassion. With 500+ references, ‘Christian Zionism … Enraptured Around a Golden Calf’ pits the Holy Trinity of Zionism – One Tribe, One Land, One God – against the Holy Trinity of Christianity – ALL people, ALL nations, indeed, glorifying the one ‘I Am’ with many names.

Be sure you order the 2nd Edition, published in 2019.