New Year’s Revolutions

January 8, 2010

In the good ole’ days January 1 seemed to pack all the football bowl games into one day. Now stretched out over two weeks, the New Year “2010” kicked off with literally dozens of kick offs. We watched Ohio beat Oregon, Florida clobber another Ohio team, an Idaho team come out on top of a Texas team, and a Georgia team lose to an Iowa team; just to name a few; with finally yesterday the culmination of another year of college football as another Texas team dueled Alabama.

State by state we support our teams, and rightfully so, but the commercialization of college football reminds me of a warning I gave to myself years ago in the form of a series of lectures – “we will either entertain ourselves to extinction or educate ourselves to enlightenment.” I am sure this theme will one day be a whole column, but once again this New Year’s resolution is along the lines of more education and less entertainment; though I like watching football – that is with the sound off.

As I reflected on my experience with resolutions I perhaps like most have had some success. Weight loss or exercise promises seem to last awhile, but the big issue resolutions never seem to come to fruition – you know ushering in world peace or changing the paradigm so that all we do fosters the health of creation and its perpetuation.

But, the most telling story happened over 40 years ago.

I was asked to preach at St. John’s Lafayette Square across from the White House around New Year’s. Naturally, I wove the theme of resolutions into my sermon and though nervous felt I had ‘nailed it.’ As we left the sanctuary to de-robe the rector John Harper commented coolly “Peter, did you realize that on more than one occasion you substituted the word revolution for resolution.” Embarrassed, I went from supreme confidence to the goat of the day, one who blew it.

Simultaneous to my Freudian slip of the tongue sermon, Robert F. Kennedy’s little book Promises to Keep was published.

“The great challenge before us is the revolution within our gates” wrote Kennedy referring to the struggle of black Americans for full equality and freedom.

The revolution within our gates must today come in the form of over-throwing the complacency of Americans as a global collapsing of creation accelerates. Webster’s dictionary definition #4 of revolution is: “a complete or radical change of any kind.” Others however, opt for #5 as to defining what the revolution should look like: “overthrow of a government or social system by those governed and usually by forceful means.”

Revolution: peaceful, non-violent over-throw of the prevailing mindset that we are not complicit in the collapsing of God’s creation is the 1st order of business within our country. I, you, we are all contributors to the problem of environmental degradation. In part because of two related choices: We have bought into consumption as holy and we have willingly adopted entertainment as the ‘drug of choice’ that keeps us denying reality. Many even cheer at the buffoonery of ‘reality TV’ where individuals are encouraged to make fools of themselves; as we stand on the sidelines and cheer.

In other words, as Pogo said: “We have met the enemy and they are us.”

Is it really déjà vu all over again as we watch Nero fiddling while Rome burns? Are you and I really just twiddling our thumbs as others rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic? Are we literally entertaining ourselves to extinction? The answer from many scientists studying the planet is a resounding yes. I hope they are wrong for there is much to be done before the life rafts need to be deployed; but to further the analogy the iceberg has been hit; now what do we do is the question. Revolution of thought, leading revolution in deed is part of my New Year’s Resolution.

Resolving to read more, learn more, and write more, is given high priority. I have no desire to become a monk cloistered from the joy of grandkids, toys, or even TV; but I must be more discriminating while allocating my resources better. If I am going to be part of the change I want to see in the world my dietary, spending, and habits must change over-night. A radical shift of personal behavior is required of all of us leading to the systemic change of systems over-night.