Living In the Promised Land

Such a title as "Living In the Promised Land" lends itself to a variety of presuppositions for those who may choose to read this blog posting. Today, Sunday, May 10, 2009 seems like an opportune time to blog about life in the "promised land". Mother's Day has been celebrated in many parts of the world today. Many of us are familiar with the saying that there is nothing more American than "motherhood, apple pie and Chevrolet". Of course, there are others who will say that the United States of America is a modern day version of "the promised land".

When the Old Testament Israelites found themselves on the verge of entering the original Promised Land, their vision and their promise was that the new land would be "a land flowing with milk and honey". In fact, at that time, the region of the Middle East referred to as the Promised Land was perhaps the most fertile agricultural land in the world. This bread basket of ancient times was the inheritance that the divine God set aside for His followers.

To me, it seems quite egotistical to boast that modern day Americans live in a promised land. This nation, despite the Pledge of Allegiance as it has been modified from the original [the words "under God" were added to the pledge by Congress in 1954], was founded in part on the principle of "freedom of religion". What our forefathers intended that to mean was there would be no state sponsored religion and the church itself would not be the government. It is not my intention to use this vehicle to debate whether or not some have turned that freedom into "freedom from religion".

What is clear to me is that living as an American in the United States in 2009 is not a divinely appointed right. Nor is the "American dream" something promised and guaranteed for everyone who lives here. It is relevant during these times to remind ourselves that many of us living in this country and the world are only one accident, one illness, one death of a family member, one bad investment or one job loss from finding ourselves homeless, destitute and dependent on the goodness and generosity of others. How quickly and easily "the milk and honey" can dry up and we could end up wandering in the urban desert scavenging for the next meal.

On Mother's Day, when so many millions of mothers, grandmothers, expectant mothers and would-be mothers, along with their families and friends celebrated the blessings that come to us because of motherhood, have we asked ourselves how many more millions of mothers around the world are homeless this year compared to last year? Yes, even right here in what many still consider to be the most prosperous nation in the world. How is is possible for families who once lived the good life now find themselves selling nearly every worldly possession to garner enough money to survive or move from a house to an apartment?

Before I became unemployed, I barely knew of "craigslist". Since then, I have used the local craigslist postings to find numerous job leads. As a result, I have started reading some of the other ads, especially the furniture, free and household listings. One only needs a little knowledge of a world in economic crisis, the home financing debacle in the United States and the large number of individuals who have lost their jobs in the last two years to understand what you are reading and why. For many, the "American dream" is slipping away. As homes are foreclosed or sold, people are forced to dispose of prize possessions which might have taken years to purchase. Imagine being an excited homeowner a few years ago who now is faced with no other choice than to post on craigslist in hopes of some sort of return on an earlier purchase. Such is life in the promised land on May 10, 2009.

~DB Turnmire