As we celebrate American’s 250 birthday, let’s return to some first principles. We speak of the American experiment at times as if we are lucky to have made it this far. Yet, early Americans understood some things perhaps more recent generations have forgotten. Take this idea of “The pursuit of happiness.” It didn’t mean “live your best life” in terms of having fun and accumulating wealth, but it meant a pursuit of ongoing learning, of embodying virtue, and endearing friendship, the kind that could withstand even the most fervent disagreements. These more than anything, are the foundation of a long-lasting democracy not only of country, but of spirit.
[00:00:01] This is Josh Reeves and you're listening to the Mile Hi Church Podcast. Labor Day weekend, Zamira, Jackie, and myself are facilitating a meditation and prayer retreat. It's about meditation and solitude, but it's just as much about connection and community. We'll be creating a space of healing, introspection, and inner joy and fun. So consider joining us, learn more about this and all sorts of stuff at milehighchurch.org.
[00:00:26] So as we reflect on 250 years of this country, a long time and surprisingly not that long at all, right? We can ask ourselves, would the founders be proud of what they see as our country today? And I think very much, yes, they'd be overwhelmed at our successes. And yet, I believe they'd have many concerns about our direction as well.
[00:00:56] I also think it's interesting to reflect on the ideas that our founders articulated back then to see if they're articulated the same way now. Take, for example, the pursuit of happiness. The message today, the pursuit of happiness. For me, the pursuit of happiness always meant government, get out of my way so that I can live my best life. And if you don't mind, help me a little bit along my way.
[00:01:26] Thomas Jefferson meant the pursuit of happiness quite differently. He meant the pursuit of happiness as the pursuit of ongoing learning. That it is the pursuit of happiness. That it is the pursuit of happiness. That it is the duty of each citizen to dedicate themselves to learning as much as they can about philosophy, science, nature, government, and life. Because this ongoing learning is the essential building block of democracy.
[00:01:56] If you don't have it, you're going to lose it. That dedication to greater knowledge. I know we throw that term fake news around a lot, usually to dispel something that we don't agree with. However, for me, the right term might be false knowledge. It's this headline type of ideology where we're fed things that feed the perspective that we already have.
[00:02:26] And it is no substitute for understanding, for growing and deepening in the topics that we care about. Thomas Jefferson today would say, read a book once in a while. It's a big difference between a headline and a book. And we happen to have some here on our altar. I think to renew patriotism, it's incredible to read the biography of Frederick Douglass.
[00:02:51] Reading about the life of someone so that if he could overcome Americans' flaws to be a great patriot, I think I can too. To understand the issues of the day through something like Doris Kearns Goodwin's team of rivals about President Lincoln. You don't always have to read the book. You can listen to it while you're on TikTok as well.
[00:03:14] But there's something about that deeper commitment, not only to knowledge, but to the duty of citizenship. To understand the issues of our day. To not let people think for us, but to do our own work of discernment. Jefferson also meant by the pursuit of happiness, the pursuit of virtue. Virtue. Virtue was probably the most important thing to our founding fathers. Not that they always fulfilled it.
[00:03:43] However, they were constantly reading great philosophers, especially the Roman philosophers, to teach them this idea of virtue. And they dreamed of creating a nation that was built not around a person, but around virtue. Cicero, for example, would say something like, it is better to do that which is honest than that which is popular. What a powerful guiding idea.
[00:04:11] Benjamin Franklin said that every day he asked himself two questions. When he woke up in the morning, what good can I do today? Good question. And when he went to bed at night, what good did I do today? Franklin famously had a list of virtues that he dedicated himself for a time to trying to realize fully in his life. He eventually let it go because he felt he was a complete failure at it.
[00:04:39] But that's not quite true. Virtue is always greater than we are. The first of these virtues was temperance. Eat not to excess. Drink not to elevation. And he sought to bring this virtue of temperance into everything that he did, including negotiating with the French around the American Revolution, including helping to be a guiding force in the invention of the United States Constitution.
[00:05:09] Temperance for him looked like holding his tongue. John Adams in France would get very angry at him for not saying enough. But because of temperance, Franklin only wanted to speak when it was most important. Imagine if we had more politicians like that today. When the Constitution was invented, Franklin disagreed with much of it,
[00:05:35] but he was so happy because he believed in the importance of the greater good. The miracle wasn't the Constitution. It's that everyone with all these different points of view would get together and agree to something to create a flawed, yet nonetheless, a roadmap for our country. The pursuit of happiness also speaks to the ongoing search of the individual for their own relationship with God.
[00:06:04] It's the freedom to worship as we believe. It's the freedom to interpret spirit in our own understanding. And I believe that the most difficult task of our founding fathers and mothers was this question of religion. What is the role of God in one's country? What is the role of church in society? John Meacham, the great historian, put it this way. He said,
[00:06:32] The great good news about America, the American gospel, if you will, is that religion shapes the life of the nation without strangling it. Many of us were brought up in school being taught that immigrants came to America in order to practice religious freedom. And there was truth to that, but sometimes that religion was quite fundamentalist. So much so that you could be put to death for not supporting or being a part of the church that the city governor had.
[00:07:01] And so the founders were very aware of this issue. And it wasn't that they weren't religious. They just believed to accord their religion with their country and not with a set church. Abraham Lincoln was perhaps the most religious of all of our presidents. And when asked why he didn't belong to a church, he said, I have yet to find one that practices the golden rule. Thomas Jefferson said,
[00:07:26] I must ever believe that religion is substantially good, which produces an honest life. I never told my religion nor scrutinized that of another. I never attempted to make a convert nor wish to change another's creed. I have ever judged of the religion of others by their lives. For it is in our lives and not from our words that our religion must be read. By the same test, the world must judge me. An incredible idea for 250 years ago.
[00:07:55] And as a founding father, we judge him as well. These founding fathers who weren't amazing because they were apostles of God. They were ordinary human beings who had the same amount of flaws that we do. One of the first arguments among the Constitutional Congress was whether or not to have a prayer. Here is this room filled with Episcopalians and Presbyterians and Methodists and who knows what else.
[00:08:23] And it was almost agreed that prayer would not be allowed. And then Samuel Adams stood up and he said, I am willing to hear from any man pray to his God who is also a friend to his country. Country above the church. The shared public gospel that helps lead us to understand. So much so that I would share, not to share personal political positions, but I'm okay with religion being taught in schools. Just as long as it's not one religion.
[00:08:53] I would love for children to learn the story of the Buddha. The core teachings of Jesus. The pilgrimage that Muslims take each year to Mecca. It helps them not to convert them to a certain faith, but to help teach them that their own faith is something important. Not just their belief in God, but their belief in self and in their country. Ben Franklin put it this way.
[00:09:46] The pursuit of happiness teaches us to never stop learning. Keep reading. Keep listening. Keep studying. Our country is incredibly inventive when it comes to making mistakes. And at the same time, if we study history, we can realize that the majority of mistakes we make, we've made before and before that and before that. That ongoing learning gives us that commitment to growth,
[00:10:17] to be a fluid country, a living country. Ongoing learning is about doing the right thing. It's about putting virtue over power. This was exemplified when George Washington did two incredible things, not only to Americans, but to the whole world. The first was giving up power over the military when America won the Revolutionary War. And many would argue the true birth of our nation
[00:10:46] when he gave up power after serving two terms in the presidency. That's selflessness. Flawed individual? Yes. But at least in that moment, he committed himself to the great virtue that continues to run in the potentiality of our United States of America. America.
[00:11:37] And what he shared with his congregation, for me, isn't just a great rule for us as individuals, but for governing a country. He said it's so important to have a tough mind and a tender heart. However, if you have a tough mind and not a tender heart, you become hard-headed and hard-hearted. But if you have a tender heart without a tough mind, you become soft-minded. Gullible. He shared,
[00:12:05] the undue gullibility is also seen in the tendency of many readers to accept the printed word of press as final truth. Few people realize that even our authentic channels of information, the press, the platform, and in many instances, the pulpit, do not give us objective and unbiased truth. Few people have the toughness of mind to judge critically and to discern the truth from the false, the fact from the fiction. Our minds are constantly being invaded by legions of half-truths, prejudices, and false facts.
[00:12:35] One of the great needs of mankind is to be lifted above the morass of false propaganda. We tend to look at different parties in our country this day as opposing sides. When we embrace this philosophy of a tough mind and a tender heart, we can see that they represent two different poles. That, yes, I'm going to vote for someone who's tough-minded, but please let someone who's tender-hearted have their ear.
[00:13:03] I'm going to vote for someone who is tender-hearted, but I hope they're surrounded by some tough minds. When we bring that balance to ourselves, we bring that discernment that allows us to be competent citizens in our democracy. King continues,
[00:13:28] Lastly, the pursuit of happiness is about forgiveness. Forgiveness. Forgiveness. You don't survive 250 years without a lot of forgiveness. Forgiveness isn't about forgetting our history.
[00:13:58] It's about confronting it courageously. It's about feeling the hurts and the damage that negative decisions and ignorant consciousness has created at times. But it's also the recognition that that divine idea always finds a way. That the purpose of our country is not to be stagnant in our mistakes, but to honor all of those demonstrations of this prayer for liberty, for justice, and the pursuit of happiness.
[00:14:25] All these incredible American characters who have come forth to help us realize what justice and liberty and the pursuit of happiness really means. Forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting the past. It means being optimistic about the future. Stepping in with optimism, or as John F. Kennedy used to say, I'm an optimist without any illusions. That ability that there is always hope
[00:14:51] and the ability for our next 250 years to be even greater than the first. A few things to remember in terms of the pursuit of happiness and perhaps rejuvenating our citizenship in our country. The first is don't let anyone else think for you. Don't let anyone else think for you. Think for yourselves. It's wonderful to be a good, strong conservative.
[00:15:20] It's wonderful to be a good, strong progressive. It's wonderful to be a good, strong something else. But think for yourself. Utilize that gift of discernment. We live so much in a society of tests. Are you conservative enough? Are you liberal enough? Are you patriotic enough? Are you awoke enough? Whatever it may be, don't let anyone test your citizenship in your country.
[00:15:48] Abraham Lincoln, when he first ran for Congress in Illinois, his opponent was an evangelical minister. And they had a town hall one day. And as his act, the evangelical said, for those of you who do not want to go to hell, please rise and stand up. And everyone stood in the room except for Lincoln. And the evangelical candidate looked at Lincoln. He said, well, sir, where is it that you plan to go? And Lincoln responded to Congress. And that's just where he went.
[00:16:20] When we don't think for ourselves, we let others and something else think for us. And our lives and our country is too precious to allow that kind of gullibility. Two, the pursuit of happiness calls us to fall in love with our foes. Can you fall in love with those who have the same goal as you do, but a different map for how to get there?
[00:16:49] That's part of how the American experiment works. Two of the most dreaded enemies in the history of our nation were Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Both represented entirely different views on how the country should govern itself. Jefferson, a Republican, believed in states' rights and the state's ability to make its own laws no matter what other states did. Alexander Hamilton believed in a strong federal force
[00:17:17] that would create laws for all of the states to follow. I'm reminded of Niels Bohr, the great physicist, who said something is absolutely true when its total opposite is true as well. Were either of them wrong? I don't think so. Were they both right in their own way? And after Hamilton died, what did Jefferson do? He put a bust of him up in his home. So that he could see the statue there. A historian, Stephen Knott, pointed out
[00:17:46] that their relationship wasn't a destructive fight, but a progressive tension. That's what I want to see in my country. Not a big WWF grudge match fight, but a progressive tension. Moving ever towards where it is that we're called to go. Lastly, the pursuit of happiness is about commitment to growth. Commitment to growth. Commitment to growth as a nation,
[00:18:15] commitment to growth as an individual. What does it mean to be always committed to your learning and your growing? I shared with you earlier this year a touching moment I shared with our dear practitioner, Carol Buxton, who was making her transition. And she was feeling ready to go, but I was leaving the room and I said, Carol, can I invite some people to come and visit you? And she said, you know, if someone needs to see me, fine.
[00:18:41] But I really want this time. This is such an interesting time in my life. And it brought a tear to my eye because it so exemplified who she was, that she was always committed to her personal growth. Even in the experience of her dying, there was opportunities and lessons to help her get to living even more fully. I want that for my country too. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were also combatants
[00:19:10] in the creation of the United States of America. Yet they both shared this love of ongoing learning. And even after they were both out of office, both presidents of the United States, they continued a correspondence. And these enemies became close friends, even two men at that time writing in their letters, I love you. I love you too. Could it be that a commitment to ongoing learning and ongoing growth isn't just the key to being a good citizen,
[00:19:40] but the key to unlocking the door to eternal life, to immortality, that that learning reveals something to us about the truth of who we are over time. After Adam's beloved wife, Abigail, who was as important in the founding of our country as any other individual, by the way, Jefferson wrote him a letter and shared, I will not therefore by useless condolences open afresh the sluices of your grief, nor although mingling sincerely my tears with yours,
[00:20:10] will I say a word more. Where words are vain, but that it is of some comfort to us both, that the term is not very distant at which we are to deposit. In the same ceremony, our sorrows and suffering bodies, and to ascend in essence to an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have loved and lost, and whom we shall still love and never lose again. God bless you and support you under your heavy affliction. And as many of you know what would happen synchronistically to these friends,
[00:20:39] that 50 years to the day of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, they both died hours from one another. The first page of the Science of Mind textbook says, The divine plan is one of freedom. Bondage is not God-ordained. Freedom is the birthright of every living soul. One more time, first page. The divine plan is one of freedom.
[00:21:09] Bondage is not God-ordained. Freedom is the birthright of every living soul. America has fallen on its face many a times. And yet this idea of freedom, liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness for all is the greatest spiritual idea ever articulated. Not just for Americans, but for all people. That wherever we see bondage, wherever we see inequality, wherever we see injustice,
[00:21:37] we see not God's will in action. And who is called to come forth? Not an invisible power through the sky, but you and me with consciousness, with healthy conflict, with our voices, with our votes, to always stand against anything that stands against liberty and freedom, and to always stand for this realization of this affirmative prayer that is America to come forward
[00:22:04] in greater and grander ways. That is my prayer for my country at 250 years, to renew its commitment to growth by understanding its history, including its flaws and mistakes, but embracing its possibility to make a greater world, not just for its citizens, but for all. Moving into prayer this morning, I invite our beautiful prayer practitioners to stand and join me if they choose.
[00:22:39] What an opportunity in our own individual lives to become aware of those teachings of Dr. King, to ask if there's anywhere in my life right now where I am practicing a tough mind, but missing that tender heart. And perhaps there's somewhere in my life right now where my tender heart is full, but my tough mind is absent. How important to bring the great gifts of mind into our everyday life, in how we treat ourselves,
[00:23:09] and how we interact with one another, and how we love and care for our country. Again, that beautiful prayer of the state of South Carolina, while I breathe, I hope. Centering ourselves in hope today without any illusions, we know that divine idea for our life is unfolding. The divine idea for your life is unfolding. All any of us have to do
[00:23:38] is align with it, with faith, with willingness, with openness. And may we do this for our country even when evidence seems otherwise, to know that this prayer is more than any individual. We make a mistake when we equate our country only with its government leaders. Yes, this country is Jefferson and Washington, Obama and Trump, Nixon and Carter,
[00:24:07] but it's also Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass, and so many more. This prayer has brought forth to embody what it means to be truly an embodiment of liberty, an example of justice and equality, and committed to that pursuit of happiness, which we don't fully fulfill until we pursue it not just for us, but for all.
[00:24:36] We let this prayer be. God bless this country, and God bless every individual who is a citizen of this earth. And so it is. Amen. Thanks for listening to the Mile Hi Church Podcast. This podcast is made possible by the generous contributions from listeners like you. To make a donation, please visit milehighchurch.org. to make a donation,