To be politically independent means being true to our integrity, and we cannot be true to our integrity without also being spiritually independent. To be more than the product of our impulses, we must live with a heart surrendered, that we might access the wisdom within our soul as conveyed to us through the voice of the Holy Spirit. This voice flavors our days with the inexplicable sway of our destiny, and we will know the spice of independence, making everything else bland in comparison. Being politically independent means we are liberal, conservative, centrist, or something of a hybrid because we are meant to be so, and this requires spiritual grounding. We may migrate from one set of beliefs to another as we ripen throughout our lives, or we may not, but if we collectively know the spice of independence then American democracy will be in capable hands.
American politics seems to have migrated away from the center in recent decades, making our attitudes more extreme. Perhaps this is the result of the end of the Cold War. Without the common enemy binding us together, perhaps we have become the bloodthirsty enemies of one another. For this to be true, we must be weakened spiritually as well, and the self-centered heart remains the greatest threat to us, individually and collectively. It is a tremendous responsibility to relinquish control of our lives to the Spirit which guides the universe, but why would we want to be in opposition to this? Surrendering our heart to this Spirit means we are not a threat to one another, so what does it matter if the other person wins? It will all even out as destiny fulfils.
We need to recognize that it is more important to be in spiritual right relation than to be in power politically, and if we were all in right relation spiritually then the best person would win every election. Here is the spice of independence: knowing that we have done our part, and that our judgment is sound. The main political parties in the United States have come to see one another as existential threats, and there is some substance to this perspective. There are activists in either party who would love for their belief to be enshrined permanently in single-party rule, effectively crippling any opposition. These zealots would be amusing if American politics weren’t so warped right now, but as it stands the threat of a single-party takeover needs to be taken seriously. American politics has become warped specifically because of these people, and because of their self-centered ambitions to control all of society.
The spiritually independent know that the Spirit is dynamic, and that culture will evolve along healthy lines, so long as the heart is collectively surrendered. We do not surrender the heart to government, however, nor to institutions or individuals, but rather to the Spirit which will lead us effectively along the lines of our destiny – our individual and collective destiny. The only existential threat here is to the institutionalization of self, to which we are all contributors when living apart from God and in our own ineffective human strength.
We have come to believe that the future of truth depends on the outcome of our elections, as if we were somehow in charge. If we truly believed God to be in control, then we wouldn’t fret so much over our elections, for we would know that the Spirit will not be moved. We will be allowed our mistakes, even horrendous ones, but the outcome of these will be tremendously valuable lessons which we would never have learned otherwise. God has a way of distilling our mistakes into some of the most potent medicines imaginable, and we will be immune to taking that same pathway ever again. We will even be grateful for our mistakes, for because of them we will be rendered more complete.
If the natural world could vote regarding the future of the Earth, would it put a human in charge? No, it would elect the Spirit, and it would rejoice in the harmonious aftermath. Humanity would be wise to do likewise, and if we would condition ourselves to be worthy discerners of truth through fidelity to the Holy Spirit, then we would elect only the best to inhabit our various governments. Our elections should confirm the overall wisdom of the electorate, and for the most part they have done this in the past. What we need is confirmation of the overall wisdom of our candidates, and this is not so certain anymore. This is why we are afraid, for we recognize the corrosion of our political institutions, and the superficial luster of many of our candidates. This may be traceable to complacency in the electorate, but it is not too late for us to rise up and to meet the present challenge.
How we do this is by surrendering the heart and putting God first in our lives. God is not a political partisan, but the Spirit will reveal what is needed at a particular place in our collective development. We ought to take seriously our need to be in tune with this. The call to independence arises from the recognition of a need for authenticity in the outcome of our elections, that we are not being swayed by the coercion or manipulation of others, but that our vote is truly a reflection of our conscience, arising from the innermost of our integrity. If we would collectively do this, then we can be confident that the ones we elect are the ones who are meant to be elected. Otherwise, we are left with the residue of our self-centered motivations, and the ones we elect will leave us stained and corrupted with this residue. It is far better to be leavened by the spice of political and spiritual independence, for the aroma will permeate and inform all of our relationships, and we will be sustained by the knowledge of a job well done, even if our favored candidate does not win.
This is not advocating for the death of political parties, but that our affiliation with a party is heartfelt and sincere. We might also never attach to a political party. The key is in the source of our motivation: are we truly seeking the healthiest candidate, or are we interested primarily in the spoils of victory, as if our intrinsic worth is dependent on who is in power. It takes some courage to be independently minded, both spiritually and politically, for institutions love to exercise their leverage, and if we are not listening then they are diminished somewhat. But why should we allow these institutions to do our thinking for us? We might listen in order to be sufficiently informed, but to acquiesce to the recommendations of some self-centered institution means contributing to the wayward drift now present in American politics. We can return to the pleasantness where we are not fearful of either candidate, or either party, for they will have proven themselves to be worthy custodians of our political landscape, willing to cooperate when circumstances will benefit from this. Our priorities need to be healthy ones, and if we isolate ourselves away from the wisdom of the Spirit then we will be doomed to wilderness politics, replete with pestilence and disease. Some are good at wilderness politics, feeding the arousal of our instincts, keeping us energized. But the reality of living in the wilderness will leave us disillusioned, and we will long for the spice of independence, once possible yet squandered in the lust for insatiable political victory.
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