Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/080312.cfm

Come and sit a spell
on Hickey Hill

If you disobey me,
not living according to the law I placed before you
and not listening to the words of my servants the prophets,
whom I send you constantly though you do not obey them,
I will treat this house like Shiloh,
and make this the city to which all the nations of the earth
shall refer when cursing another.

I recently finished Jay Winik’s April 1865, the Month that Saved America and I will recommend it to anyone who believes in the American experiment. I did not realize there had been so many secessionist movements before the Civil War, though as a Kentuckian I do recall the Whiskey Rebellion. In fact, Mr. Winik says, the Constitution says nothing about secession and the Founding Fathers would not rule it out.

The thirteen sovereign states that formed the original federation were already a huge territory by 18^th century standards. Given the communication and transportation technologies of that time, and the extraordinary distances from Georgia to Maine, the experiment in federalism was not likely to succeed. They stayed together to resist the giant threats of England, France, Spain and Holland but it was never easy.  Some people complain that Our Founding Fathers should have resolved the issue of slavery in writing the Constitution, but it was all they could do to get as far as they did. Had they pressed the matter further, the federation would have collapsed.

Many people at that time supposed the land west of the Appalachian Mountains might form another federation, and that the Louisiana Purchase (in 1802) was sheer folly. What would this brand new country with a weak presidency and cantankerous legislative process (two houses!) do with such a vast, uncharted territory and its aboriginal natives? During those “four score and seven years” after Independence the attention of the country’s leaders was focused almost entirely on keeping the states together. In fact, the word nation was never used before the Civil War. The United States was a plural noun, not singular.

Consider also the Founders’ banning the establishment of a common religion to unite the country. The Muslim, Chinese, Spanish and English empires were held together by their respective religions: Islam, Confucianism, Roman and English Catholicism. But the Founders were deists; they would permit only vagaries like “under God” and “In God we trust.” 

Federalism still challenges us today. There are still vast differences between Hawaii and Florida, Alaska and California, Louisiana and Maine. In the last year the governor of Texas talked about secession. Some thoughtful people believe the federal government, true to its original purposes, should maintain a postal system, a military for defensive purposes, and little more. They don’t believe a real democracy can or should operate on such a vast scale. Other Americans wave the flag and flaunt their patriotism because they realize how insubstantial this union is.

All of this brings me to the ominous words in today’s scripture:  If you disobey me … I will treat this house like Shiloh. The threat of dissolution will never completely disappear; history has its way of leveling the great powers of the world. If a nation – so conceived and so dedicated -- is not to be like Shiloh it will need deep roots in virtue. We must practice and promote integrity. We cannot abide segregation, government corruption or economic inequality. Even adultery, crime and drug abuse threaten the foundations of our democratic way of life. For these reasons and a million more, we pray to God for mercy -- and for more time to work things out.