“What Is Wrong With Your Country?”
I Face-Timed a friend in Canada yesterday. He wondered, “What is wrong with your country?”
He thinks we fancy ourselves as the “world’s greatest nation,” but that it’s only in our minds. He is distressed by our issues. He didn’t mention rising fuel prices or inflation because that’s happening where he lives. He’s noticing our mass shootings, police killings of unarmed Black people, conspiracy theories, and especially the widening wealth gap. There are questions about the senselessness of the Electoral College and the costs of healthcare and higher education. He seems afraid of the Supreme Court.
Mostly, of course, he sees the violent attempt to overthrow the government.
My friend, like me, is a pastor. His sermons these days offer comfort to his community because they are all concerned about the plight of the United States. I can only speculate how far this discussion is going, not just in churches but in restaurants and classrooms. Children worldwide are probably asking their parents, concerned as much or more as they think about Ukraine, Russia, and North Korea.
Are we that self-absorbed? Maybe we are, at least enough not to see our place on the global stage and within the community of nations.
The whole world is watching.
