It is hard and sorrowful to live in a country where the President himself acts as if ashamed of the American story. The current leadership is so ashamed they strive to erase all the dark and hard dimensions of the whole weave of our history. What will be left after the current spasm of censorship is an insipid, tattered, tapestry; a transparent parody of the full whole-hearted story of a nation. Shame cannot remember what is true because of a fear so deep that fear cannot find the words to bring out the lessons. Guilt can acknowldege and respond while shame can onlu deny.

Yes in its history this nation is guilty of crimes and we know it. Much has been said about the difference between guilt and shame, but what this short post wants to emphasize is that guilt is accountability and the appropriate penance to guilt leads to growth while shame leads to fear based denial preventing both growth and greatness. What greatness we truly have as a nation has grown from the lessons of conscience as well as courage and accomplishments. While we have far to go, we must never deny the range, depth, and width of our story in a bout of shame. We are after all human.

A Modest Proposal for Good

Whole segments of this nation’s history could be subject to scalding shame. But guilty as we are, we have more than enough balancing stories of redemption, integrity, and growth. Our job is to take in the whole story. Rather than fold in and down in shame we must acknowledge guilt as appropriate and respond as needed. Who keeps a friend who suggests they are perfect, and denies their history as a friend with human foibles and flaws. The story of life without the dark tones lacks power and humanity. That false story is a facade deeply apparent to all but the teller. Good is sharing the divine struggle of time between the right and the wrong, strong and weak, loss and recovery. Good is telling the whole story in all its shades .While guilty of much there is so much to be proud of in the truly told American story.