vitalwholeness

“Happy birthday to whomever, happy birthday to whomever, your rhyme and your meter, demonstrate you’re not clever.” No, that’s not the song!

“Blow out the candles! Make a wish!” Can I have more than one? Ok, here’s my wish list. It supposedly cannot be granted other than on this day, in this candle ritual. And one of the rules is that I am not supposed to sound like a contestant in a pageant (I would like world peace):

That our beloved country moves from a broken, contentious, two-party political system to something else. It may not happen before I blow out my last candle, but it would be nice.

Part two to the preceding wish is that new and real pragmatic leadership would arise that would be centrist, problem-solving, and not beholden to powerful interests, whether they be from the affluent heights or the activist streets.

Every college student would study abroad.

Every high school student would be required, at minimum, to study one foreign language.

Each city council across the land would have an advisory committee made up of representatives of all the world faiths found in that community.

We pay teachers like rock stars and police and firemen are paid a living wage. There would be a pool of social service sector jobs for every able bodied and minded person to work, contribute and support themselves in a reasonable fashion.

Corporate CEOs would not receive compensation that is 400 times that of the average worker.

We strike a balance between encouraging entrepreneurs and reasonably regulating those who would abuse the rest of us.

A new movement grabs hold that is something like “responsible parenting” and men and women take it with equal seriousness. This movement is reflected in the way we provide for early childhood in every social sector.

Homelessness became something that used to be.

Religious Faith came back out of the shadows and into the public marketplace of ideas, but not as some kick-back, extremist, anti-modern voice that embarrasses those who are spiritual and practitioners. Rather, it emerges as a serious reflective voice that adds dimension to real debate about values, priorities and the future of the world.

Renewed dignity is restored to our military by the way civilian leaders deploy them; we not only defend ourselves when threatened, but become very cautious about staging elective wars, especially those motivated by protecting huge financial interests abroad.

It becomes normal to be proud of one’s country and a world citizen at the same time.

Happiness comes to be seen as something quite different than amassing many material possessions. Simplicity is embraced. And every citizen accepts that environmentally responsible and conserving living is necessary for all – individually and corporately.

Love is treasured for its own sake, apart from social convention that defines it narrowly and prescribes certain ways that families should look.

The Bible is rescued from a narrow, literalistic, and constricted interpretation in order to release its native poetry, metaphor, religious imagination and life-changing stories.

Every child experiences the example of at least one powerful religious guide and mentor.

That every person has access to good medical care.

We come to invest in the future, not only in research in every field, but in developing an atmosphere of innovation and experimentation where the future is seen as a possibility yet to be created.

That humans continue to ethically control technology rather than technology control us.

We help people figure out what to do with the deep, silent, spiritual, restful spaces in life, as a salve against the frenetic life.

We love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves.