We have lost our soul

My goodness, it has been some time since last I posted here, but honestly, I forget about it, with my other journal in the documents file.
Since I moved into this apartment, I have settled in nicely, though it seems empty with Momma gone, even now.
BTW: I am on an extra pain-killer for the hips and knees, though yesterday, for some odd reason my knees were not wanting to hold me up. I nearly did a tumble down the stairs...oh, well! At least I did not fall. Deo gratias.
The deeper theology has been settling in, too. More and more I find myself joining the Most High in my daily routine. Laying aside the liturgical and other forms (NOT from disrespect - I love the ritual - but from a deeper vision!), and simply finding HIM in the making of the bread or appreciating a meal or a piece of music...it is remarkable HOW pervasive that which we call God is...
All the fine exemplars of the Gospel lesson - Brother Lawrence, George Fox, James Nayler, Issac Penington, St. Teresa d'Avila, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Gandhi, Schweitzer, in our own country, the gentle John Woolman and even Einstein, certainly the early Fathers and Mothers of our holy Faith - ALL pointed out how essential it is for us to live and move, to have our being in HIS Being.
I feel sorry for the emptiness and shallowness I see in too much of the life around me. There seems so little purpose, only greed and acquisition. Wordsworth says it best in this sonnet:
"The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;"
What annoys me most, and a topic I often preached on when I was active in ministry is the manner in which we talk about "god" like IT was some sort of wall-paper or lesson-plan.
The Person and wonderful Friend Who is our Father is quite over-looked.
This is a tragic mistake and has contributed mightily to the sorry state of our social contract, which seems to be nil at best. Insofar as we have no morality or sense of ethics, the really important part of us is neither nourished nor given expression.
Small wonder, then, that our social arrangement, our political achievements are vapid!
Good Heavens, one consideration of some of the recent and current "political personalities" must give us insight into who and what we have devolved into!
This has given rise to such logical end-results as that our "social face," our community, is deeply marred by such ugly realities as youngsters killing their parents, their teachers and fellow-students, imperial wars and colonial occupations of other tribes...death penalties dragged out for decades. I will leave aside the abortion issue for the time-being, though I honestly believe that that single flaw has brought this great nation to its knees, figuratively, though NOT literally. How can we respect life and work for its improvement, when all around us life - innocent, defenseless life - is being life murdered, most heinously?
These untrustworthy people whom we elect to govern in our name, now hold sway over us, they have seized a power and presumed a position of authority to which they are neither entitled nor are many of them deserving - but we permit such abuses to be on-going: so who may we blame but ourselves!
This terrible topsy-turvy, misshapen thing we call the Republic is soon to fall apart if we do not quickly gather together its loose ends...the image Hamlet uses comes to mind: "sleep that knits up the ravel'd sleeve of care."
Well, I am not sure I want to be sleeping when this Republic goes to "hell in a handbasket!" And I know I surely do not want to be one of the guilty bystanders who permit this travesty to occur!
This foolish citizenry has allowed itself to be so terrorized and hoodwinked into thinking that we may fall under an attack (by terrorists? by investment banks?)...well, we most assuredly are - from within and by ourselves. We have not protected and cherished this Constitutional Republic (for which brave and noble men and women gave their lives!) and the sad end of this is that it has lost its magic. To be sure, it has lost its direction. We have failed to listen to the wise, if unwelcome (and too frequently martyred) Prophets who have warned, down the years, that failure to attend to the small details will cause the larger issues to be so clouded that they are lost.
There really ought not to be ANY dispute about a universal health-care program. The only real issue involved ought to be when and how much additional tax...if folks are so greedy that they balk at any additional tax for the opportunity to see the doctor of their choice or get proper care in a hospital, well, then, let them keep what they have, as the premiums spiral upward. "There are none so blind as those who WILL NOT see."
I freely admit I have a problem with abortion being allowed under the law. I certainly would have it otherwise, but until it is, we "throw-backs" must tolerate the status quo, using the time wisely, to try to educate young people NOT to engage in unprotected pre-marital sex (which is wise on any number of levels) and making certain we hold human life, indeed all life, in such high regard that the very notion of disposing of an infant in the womb (or other inhumane acts) is anathema!
I believe one cannot call oneself Christian while supporting ANY life-threatening action, whether an abortion, a war, torture or other civil act which places the life of an individual in jeopardy! The two are mutually EXCLUSIVE and the community suffers as a result.