End of an Era

I've been reading NT Wright lately on Bible interpretation and worldview - he's been talking about worldview in terms of the dominant stories that people tell themselves within culture. It made me think of a bumper sticker I saw a few weeks ago on my drive out to Seattle (posted above).
All of my life I've heard a similar story: American Democracy is a beautiful creation, and the high point of cultural development in history. The Democracy we have today was established for us by brilliant men (probably with the benevolent aid of God), and was purchased for us and protected down through history by the blood of our fathers. The wars we've fought have been primarily about protecting this form of government for ourselves and for others. The twentieth century was a glorious ear wherein Democracy finally stood champion over it's arch enemies: fascism, socialism, and communism. The duty of all Americans today is to be thankful of those who gave their lives so we could enjoy this great gift, and to give of our efforts, money, and prayers, so that other people might also share in this marvelous institution.
That's the story I heard growing up - at school, at home, at church, and in the media. But it doesn’t seem like a story many people are telling anymore. I can't think of anyone I know, high school age or younger who responds to the Democracy story with much passion or comprehension. I think our foundational story collapsed some time in the last decade or two. I wasn’t really surprised by the bumper sticker at all, but it stick in my mind as poignant sign of the end of an era.

Satisfaction

Last week my pastor said that, like a statistical sampling, we should let the experience that we have had of the world thus far be enough to prove for us that the world will not satisfy us. "You could eat the whole world and not be satisfied!" He often says. This week he spoke of satisfaction again as he was preparing communion, offering communion as a symbol of something that will genuinely satisfy.
I realized in thinking about satisfaction that it is the goal of my life. If I could have one thing, it would be to be filled and happy all the time! (Or at least most of the time). Food, relationships, nature, daydreams, travel: these are the sorts of things that I am continuously looking for because sometimes they satisfy me, and I never tire of the desire that some day soon they will fully satisfy me.
My pastor is right: nothing here has ever really fully satisfied me. And I reguarly find in communion a peace and staisfaction that I can not live without, and that I find no where else.
And yet here I am on Monday morning and I have already sought after a long string of things to satisfy me.
I've been reading proverbs again for the first time in years. According to proverbs the goal of life is to aquire wisdom, insight, and obedience. I am somewhat taken aback this morning that those things sound so different than satisfaction.
I hope that the Lord will help me to believe my needs a little less, or at least to listen to them with more of a sense of humor.