Ideally Nurtured to Govern in Good Nature

The precedent set for governance in history based on the Bible along with inspirations from both Plato and Aristotle.

I have been an American Citizen my entire life. Nurtured to believe our Constitutional government was God’s gift to Chosen Christians, I had little opportunity to study or experience other cultures in a positive light. They were inferior in faith, and therefore function. We are, in fact, One Nation under God.  I was educated regarding the importance of separation between the Church and the State; and assured that our Great American Governance was primarily ruled by Republican Christians bringing moral balance to the Legislative Branch. Their success is blessed by God as proof of their righteousness. They created and have sustained generational wealth experiencing success as the economic leaders of our western civilization in a land originally inhabited by savages. Praise be. God is good, all the time He sustains them.

As most of our millennial generation has astutely deduced, both parties of our current political climate have become fully ensconced in procuring capital funding for their private interests. Despite a solid foundation granted by our Constitutional ancestors, personal bias and assurance of political supremacy was woven into the text of our Nation’s Constitution. The cowboy mind captivated by the promised treasure of Capital Gain has replaced focus on nurturing humanity by enabling man’s individual nature to determine their societal worth. 

Once upon a time the people of God recognized the nature of this created Universe was perfect. Practically incomprehensible to the mind of man. Their only hope was to nurture their allotted land in a way which honored the natural order of creation; to maintain nourishment for their bodies, protection for their families and preserve their legacy for generations to come. Over time as man encountered pestilence, drought, conquering tribes and enslaved generations of fellow creatures, the perfect evolutionary process of this world translated to a sign from the Universe which read: “Anything that can go wrong, will.” A loose interpretation of Murphy’s law defines the desire of mankind to conquer and control each aspect of their existence. We birthed Darwin’s theory of Survival being awarded to the Fittest via the Fountain of Youth. If only we could ascertain its whereabouts.

“But whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty any more. But the water that I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up  [continually] within him unto eternal life.” John 4:14

According to the Word of God, mankind was created to shoulder the governance of their created universe as evidenced by the earthly walk of Jesus Christ among us.Isaiah 9:6 Their individual level of fitness for the task has been historically reflected by their response to karmic reactions of their day to day actions. Government recognized by man means nothing to Almighty God who utilizes the entire Universe as a force of Nature to Nurture any individual who consistently orders their steps according to the faithful law of Love. 

Evidenced by the legacies of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Saul, David and Jesus, birthplace, genealogy and birthright mean little to the Power which creates, plants and uproots all without regard to personal or societal preference. The precedent set is that any heart dedicated to personal sacrifice and community enrichment will be uplifted and given great responsibility and power. This task does not require an earthly inheritance, nor does it guarantee a wealth of earthly riches. This path is made available only to those who are willing to discard the idyllic American Dream in favor of rolling up their sleeves and dedicating their life and talents in One Love and with one accord. 

Readings from the Old Testament coupled with texts from Plato and Aristotle have been rolling around in my mind for weeks as I have been personally convicted regarding my limited understanding and strong beliefs regarding the government of my birthplace, the United States of America. As a young adult, I had the opportunity to live abroad in Europe for four years. My experience was heavily influenced by the military community which sponsored my sojourning. However, due to a job in the foreign economy, I was able to experience and benefit from their foreign government. 

Germany requires integral interaction from their citizens in community and government matters. It is not possible to shirk these duties. Neither is it probable their society would benefit from a lower standard of involvement. It simply enables the government to bless their citizens with the benefits required to lead an equitably sustainable existence. As long as I followed the rules and gave as much grace as I expected to be given, I was financially supported and legally protected. Even when life altered my five-year success plan and left me spending more days in medical offices than in my own office chair. 

My nurtured brain had been hardwired to default federal conservatism with “right” yet my natural experience curved my perspective solidly left. Today, facing the third presidential election of my adulthood, I am processing uneasy feelings regarding another civil war due to the structure of our imbalanced right + left winged political system. I recognize ideal governance is neither on the shoulders of one man, a small group of wealthy men, nor a mob of men. It is not up to the Federal Republic, the democratic Constitution or the State of residence to provide citizens with a stable life. Rather, the ideal government begins with ideal citizens who have been nurtured and enabled by their mutual power of governance to honor each other; acting together in good faith regarding the evolutionary nature of this created universe.

A close scrutiny of the Old Testament reveals time and time again that any time mankind acted willfully, they experienced retaliation and retribution. This punishment came in various forms including cultural wars and natural disasters leading to various periods of slavery and sojourning. The word of God sanctioned these dalliances from the delightful life provided for the Chosen people. Recorded in His words, time after time, they chose their choice. They must suffer their consequence.Isaiah 1 Any time the Chosen people of God were victorious in conquering neighboring tribes, there was some element of a miraculous hand at work which brought glory to the Creator as opposed to their creation. God loves working through the humble underdog. (Genesis 7, Genesis 18, Exodus 3, Joshua 6, 1 Samuel 9, 1 Samuel 16, Micah 5:2)

The proglementary portion of Plato’s Republic had me all kinds of riled up regarding the importance of defining Justice and the role of Wisdom and Prudence in government. His discourse was written before the time of Jesus and felt heavily influenced by the work of King Solomon. Indeed, I believe Plato echoed the fact which Solomon expounded on in Proverbs 16:25 “There is a way that seems right to a man, and appears straight before him, but at the end it is the way of death.” As man has sought to ink his way into an ordered existence, the true Law and Order of the Universe has been lost: The regular exercise of sacrificing one’s heart before the Highest Power of this Universe. This leads to an upright and intimate relation between God and creation, expressed by righteousness in thought and deed. Rather, the ingenious and freethinking mind of mankind is perpetually curating an idol of ideal governance through which he can be free to worship and reap regarding whatever he should liberally fancy.

Aristotle brought the subject of government back to the heart of the governor. He led readers through the “Best Acts of Government so Far”: Aristocracy, Oligarchy and Democracy and listed different ways in which the love of money naturally nurtures the motive and often ushers the demise of each governing structure. I was impressed with his thorough breakdown and cannot imagine the amount of ponderance that went into this piece of literature.  In my understanding, Aristotle put due emphasis on the importance that ideal governance begins with the individual citizen. The structure of government as a whole cannot sustain individual provisions for lazy minds and bodies. Furthermore, a lack of education and understanding amongst individual citizens of any government breeds ignorant, lazy citizens looking for handouts. The nature of the hand which controls the purse strings nurtures the hands of the citizens in reaching for their own mouths. This text left me reeling, seeking to decipher the age-old question of which came first: the Chicken or the Egg? 

Rather than allowing the nature of man to nurture its interaction and dependence upon government, I believe our generation has the opportunity to nurture a free state which recognizes the good nature of man enables them to curate their individual lifestyle of wellness and empowers them to do so in an equitably nurtured and sustainable environment.