Understanding the American Dream
The term was coined by writer and historian James Truslow Adams in his best-selling 1931 book Epic of America. He described it as “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.”
The idea of the American dream has much deeper roots. Its tenets can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
*Citation: Investopedia
“It’s called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.”
~ George Carlin
A better, richer, fuller life. On whose authority? Do and achieve. Corresponding to what measures? When we delve into specifics, these stylish lexes transpire as simple abstractions. Hence, disparate populations impulsively stampede into the breach; pattern: distinct cloaks of righteousness; conjure problematic expressions such as “to each his own,” and “do what thou wilt.” Seduced, whimsical hearts, the preponderance of which formerly impaired.
Christians perpetually endure within these associations. Whether leadership along with a central part of a society espouses Christian tenets is a separate matter. Candid declarations of faith are inadequate. It is the living God who chooses individually.
Romans 9:6-8
Notwithstanding it cannot be that the word of God should take none effect. For all they are not Israel, which are of Israel; Neither are they all, because they are the seed of Abraham; but, In
Isaac shall thy seed be called; That is, they which are the children of the flesh, are not the children of God, but the children of the promise, are counted for the seed.
“All men are created equal.” Elementary, my dear Watson.
Undeniably pretentious considering sweeping complexities leading to common division; general striving among all nations throughout all ages. So, we may conclude absolute truth approximates an illusion. Distorted masses remain unconvinced; pure reality waits unsubstantiated. Marked futility as various figures shun the revelation of unconditional fact (aside from themselves, of course) in the vein of dodging any sort of discomfort.
Jesus Christ walked this land; astonished people with His words, incredibly healed the sick, magnificently cast out demons, astoundingly raised the dead; for all eyes to distinguish. Such hoary Pharisaical attitudes persist despite omnipresent awe-inspiring creation. The only profitable answer comes from Holy Scripture;
1 Corinthians 2:14 we read, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Spiritual blindness resultant original sin. Matthew 12:39, But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a proof; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
An illuminating sign, indeed.
Still, is there correspondence regarding the moderate remarks in forged manuscripts hitherto cited and uniquely inspired Scripture?
EQUALITY:
Ezekiel 44:22-23
Neither shall they take for their wiues a widow, or her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seede of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.
And they shall teach my people the difference betweene the holy and prophane, and cause men to discerne betweene the vncleane and the cleane.
Matthew 10:35
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, & the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Romans 15:31
That I may bee deliuered from them that do not beleeue in Iudea, and that my seruice which I haue for Hierusalem, may bee accepted of the Saints:
2 Corinthians 6:14
Be ye not vnequally yoked together with vnbeleeuers: for what fellowship hath righteousnesse with vnrighteousnesse? and what communion hath light with darknesse?
LIFE:
Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, & breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a liuing soule.
Genesis 3:17
And vnto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened vnto the voyce of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commaunded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eate of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake: in sorow shalt thou eate of it all the dayes of thy life.
Matthew 7:14
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth vnto life, and few there be that finde it.
Matthew 10:39
He that findeth his life, shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it.
LIBERTY:
Jeremiah 34:17
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
1 Corinthians 10:29
Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?
Galatians 5:13
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
1 Peter 2:16
As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
2 Peter 2:19
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
HAPPINESS:
Job 5:17
Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almightie.
Psalms 146:5
Happy is he that hath the God of Iacob for his helpe: whose hope is in the Lord his God:
Proverbs 16:20
He that handleth a matter wisely, shall finde good: and who so trusteth in the Lord, happy is hee.
Proverbs 28:14
Happy is the man that feareth always: but he that hardeneth his heart, shall fall into mischiefe.
Malachi 3:14-15
Ye haue said, It is vaine to serue God: and what profit is it, that we haue kept his ordinance, and that wee haue walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?
And now we call the proud happy: yea, they that worke wickednes are set vp, yea they that tempt God, are euen deliuered.
1 Peter 3:14
But and if ye suffer for righteousnes sake, happy are ye, and be not afraid of their terrour, neither be troubled:
Observe the prolific sarcasm of Malachi 3:15. Does this statement reveal absolute fact involving prevailing touchstones? History repeatedly shows the majority within the mixed myriad are first to deceive, last to perceive. Plainly following the herd offers simplicity, anonymity preferred if sans potency to stand freely; without true faith to rely on in exceptionally troubling hours—all matters somatic. It’s the same for professional human beings active in prominent fields (Congress, news agencies, the CDC) as it is for amateurs in tedious practices.
A diluted, yet prominent federation successfully promoted, thus raised an eerie structure (a fusion of aristocracy and democracy) for commoners to subsist, supplying every conspicuous need. As expected, wanting crowds warmly renounced individual sovereignty and relaxed into mutual compliance. Now, at the discretion of the aristodemocrats, contrived stimuli (real or imagined) arrive in waves: pathogens, famines, and wars influence societies to move collectively (like corralling dreich animals) towards a hold. Confined, a timely choice of safety or certain “rights.” The branded substance customarily elects safety operating from fear—a first-class motivator. Alas promised security never arrives. Freedoms waived; fade away whilst chasing a chimera.
History shows shocking dilemmas invariably attend — lapsed humanity sees to that. A cursed world offers no security. Thinking outside provisional time, nobody dies prematurely, nor does anybody extend their course. Still, fabricated trust in humankind lingers until the promised, inevitable end of an added hollow monument to self. People confined in dreaded time make up bedlam: eagerly hastening to leave, then scurrying to get back to where they started. For all time agitated; bywords of unnerving, waning shadows. Worldly concern over the present, grasping in vain at fugacious artifacts, seeking perpetuation. Not so. Time will cease as death. A provision against a curse, an opening for repentance before the vowed day of wrath. Hence, the mayhem, as most repudiate singular, miraculous salvation.
Another comparison:
The Ten Commandments originate from infinite God, reflect His standard, purposed to condemn humanity, are impossible to keep, point towards one sinless Savior unchanging. The Bill of Rights oozes from finite creatures, exposes human impulses, pledges discount liberty, offers projected hope, features transient, malleable hijackers.
The Pharisaical fantasy loiters. Give thanks, spin around; proceed moving backward while facing forward.
Two interesting features to evaluate. Mere temporal beings in leadership positions do not officially command praise from the community; nor does the public volunteer to thank their temporal ministers. Who amongst the flock of adherents by e-mail, written letter, or phone call routinely offers praises to mortal agents for the soi-disant freedoms, liberties, days they glory in? When has a policy maker shamed the populace for unpaid gratitude? Whence this crafty silence? Dissimulation: a tacit covenant among unqualified thieves hell-bent on stealing all glory for themselves. Terrestrial delegates did not discover earth. They’re simply allowed to exercise oversight, and for this vain amusement prehensile commonalities are fain to confer loyalty upon rapacious political figures. There is no reason to expect heartfelt appreciation from cosseted adults than from coddled infants. Likewise, sheltered masses remain consistent in their logic, perceiving any such benevolent action on their part would be absurd.
To a poised individual, idle time, as the result of accepting centralized government control balanced by exploiting individual labor, would translate into scrutinizing political strategies in progress, having understood the intrinsic, overarching power shift towards a comparative few ensuing from such a scheme. Yet wayward masses vainly surmised it was all a grand design intended to ease life’s burdens. Hence, the gross imbalance of power decisively is in favor of the administration, whose utmost aim is not relief, but control. Thereafter, a gradual encroachment on freedoms herding constellations of self-proclaimed icons into an increasingly narrow chute, as arranged. Indubitably, those at the top despise anybody who capitulates; moved so easily. This isn’t an admirable trait to the noblesse. The electorate, having performed the grueling task of voting, piously occupy their minds with unoccupied entertainments; narrowly focusing on household affairs as if entitled—protected by the principal organization. (These tiny microcosms of life allow concealment from and suppression of reality).
Matthew 6:19-22
Lay not up treasures for yourselves upon the earth, where the moth and canker corrupt, and where thieves dig through and steal.
But lay up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither the moth nor canker corrupteth, and where thieves neither dig through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The light of the body is the eye; if then thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be light.
Nothing less than a miracle enables a remnant to submit to The Word, and we rejoice in the Glory.
Anon's Record 