Vision, Virtue & Values

In Celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence lets also remember how interdependent we are upon each other.   Our country’s independence from a foreign dictator could have never been accomplished without the unity of those fighting for that independence.    They were interdependent upon each other.

Thomas Paine famously wrote in “The American Crisis” pamphlet during the American Revolutionary War, “These are times that try men’s (and women’s) souls.”

Some say we are in a crucible in our nation.   If so, how will we as individuals, and how as a nation will we respond.

First, what is a crucible?  It’s a container where metals are melted, or subjected to very high temperatures.  In a human sense, some would call it a fiery trial, or the refiner’s fire where metal is tested.  A crucible, or fiery trial can be brief or prolonged.   It can produce something better, or something worse.  The result of the refiner’s fire, often depends on the metal being tested.

Simply put, a crucible is a place or situation that forces people to change or make difficult decisions; a place or situation where different elements interact to produce something new.

Scottish historian and award-winning author makes a very good point to consider, “The point needs to be made that all individuals ground their view of the world within some conception of moral authority.  Not only those who are (religious) in a traditional sense, but also those who claim to have no (religious) faith at all, base their views of the world in unprovable assumptions and ‘being’ and ‘knowledge’.”

Hunter goes on to say, “Within communities that hold orthodox views, moral authority arises from a common commitment to transcendence, by which I mean a dynamic reality that is independent of, prior to, and more powerful than [...]