Many are the times in my life that I have heard a countryman express thanksgiving for the privilege of living “in the greatest country the world has ever known.” There is surely some truth to this assertion – no previous society has been as productive or made the advancements in human existence as America. Yet, as is the case of every great civilization before ours, the future will take care of that heady arrogance.
I am rather struck by a different observation of our providential lot. That is, the curses we suffer because of where we find ourselves living. Not to put too fine a point on the matter, but living in America in the early years of the 21st century may be the best human experience one could hope for, but from a spiritual standpoint there is another side to the story.