Great Expectations

In the nineteenth century, Rabbi Isaac Wise, an extraordinary Jewish leader and founder of Reformed Judaism in America, offered this vision of the future of his adopted country: “The people of the United States, on accepting this Constitution had formally and solemnly chosen its destiny, to be now and forever the palladium of liberty and its divine banner-bearer, for the progress and redemption of mankind. It is a glorious destiny, a lofty ideal which must inspire every citizen with the holy desire, to take his proper place in the ranks of the people which follow this ideal, this guiding star, this glowing sun of prosperity.”

There are four themes in this tribute to the United States, each of which was embedded in the vocabulary of the “party of the Future:” America’s “glorious destiny” will ensure “the progress and redemption of mankind” and will allow its citizens to enjoy life under the “glowing sun of human prosperity.”

These great expectations figured (though in varying degrees) in diverse “movement” teachings about giving during the nineteenth and first decades of the twentieth century. Such dazzlingly optimistic views have sometimes inspired American givers.

And our expectations? What do we believe will happen as a result of our giving? Might happen? Large-scale expectations? Small-scale expectations? Local or worldwide consequences?

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How Much Can We Know about the Nature of the Future?

Here are two sharply different descriptions of the ways religious faith influences perceptions of the future:

1. For some Americans in the antebellum period, the impending future – or, as some were inclined to say, the millennial reign – seemed close enough so that they could describe it in detail. So one Southerner declared in 1835: “In such a state there will be no necessity for bolts and bars, no City Guards, no Patrols, no Military array, keys will rust for want of use. Jails and Court Houses dilapidated by time will not be repaired, or perhaps be fitted up for worship.” – the editor of the Southern Baptist and Intelligencer
2. “There is an ironic point in this matter of faith and hope. Growth in hope does not mean that the shape of the future will become clearer and clearer. One of the ironies about hope is that the stronger it becomes the less it knows.” (John Haughey, 1989)

What kind of clarity do you have about the shape of things to come? And how does that image of the future inform your giving?

What would be better about life in that imagined future than in the current status quo? Is it better for other people who are quite different from you and your immediate circle of friends?

In what ways is this image of a better future a projection of life experience up to now – maybe one’s ethnic identity, our “breaks” (or lack of them) in the schools we attended, the job opportunities that came your way and the people you count upon as friends?

Do these perceptions fit together so as to suggest a clear image of a desirable future? Or is it the result a mosaic of fragments, disparate commitments that have little connection with each other?  Could someone else discern your priorities in giving – what you consider most important and least important?