For the past 18 months I have been listening to the now President-Elect repeatedly encourage his followers with the slogan “Let’s Make America Great Again.” All the while I have been acutely aware of how different his understanding of greatness is from the values and virtues espoused and preached by the Hebrew prophets and the vision of the reign of God announced and embodied by Jesus of Nazareth.

Good people everywhere, whatever your spiritual path, whatever your politics, let us not forget that the greatness of a nation is not measured by its GNP, military might, high-rise buildings that scrape the sky, or becoming a country that is a glorified gated community. Greatness is not synonymous with winning. Nor is it legitimated simply by chanting “USA, USA!” or “We’re Number One! We’re Number One!” like drunken fans. Let us remember that the true measurement of a nation is its people and that the quality of its citizenry is ennobled by the same kinds of values and virtues that make individual persons great, things like humility, generosity, hospitality, kindness, gratitude, compassion, care for the most vulnerable and marginalized, reverence, kinship with the earth which sustains us, justice, commitment to what makes for peace, service, and working for the common good.

As most of you know, next to Jesus of Nazareth, my favorite Rabbi is Abraham Joshua Heschel. On the heels of a political contest that exhibited or inspired little greatness and on this annual day of gathering with family and friends to give thanks, I’d like to share with you one of my favorite passages from a man who incarnated so many of the qualities listed above and who knew something about the ingredients of magnanimity. Rabbi Heschel writes:

To pray is to regain a sense of the mystery that animates all beings, the divine margin in all attainments. Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living. It is all we can offer in return for the mystery by which we live. Who is worthy to be present at the constant unfolding of time? Amidst the meditation of mountains, the humility of flowers—wiser than all alphabets—clouds that die constantly for the sake of God’s glory, we are hating, hunting, hurting. Suddenly we feel ashamed of our clashes and complaints in the face of the tacit glory in nature. It is embarrassing to live! How strange we are in the world, and how presumptuous our doings! Only one response can maintain us: gratefulness for witnessing the wonder, for the gift of our unearned right to serve, to adore, and to fulfill. It is gratefulness which makes the soul great.

Gratefully yours,

Dan