Make _______* Great Again

By Julien Herrin

Thanks, Miguel Cervantes for the idea of “tilting at windmills” and thanks Gustave Dore for the image!

*Insert the name of your country or place. If you’re lucky, your country or place starts with a vowel. Then you can make a clever slogan. For example, Make Ethiopa Great Again, or Make Eritrea, or Make Europe Great Again. MEGA would make a great t-shirt! What about Italy or Iceland? MIGA! Just don’t let your slogan become confused with that delicious dish from the Iberian Peninsula! Austria. Afghanistan. Maybe even the United States of America. MUSAGA!

Watch this great video first! Courtesy of Steve Miller Band.

There’s a lot of talk in my part of the world (USA) about us being a Christian nation, one of our prominent leaders even proclaimed that his worldview is based on the Bible. This is great news! So, I’m certain he’ll agree that the way to Make United States of America Great Again (MUSAGA) is to lean on the words of Holy Scripture. Like the words of the ancient Hebrew Prophet, Isaiah. He tells us how to make a place great again:

Isaiah 58

Don’t trust me, you should click the links (or pick up an actual Bible) and read this passage for yourself.

Let’s MUSAGA!

I’ll summarize for those that don’t want to go to the trouble of reading:

Verses 1 to 3 – God, speaking through Isaiah, talks about a people (place, nation) that “seem eager to know” his ways, that acts like they are right, and does religion the right way. BUT…

Verse 4: You’re religious, but…

  • You’re religious, but you exploit your workers.
  • You’re religious, but your religion ends in quarrels and strife.
  • You’re religious, but you’re divided, and you strike each other with wicked fists.
  • You’re religious, but surely you can’t expect me to hear YOUR voice when you act contrary to what I ask.

Verse 5 to 7: Here’s what God asks…

Verses 8 to 14: If/then…(MUSAGA!)

  • If you do these things, then your light will break forth,
  • If you do these things, then your healing will quickly appear,
  • If you do these things, then your righteousness (justice) will lead you,
  • If you do these things, then the LORD will walk behind and protect you,
  • If you do these things, then you will call and I will answer,
  • If you do these things, then your light will rise in the darkness (MUSAGA!),
  • If you do these things, then you will be guided, satisfied, strengthened,
  • If you do these things, then you will rebuild and raise up, you will be called great (again).

A few hundred years after the Hebrew prophet Isaiah proclaimed these words, a Hebrew rabbi reiterated them:

Matthew 25:31-46

The nations* will be judged by the way they treat the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger**, those needing clothes, the sick, and the imprisoned. Those that mistreat these unfortunate ones will go away to eternal punishment. The empire/civilization that ignores these will end.

*Nations (ethnos) means a people group – could be a nation, a group of people living together, individuals of the same nature or genus, e.g., Texans, Americans, or Bhutanese (MBGA!).

**This word (xenos), it means foreigners, immigrants. Xenophobia (fear) comes from this word.

2000 years or so after the Rabbi spoke, the great Texan prophet Steve Miller, recorded these words:

Oh, Lord through the revolution
Feed the babies
Who don’t have enough to eat
Shoe the children
With no shoes on their feet
House the people
Livin’ in the street
Oh, oh there’s a solution
I want to fly like an eagle

In Conclusion

According to the Bible, the way to make a place great, the United States for example, is to make it a priority to treat the needy, weak, marginalized, unsafe, poor, oppressed people with dignity and compassion. Not once does the Bible mention xenophobia, military might, arrogance, anger, division in the GREATNESS formula. MUSAGA!

By the way, don’t get mad at me…I’m just a smart-ass and a cynic that cobbles parts of the Bible together to fit MY worldview, like Mike Johnson.

Respectfully yours,

JH, The Prophet

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