The Great Experiment

“I don’t know what I could have done differently!” – Glenn

The Great Experiment

Glenn had a sincere look on his face and honesty resonating in the tone of his voice.

“I don’t know what I could have done differently!” he said during a discussion about his interaction with political adversaries.  Then there was a punctuating pause.

“But.”  He said.  I could see the wheels turning. There was a “180” coming!  I could tell.

“But! I know what I haven’t tried!”  His breath stopped short, as if receiving a wonderful surprise.  I watched realization startle his eyes and then manifest a glow on his face.  “I can change my approach.  I can look inside.   I can become a better person!  I can watch every word that comes out of my mouth so I don’t say something inflammatory.”

There was a hitch in his voice the next moment.  It was almost a hiccup.

“That’s really, really hard!”

“Well, yeah!” I said to myself.  You see, I’ve suffered from “foot-in-mouth” disease my entire life. So I understood what he was saying, personally well.   I’ve also seen how especially hard it is, for seemingly everyone, during “political” season, which has revealed deepening discontent all around.  And, as demonstrated by Glenn, it has revealed, opened an opportunity for discovery!

While reading some classic American literature, such as “The Last of the Mohicans,” I discovered something seemingly forgotten about our shared history.  It is a thought eighteenth and nineteenth century writers expressed as “The Great Experiment.”  It was also, at times, referred to as “American Exceptionalism.”

This commonly held theory was and is not a belief that Americans are better than everyone else.  No!  It is a questioning of whether or not a person can govern him or herself.  The idea of America was and is, a great experiment to see if we can govern ourselves.  It is also an idea I watched Glenn discover for himself!

We, every one of us, seek new discoveries in life; new fashion, seashore retreats and entertainment; things we all desire very much.  But these are altogether a mark of the most common, and are easily obtained.  What is uncommon is to seek and find, more quiet, and more freedom through exploration of self.  Such self-examination, self-governance, has the possibility to take us to greater depths of joy and freedom than we have imagined so far.  It is an experiment we can all decided to try.

“I know what I haven’t tried.”  Glenn’s words confirm in my ears.  “I can change my approach.  I can look inside.   I can become a better person!  I can watch every word that comes out of my mouth so I don’t say something inflammatory.” 

“That’s really, really hard!”

That’s what makes it exceptional!

Will you join us and take part in “The Great Experiment?”