Guilty American pleasures

July 3, 2003

Dear Pat,

Each Fourth of July, we celebrate the American belief in freedom, in securing "the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity ..." the Preamble to the Constitution speaks of. But it's easy to feel just a bit guiilty about all the abundance that freedom has brought.

Maybe it's a vestige of the Puritan beliefs of our forefathers. In many ways, the Puritans made us who we are. They believed in limited government, government as a contract between the governed and their leaders. The Puritans' strong faith in education gave us Harvard and Yale.

They also believed in guilt, scarlet letters for all, Salem witch trials.

The most famous Puritan tract is Jonathan Edwards' frightening sermon "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God." It goes in part: "The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours."

Whew. We've had a lot to overcome.

DC feels guilty about watching TV without doing something else at the same time and about rushing to work in the morning without walking the dogs first. She was feeling guilty about eating out at restaurants all the time (more guilt about abundance), so this week she planned for us to have our meals at home. A few nights it actually happpened.

Funny, going to a restaurant used to be a treat. Now eating at home is.

DC thinks I should feel guilty about playing golf, getting massages, not waking up early enough on Thursdays to put the garbage cans on the street and not mowing the lawn when the grass is at the height she considers too high. I try. "Try not," Yoda said. "Do."

She wants me to be a good example for our new renters next door, four physical specimens who play football at the university. They have a foosball table in their dining room. What can I teach them?

I do admit to Puritanically punishing myself for making mistakes on the golf course. Often I compound the error by making a double bogey instead of a bogey. After all, I deserved it.

This attitude ruins golf games and isn't a good attitude toward life, writes Printer Bowler, the author of "The Cosmic Laws of Golf (And Everything Else)." He recommends living in line with the Law of Acceptance: Forgiving yourself for each mistake, allowing yourself to believe that instead of deserving punishment and feeling guilty you deserve to do well.

America's birthday and the abundance of our country both are something to celebrate tomorrow. As "The Stars and Stripes Forever" rings out once again, as fireworks burst in the sky and oohs and aahs rise to the heavens, guilt will take a holiday.

Love, Sam

Sam Blackwell is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.