In a culture that’s increasingly anxious, isolated, and dissatisfied despite its affluence, we stand as bearers of the one message that speaks directly to this contradiction.
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Next week, as President Trump delivers his State of the Union address, he’ll almost certainly follow a tradition of modern American politics. Over the last hundred years, presidents have described the state of the union in various ways—”good” (Truman), “sound” (Carter), “not good” (Ford). But it was Ronald Reagan who started the “strong” trend in 1983 by referring to the state of the union like this: “Strong, but the economy is troubled.” Since then, “strong” has been used to refer to the state of the union almost three dozen times.
But do Americans truly feel the state of the union is strong? A new report reveals a profound contradiction between America’s material abundance and its spiritual emptiness—a nation blessed with unprecedented economic prosperity yet increasingly impoverished in spirit and relationship.
