Dear Family,
I went online to see if I could find some thoughts for the Fourth of July and to my happy surprise found one entry titled, 31 Patriotic July 4th Quotes for America's Favorite Holiday. They were in Town and Country magazine.
I enjoyed the variety, especially when you realized the context in which the words were spoken, and by whom. I chuckled at this one from Erma Bombeck and yet realized its very subtle truth. She said, "You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness."
I think I have told you about my own experience while I was studying in Washington, D.C.
On July Fourth (1975) I gathered on the Mall with an intimate group of 100,00 people to watch the fireworks and hear some great music. The time of Vietnam opposition and riots in the country was fading and it seemed as though healing and rediscovery of some of the treasures of democracy were possible.
Another of the quotes was one from Abraham Lincoln: "My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth."
In our own time, when we find ourselves divided on so many levels, is it hubris (false self-confidence) to think that our country can continue on a path that Lincoln envisioned?
I’ve heard various pundits opining that losing our country is not beyond possibility. It’s a far cry from another of the quotes: Walt Disney said, “Laughter is America’s most important export.” You have to wonder how the world sees us in these moments. Surely, no one is laughing.
In trying to ‘hear what the Lord is saying,’ I read through the quotes repeatedly wondering how they might speak to us this weekend. There is so much going on... the social divisions... the uproar over the Supreme Court decision(s)...
Then, I came to the very first line of Isaiah from our scriptures for this weekend:
Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her, all you who love her...
I believe we are a blessed country. We can be a New Jerusalem. When we fail to see that our blessings are gifts that are meant to be given and not simply hoarded, we run the risk of, indeed, losing our heritage.
No doubt we have had bad moments in our nation’s history that challenged our very existence. Up to now we have managed to overcome. If we want to continue that existence then we must be people of prayer.
There are many who don’t feel or even understand the need for prayer. There are many who think that asking someone to pray is avoiding dealing with whatever is at issue. Pious platitudes...
I believe we “praying folk” stand next to the people in turmoil. Our mission is to take our needs to the Lord. We ask for His Presence on behalf of all those who cannot or will not go to Him. That’s our job as people who have been given the freedom to believe and worship.
Whatever freedoms we enjoy can never be taken for granted or else they will be taken away. Maybe better phrased, they won’t be taken; we’ll just let go and not realize what we let happen until too late...
In his state of the union address in 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt spelled out the four freedoms that were essential to the marrow of our country.
Freedom of speech - Freedom of worship - Freedom from want - Freedom from fear.
If you have a moment go check out his speech online.
Having those freedoms is one thing. Using those freedoms is something else. I hope that tomorrow as I look at explosions of light in the sky, I can remember to say a little prayer, something like, “Lord, help us keep our country at the service of all those in need, whether political or social or material. Let generosity be the flag that flies over our heads.”
In Jesus,
