As we approach the summer season and the majority of our patriotic holidays, I have been thinking of how our great country started and where we are at today.
I am usually a very upbeat person but it saddens me to see the condition of our culture, so please bear with me as I climb up on my soap box!
One quick indicator of our moral condition is television. Almost every prime time program on the over the air channels (we don't have or want cable!) contains material that would have been available only in theaters limited to persons over 18 a few years ago. And cable . . . well let's not even go there.
Of course April 15 brings up another unpleasant subject. My Father drove a city bus for a living. When we talked about taxes, I discovered that he had never paid more than 2% federal taxes and 1 % social security in his life! I really doubt if most Americans realize today how large their “contribution” is today. A quick examination of your pay stub will be enlightening, but even that is misleading. This shows only ½ of the social security portion, not the employer's “contribution”, which is still part of your compensation package. Ray Stevens has a wonderful song that proposes, “If 10% Is Good Enough For Jesus—Well, It Ought To Be Enough For Uncle Sam!”
How many of us have ever read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution lately? How has our federal government grown to the size that gobbles up over half of our production? And how many of those wonderful programs that our politicians brag about are actually authorized by the Constitution?
Anyone who examines the documents written by our founding fathers can have little doubt that our country was founded as a Christian nation on Christian principles. Most of our states have similar statements in their documents as well.
If I visited or moved to another nation which was founded on the tenets of another religion, I would not be surprised to see icons and symbols of their faith displayed. Nor would I start a protest to have them removed because I am offended by them. Of course, I am absolutely positive that they would allow me to do so! Talk to American citizens imprisoned in some of those countries because they dared to express a wrong thought out loud.
How did we get here? Who's fault is it anyhow?
I was encouraged when I saw the first elections in the Middle Eastern countries after their liberation and how the people stood in line for hours to vote even after threats of violence. How many of us even bother to exercise our precious freedom to vote? Often less than half of the eligible voters bother to exercise their privilege!
We need to vote, and vote intelligently! We need to know who we are voting for and what they really stand for. We need to examine their record and not listen to their rhetoric! Will this person I am voting for work to uphold the constitution – or will they do as one congress person said recently, “I don't care about the constitution!”?
I was encouraged by the public outpouring of prayer and faith in the days after 9/11. We need to revive that mind set if America is to be saved.
But more than anything, we need to pray! Pray daily for our leaders. And pray for wisdom and guidance as we determine who we will vote for as we go to the polls.
God has made a promise which I believe applies to us today: “ . . . if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Let's commit ourselves to doing this together!