Much has been made lately of whether a person should honor the flag of the United States, and thereby honor the country.

I do not understand this. When we sing “Happy Birthday” to someone, we know that they are not perfect, but we still show our respect and good wishes without endorsing their entire lives.

America is not perfect, but it has come a long way in the last 240 years. In fact, it’s changed a great deal in the seventy-six years I have been privileged to live here.

It’s still the greatest nation in the history of the world, but clearly it is  not perfect. One of America’s greatest strengths is that we have enjoyed the freedom to argue over those imperfections. In many countries, we would be put to death for expressing such views, but not here. In fact, we fought a war of independence to secure our freedoms, and by God’s grace we won. Then we fought a Civil War to extend those freedoms to all our people.

Now, however, we appear to be losing the freedoms won at such great price, and maintained down through the years. I have become convinced that—because of the many evil things we have done, and the many awful practices that we permit and even embrace—we are in imminent danger of losing the blessings that got us this far.

But back to this issue of national loyalty. We no longer sing great patriotic songs like, “America the Beautiful. If we did—and we paid attention to the words written so long ago—we would soon discover that our forefathers had no starry-eyed illusions about America’s perfection.

The great patriotic song, “America the Beautiful,” recognized that God had blessed America. It made it clear that our nation was not yet perfect, but that we had come a long way. And it affirmed that we can only continue to approach perfection as we trust and obey God. We must hold tight to “the dream.”

Verse one of “America the Beautiful” recognizes that God has shed his grace on America, and notes that our success, our crowning achievement, will be measured by brotherly love. (We need individuals who work to heal the wounds, not reopen and infect them with the poison of suspicion and hatred!)

The second verse acknowledges that America has flaws, and asks God to give each of us self-control and help us support the rule of law so that we can work things out.

The perfection of a nation is like the perfection of an individual. It is progressive. It takes time. I know that many of us are impatient, but It is necessary that our citizens exercise patience. We must become well-educated and well-informed. Then we must make sure that only godly leaders and judges are elected or appointed so that we can ultimately be crowned with brotherhood. (Today we have many “leaders” who pit our citizens against one another in order to win votes.)

Verse three recognizes that, in this land of opportunity, many people will behave badly as they try to become wealthy. The song asks God to prosper those who behave nobly. (Politicians who get rich while in office belong in a prison house, not in The White House!)

Finally, verse four points out that we must look beyond the years, to the time when our cities are “undimmed by human tears.” We’ve come a long way since Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation. (It’s interesting to note that the man who freed the slaves, Abraham Lincoln, was a Republican. He was a far cry from most politicians of both parties today who put personal interests ahead of the country. If America is once again to be the land of opportunity, our leaders need to help our citizens learn to help themselves, and not keep them dependent on government handouts in order to get their votes!)

Yes, America is beautiful. And when we each align our values with those of the Lord, she will begin to approach perfection and brotherhood.

Here are the words to America the Beautiful, the 1904 version.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.
America! America!
God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for glorious tale
Of liberating strife,
When valiantly for man’s avail
Men lavish precious life.
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

We should all have opinions. It’s not always wise to voice them.

30 Aug 2016