It Could Be Our Last!
Leah & I took our kids to a small town outside of Dallas to have a picnic and fireworks. We scooted chairs into the grass while the kids took a break on the curb for watching the display. It was a big old slice of Americana.
Leah leans over and says, “Happy Independence Day.”
I kissed her and replied, “Thanks.”
“Enjoy it. It could be our last,” she whispered.
No Way, Right?
Yeah right, I thought. Then I sat back and what she’d just said began to set in on me. Our nation has seen tough times. Really tough times and the one thing that always seemed to find a way to bubble to the surface was a very subjective notion of American Spirit. It defines us as a people and as a nation.
Whatever American Spirit actually is, we’ve relied upon it to get us to the moon and provide relatively reliable WIFI coverage (among other things of course). But there’s a sinister atmosphere in this nation that we’ve never known. Even darker these days than the light of a once bright American Spirit can pierce.
Rearing Its Ugly Head
Maybe the subcultural depravity has always been here and lurked within the recesses of civilized society, but of late it’s shredded its veil of contrived decency to make a very public declaration of contempt for what once was American Spirit. It’s like you keep waiting for the good guys to show up, but they never do.
Each day brings unbelief that no matter how bad one day was, the next day always seems to outdo the previous. And still, we wait for the good guys to show up and right the wrongs done to our American Spirit. They still don’t come.
I guess I always assumed before Americans would purposefully burn this great nation to the ground, that those with matches would ultimately place a higher priority on American Spirit than party affiliation or ideology. I was wrong. This is the result of allowing the unreliability of temporary personal feelings and emotions to supersede the good of a good society.
Is any society perfect? Of course not. The only perfect place in history was the Garden of Eden and people screwed that up. Even after they were booted out and the world’s population only consisted of four people, Adam and Eve’s son Cain murdered his brother Abel. Imagine that – 25% of the world’s entire population committed murder.
Nobody Leaves
The point is, American Spirit has made this nation the greatest country in the history of history. People may not like it, or they may actually hate it, but no one is willing to leave it for anywhere else on the globe. Can it be improved? Sure, it can, but this isn’t a forest that experiences new growth from torching the foundational underbrush of rule of law and the Constitution. It improves through rational, incremental efforts aimed at ensuring equality for everyone and not elevation through the destruction or demotion of anyone.
“Rising tides lift all of the boats.” ~ John F. Kennedy
Could this very well be our last July 4th Independence Day celebration of American Spirit? It very well might be. Of course, as believers we’re also fully aware of the Holy Spirit, and that these days are rushing along toward the end of days. So, if civil war doesn’t mark the end of what was a pretty great 244 year run, the tribulation will. Then and only then will the true good guy show up to right all wrongs.
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
~ John 3:16-17
Until then, enjoy every day while you can.
Do Good,
