"My Country"

My country, yes, my homeland,

I thank my God for you,

Our freedom, this world’s envy,

Still here, though tried and true.

The flag, though disrespected,

Still proudly on the wind,

Flies there so to remind us,

Of all that once has been.

When folks from this world over,

Escaped their tyranny,

Of living lives of bondage,

To come here and be free.

Liberty and justice,

For all is God’s true gift,

Created each as equal,

From this world’s refuse lift.

A nation born from passion,

Our love for liberty,

Life and happiness pursue,

And ever should it be.

Based on what God says matters,

The ethics from above,

Morality the cornerstone,

And anchored in His love.

To speak what we think freely,

To publish in the press,

To vote the way that we see fit,

And worship God, confess.

Gather peacefully in public,

To keep and to bear arms,

The right to trial by jury,

And safe from cruel alarms.

The last best hope for freedom,

Is this republic, see,

It’s why they want to come here,

Americans to be.

Thankful for the patriots,

Who suffered long, some died,

So we have our America,

And can say with pride,

That what we have and now enjoy,

Was bought with blood they shed,

And we won’t take it for granted,

We’re free because they’re dead.

May God bless our homeland,

To make her safe, secure,

And may God-given freedoms,

Our country still ensure.

“What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord…” (Psalm 33:12, NLT)

It’s our national motto: “In God We Trust.” It’s in our pledge of allegiance: “One nation under God…” It’s in the Declaration of Independence: “all men are created equal…” It was on the minds of our founders when they broke away from Great Britain to begin a new country, and has been a central them to the evolution of our nation ever since. To seek to “secularize” our history and discount its religious roots is nonsense at best and insidious at worst. In America you can believe what you want or nothing at all. You can convince others that you are right and they are wrong, about religious faith or anything else. But no thinking person, regardless of spirituality, can deny something as obvious as the role faith has played in the founding of our nation. As a Christian I must handle with care. Defending American is not my foremost priority. Sharing the Good News of Jesus holds that place. Prayerful, clear-headed wisdom and compassion are both needed in this moment. May God grant us both.

Lord, teach us to value freedom, both political and spiritual, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Dr. Stan Cobb, used by permission. Thanks, Stan, and God bless you.