Thankful Thursdays

Grateful that I had the privilege to vote. Although I’m really glad this stirring and exhausting election period is almost over. So happy to see the last of the polls, signs, debates, nasty commercials, and social media rants (until the next time, undoubtedly), and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to re-engage in “weather” conversation…and the upcoming season of Stranger Things. 😉

On that note, I share with you here a piece I posted back in 2009. Seems like same ol’ same ol:

United We Stand, Divided We Fall

If the title to this post bears any truth, as some of our founders contended, no wonder this nation is in shambles. What is going on? I never imagined in my wildest dreams our country would be so divided. This goes beyond red and blue states, beyond democrats and republicans. I mean, yes, our system of government is built on checks and balances, with different parties to keep their counterparts accountable, as designed rightfully so by our Constitution, and thank God for that, but come on, the state of our nation today is ridiculously sad. It has gotten to the point where we sound like we’re out to kill each other, and the rest of the world is having a field day on our account to boot! How unfortunate. But forget what other countries think of us. There is something more important at stake here than saving face.

We know division in this country is not a new thing. We have the Civil War as a permanent reminder. But even back then, the existence and authority of God and the moral values derived therefrom was something fundamentally agreed upon between both sides. This country was founded by men whose ideals and values for the most part were deeply religious. Abraham Lincoln, for example, when asked which side he thought God was on in the Civil War, responded, “I am not at all concerned about that, for I know that the Lord is always on the side of right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord’s side.” Today, the frightening difference is that those beliefs and values which are very much at the core of this divide, are not common ground anymore.

I am a republican. I became one by injection, if you will, and remained one by choice. Because some of my convictions are way too strong to be anything but. Yet I’m not blind to, nor do I conform, to my party’s extremist ideals. Both parties claim to be on the side of God, but don’t behave very godly. I think that regardless of what political ideology you subscribe to, we should work together toward the common good, something neither side seems committed to do. At least I don’t see it. I keep looking for it, but don’t see it. Seems responsibility towards the common good, which should be each party’s goal, is non-existent.

God has been taken out of the equation and our country is suffering because of it. I mean really extracted. He has been turned into something almost offensive. The Pledge of Allegiance seems but empty words. In God We Trust has become sort of an insult. Does God even have a place in America today? I don’t think He’s allowed out in public. This, I believe, is the culprit of many of our nation’s troubles. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to imply that individuals who don’t subscribe to the idea of following the Ten Commandments make inadequate or unproductive citizens. I know non-religious people who do more for their neighbor than some Catholics I know. For the most part, however, I honestly believe the more this country misaligns itself with our Lord and Savior, the more at peril it is.

Attempting to resolve the troubles we face today is the responsibility of all of us. Any man, religious or not, who possesses qualities such as decency, honesty, and integrity, can have a go at it. But I think “United” doesn’t mean we have to be of the same mind toward things; I think it means, as the Bible says, to be of the same mind toward one another.

Let’s continue to pray for this great nation of ours.

Friends and family, we’ve done our part. Now, In God We Trust, no? May we always do what we judge is right, and leave the rest to Him.

What are you thankful for today?

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
-Corrie ten Boom

“I’ve dropped my pebble in the ocean, and hopefully; throughout the course of the day; millions of others will drop theirs in too. No single one of us knows which pebble causes the wave to crest, but each of us, quite rightly, believes that it might be ours; an act of faith.”
-Michael J. Fox