"America, America.  God shed his grace on thee."  

I can believe that.  
With all my heart, I believe that.  

I believe that God was at the helm during the War of Independence.  

I believe our Colonial troops were spared so this nation could come forth.  

I believe George Washington was inspired in many of the battle decisions he made.  

God Bless America

Copyright © December 19th 2003
Written by Lin Stone

I believe that far more than our share of wise men were raised up in one generation especially to hammer out our constitution.  I believe that more divine inspiration was poured out on the leaders of our nation at the times we needed that inspiration the most.

 

I also believe that we have been repeatedly veering from 
the path of righteousness since long before the year of 
1776 came upon us.  Because of our fervent prayers we 
have been called back to our God many times, when 
danger threatened, when disaster struck, when our very 
foundations needed shoring.

The Israelites had Aaron build a golden calf for them to worship in the wilderness  and proclaimed that calf their own hands had fashioned was the god who had  delivered them from Egypt.  Like those Israelites we have gone too far.  As a nation  we have now left the God who made us too far behind.

All we have left is lip service and that is lip service by a minority outnumbered,  outgunned, humiliated and ignored by the majority.  It is not enough to secure the  blessings of heaven.  We have now veered too far off the proven course.  

We have bowed down so the enemies of righteousness might run over us.  We have  closed our lips when treason was championed by the media.  We have mutely gritted  our teeth when wrong was made to look like right.  We have muttered in our coffee  cups but stood idly by when our flag was burned as an expression of free speech by  those too ignorant to use words.  We have watched with helpless frustration as the  Ten Commandments were ripped off our courtroom walls.  We have made no protest  as those we elected to public office have declared this has never been God's country.  

 

.  

Our Dollar Bills say, "In God We Trust" but how much longer will that announcement be allowed to remain on our currency?

You have seen these words many times, 
maybe you even love them,
but judging just by our actions alone 
can you honestly say as a nation
we have any right to trust in a God 
we not only deny, but refuse to serve?

There is a lame refrain limping around that goes:  "We may not be perfect, but at least we  are better than anyone else."  Oh yes.  For instance, we look at the heathen and chuckle,  "They have four wives."  

I say that if God is now grading on a curve it is far more righteous even to have four wives  openly and love them equally than it is to encourage our children to admire those who flaunt  a string of mistresses and one night affairs, or to publicly school our children in the use of  condoms because we can't expect them to honor God's law of chastity. 

God Bless America?  Mark Twain had Huckleberry Finn voice this universal truth for us:   "You can't pray a lie."

We can not expect God to go on blessing America with the strength that comes only from  living righteously while we (as a nation) trample his laws of righteousness into the dust.

 

A friend of Mark Twain's proposed to travel to Jerusalem and 
climb to a mountain top to read the Ten Commandments there.  

"Better to stay home and keep them,"  Twain advised him.  

How right his answer was then; 
How much more important it is to follow that advice today.  

When I see a bumper sticker or a sign that says: "God Bless America," I respond -- "And God Bless the Americans who care about America."

 Bless those Americans of every faith and every color who find 
something they can do, instead of whining, "Why don't THEY 
do something?"

Bless those who smile at their neighbors.  
Bless those who find encouraging words to say.
Bless those who visit the sick.
Bless those who adopt the lost child.  
Bless those who succor the wounded.
Bless those Americans who labor with their own hands, hearts 
and minds to make a living.  
Bless those who pick up our garbage and clean our streets.  
Bless those who do business honestly.  
Bless those who stand up to the bullies -- those on the school grounds or in the boardrooms of commerce.  
Bless those who cry out for justice in another's behalf.  
Bless those who earnestly strive to understand the issues and find good people to vote for.  
Bless those whose hearts flutter when the flag passes in review.  
Bless those Americans who serve in the Armed Forces with a desire to protect our nation.  
Bless those Americans who fight to keep our soldiers at home until there is no other way. 

O God, bless every American who cares about America enough to do something.  Prosper them, maintain them, build them up, give them strength, and reassure them they are right, that they matter, that they are not only making a difference, but they are making the right difference!  


Help them to realize they don't have to win every battle.  Show them they don't even have to win any battle.  Tell them they don't have to be the majority, just a stalwart example the majority can look to when times are tough and America  must do the right thing, right then.  

Teach them that all they ever have to do is stand up, stand up for everything that is good for America, and to stand up for America -- the greatest jewel this world has ever seen -- or 
ever shall see.

I say it again, loud and clear:

God Bless the Americans 
who care about America

the end.

Lin Stone is an author, writer and photographer living in Mena Arkansas.  Visit his web page at http://www.talewins.com/StoneSoup.htm to read some of the other articles and essays he has written.
This article may be copied ONLY in its entirety -- including this last paragraph.  Then it can be copied and distributed freely as far and as wide as your heart may desire.  The html version is available from http://www.talewins.com/essays/blessAmericans.htm 

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People say "It was different in your day." I know better.  You've heard of our troops being killed by "friendly fire?"  We had men in my unit killed by "stupid fire."  What is stupid fire?  That's when your unit commander is willing to lie a little and cheat a lot for his next promotion, too stupid to realize he is risking American lives and American limbs for something he did not deserve. 

It was his fault that our ordinance exploded and our men were mowed down and cut to pieces.