God Bless America?
I saw this bumper sticker the other day when I was walking into Blockbuster. It says, “My Pastor Says God Bless America.” Since seeing the bumper sticker I’ve discovered it’s linked to a political movement.
I want to be clear that I’m neither condemning nor endorsing this organization. I know nothing about it, but this bumper sticker just prompted the following thoughts.
I’m tired of praying “God Bless America.” Now, before you try to stone me at the county courthouse, let me clearly state, “I’m proud of our country.” I’m indebted to people who have served her to give me the freedoms I have. So we’re cool. I shoot fireworks off on the 4th and everything.
I’m just thinking this. It kind of looks like God has already blessed America. I kind of feel like maybe I should be praying “God thanks for already blessing America, so now I’m going to bless you.” Or maybe “God, thanks for already blessing America, so help me use your blessing to bless some others.” Or maybe just simply, “God bless Uganda.” I think they need it a little more than we do.
Around the world, some 26,500 children die every day (source: global issues.com)
That is equivalent to:
* 1 child dying every 3 seconds
* 18 children dying every minute
* A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring every week* An Iraq-scale death toll every 15–36 days
* Almost 10 million children dying every year
* Some 60 million children dying between 2000 and 2006 Half the world — nearly three billion people — live on less than two dollars a day.
A friend sent me a video link yesterday from CNN. I dare you to CLICK HERE and watch this disturbing video where the parents walk away from their 11 year old boy leaving him in the custody of the government because they can’ afford to feed him. When I watched that little boys chin start to quiver as his mom walked away I just LOST IT.
So, I’m sorry if today I just can’t pray “God bless America”. But, make no mistake about it, I’m praying for Ahri and his family. I’m praying for the families of the almost 40 kids who have died in the time you’ve been reading this post.
Does this wreck you like it wrecks me?
my chaos,
Pete
My boys are 11 and 10 right now, I got half way through that video and lost it. I can not even imagine that agony. I lost it when I sent my kids to camp for the first time, and they were coming home. I too will pray for this little boy.
I agree with your thought process. While I believe that our American heritage speaks volumes about the blessings of the Lord, I feel now most people do not really care.
I am also in a quandry when people get up in arms about prayer in schools. I think prayer needs to be in homes. I get so sick of working with kids at church and parents wondering “what to do about their kids” Well for starters dad, BE A MAN. Take responsibility and don’t expect your schools to be the moral compass or example in your kids lives.
Sorry to rant, its just frustrating when they look to me for answers, when I only spen 1 1/2 hours a week with their kid. It makes me so sad.
Lets go for a happy post next time.
Thx. It’s easier to forget what we have, then to dwell on what we don’t have. Great thought.
I need to clarify that I am not sick of working with kids at church…that came out wrong.
for some reason the video did not work for me. I cannot imagine not being able to feed my children. That is amazingly sad. It brings you up short, doesn’t it?
@Jan, I think it’s fixed now.
That is too sad and it makes me want to go get that little boy AND his mama and let them live with us…
Jan to ride on your coattails, I will agree that a lot parents want to look somewhere else to “fix” their kids. It does bother me about the prayer in school deal (I have 3 children in public schools) but we have just taught our kids that you may not be able to say it aloud but no rule can stop them from being in constant conversation with God all day at school. i am sure that is when they need Him most. And Pete, I am with you. I don’t feel the need to get caught up in wordage. I think it is evident this country has been blessed already. In America we spend most our time meeting our “wants” and not our “needs”. I can’t imagine the torment those parents must have felt walking away. It is a shame they felt that was their only option. I am feeling so humbly blessed by the life God has allowed me and my family to live.
So sad…so often when I see things like that, I just want to look away and force myself not to think about what is happening around the world…outside of our “Disney World Lives”.I need to invest more thought and prayer into issues like this… and wrestle with them and let them move me to make a difference.
I contacted CNN and have the address of the orphanage. They also included some specific language (they do not speak english) to use so that the orphanage would understand why the money was coming. They also included the address for the Unicef office. I can forward the e-mail to anyone who would like it.
We are SO blessed here in America, but we’re not reminded of it often enough. We spend many days and hours just thinking about ourselves! It’s a sin and God wants us to love and help each other. It’s just not all about us!!
Can you imagine how it must feel to watch the people that have loved and cared for you for 11 years walk away from you, can you imagine that feeling of abandonment, the feeling of being scared. The parents felt like they were doing the right thing, but could you imagine what it must feel like to know that I can’t even feed my child. God please bless them. Please…
nothing has convicted me more of our wealth and blessings as americans than my families move to thailand. i think living in america we became numb to all that we had and our definition of wealth was skewed. we weren’t able to see that 3 meals a day, a roof over our head, 2 cars, enough clothes to wear a different outfit every day of the week was filthy rich in comparison to what many in the world have. so many americans are uneducated about what is happening in the world and how wide spread it is. i know until we were living here we had no idea. and am ashamed to say, that if we hadn’t moved, we probably still would be wanting a better car, bigger house, nicer shoes, etc…
I believe what the bumper sticker was referring to was what Obama’s Pastor Jeremiah Wright had said. You may have seen the video where Pastor Wright said….”not God Bless America, but God Damn America.”
I think that is why the word”Bless” on the bumper sticker is in quotations. I could be wrong though.
This was not the first blog where I saw this video. It is heartbreaking to watch what those parents are having to do in order to do what they feel is best for their child. I think you are right Pete that we do need to change how we pray, because even as I struggle from paycheck to paycheck to pay the bills, my family still has more then so many people around the world. We are blessed, God has blessed us abundantly.
wow. i’m wrecked…
Yea. It wrecks me. Losing a child would be devastating, but to voluntarily give up your child? Can you imagine?
God can.
Talk about messing someone up on a Thursday! There is no reason whatsoever that should have to happen. I sit here and think about all I have, all the “material” goods I have accumulated and then I remember–we are trying to make a difference and everyone out there can. inspiredtoaction.com. Read it, become a part of it. We have not been told to sit, we have been told to go. Now get off your duffs and take action!
@ You’re correct.
Wow.
That kind of took the spring out of my step. Thanks Pete.
It is interesting that this post and one about having joy come from you in the same week. How do I project joy in the midst of such sadness?
I will be in the Dominican Republic in a little over two weeks. I amd my team will be trying to spread a joy that comes only from Christ. I pray we can offer them hope and joy and friendship and love and Christ for those who do not know Him.
There are so many places all over the world where despair is the norm. May God give us all the passion and the opportunity to spread His Love and His Name to each place.
Bro, I’m so with you! What we already have [in way of God's blessing] is certainly more than enough in comparison to the larger world. God can only BLESS AMERICA FURTHER by helping us to see how truly blessed we ALREADY ARE and, the GREAT RESPONSIBILITY we now have to share it with others–who can only dream of having what we say is not enough.
Dude, that’s so true. America has become so consumeristic and inward focused it’s no wonder half the world hates us. I love the trend I’m seeing in Churches across America (with the exception of stickers like this) where we’re beginning to get our eyes off of our selves and starting to make a difference in the world around us.
I agree George. We are to be a conduit for God’s love and blessings not a holding tank.
This is something that has touched my heart for the past several months now. In my mind, we are to be the church with a capital C not a little c. We are suppose to be out both locally and globally – not just the ones that are close at hand. I cannot live in a bubble and justify that later. Can I?
Well, in my normal sensitive way, everytime I here someone say “God bless America” I instantly think “Why?” The slaughter of innocents continues…and less and less is said about abortion from pulpits, airwaves, etc.
I, too, love my country. But it is not, and never has been, “God’s country.” Yeah, we have a heritage and many of the founders were Christian, most were at least deists and had some respect for the Word of God…but…the reality is that when 57 percent of evangelicals (according to Pew study released Monday) believe there are “other roads” to God/heaven besides Jesus; when all the other “stuff” is happening within the American Body…Why should (indeed, why does) God bless America?
Well, He’s never asked me for permission to do anything (or not do anything), so I’ll try to redeem the freedom time we have now…and seek His face and minister in and through and by His grace.
My heart breaks for that family and that little boy. I can’t imagine being in their shoes.
I am wrecked as well. I find it so sad that we as Americans have so much…way more than we need…when there are people who have nothing. I know it sounds like a fantasy, but if we all lived with a little less and gave the extra to others, we could change the world. I actually read a stat in Relevant one time that said if every Christian actually tithed 10% then there would be no poverty in the world. But yet we don’t. We are more concerned with big houses, fancy cars, name brand clothes, $75 cool haircuts, expensive products to style our cool haircuts, going out to eat, going on vacation, and the list goes on. I can’t help but wonder if when we get to Heaven Jesus is going to say, You were given so much, but gave so little. You could have given to the least of these in My name and in turn given to Me, but you choose to buy a big screen tv. Why?” I don’t know about you, but I would be incredibly ashamed to answer that question.
A very touching video, I could not imagine giving up my child. Its further confirmation to me that the church (Christians) can do more. We are the greatest network ever formed and yet American Idol will raise more in one night than most churches “combined” give in a year towards ending suffering like this.
I heard Louie Giglio do a talk on our prayers as Americans and he hit hard on this subject. He reminded us that as Christians alone we have been given every spiritual blessing ever promised to us (Eph 1:3) and as a Country how hasn’t God blessed us? I agree with how you pray, that is my prayer everyday, that I will take the blessings that God has given me and bless God and others in return.
@Harold, that is fair question. How do we choose joy in the midst of such sadness?
To be really honest I’m struggling today. I’m having a hard time holding it together. Every time I have a minute to think my mind goes to this family and I just start crying.
Right now I’m just asking God to help me take these feelings of intense sadness for Ahri and funnel it toward something productive. I’m trying to listen to God and find out what he wants me to do with all of this.
It really forces you to take a step back and look at how “rich” we are here in America. I saw another story on CNN that talked about this town in the China that didnt have any clean water to drink. I cannot even begin to imagine not being able to go to the faucet and get a glass of water. I think we need to see this to kindof wreck us so that we don’t get so comfortable in our lifestyle that we forget about the millions of people who are in such great need.
A resounding AMEN from this corner, Pete. You are right about the attitude we ought to be exhibiting. God HAS blessed America…let’s say thank you and share the bounty of the table.
Great – and disturbing – post, Pete.
Wow. That was tough on the heart.
And I agree. I am tired of the whining and moaning going on in this country over stuff that really doesn’t matter.
This just makes you realize how lucky we are to live where we do and be blessed with what we are.
Pete, I am with you. I love this country and am thankful for all of the peopple who are brave enough to serve in a way that I am not. However, when I hear people say God Bless America, it seems like Bill Gates saying, “God could you give me somemore blessings. I am not sure that what I have now is quite enough.” We need (I need) to find away to do just what you said and use God’s blessings to bless people like Ahri.
@Pete my heart is breaking more each minute and that story is so happy by comparision to hundreds of thousands of others where the child has no place to be taken and just dies of malnutrition.
Vickie Rogers tells the story of assisting in a medical mission where she had to tell a mother that her child would not live, that it’s condition was beyond hope. The mother doesn’t even blink and hands them her next child and says “What about this one?”
Her hope was not that all her children would be healthy. Her hope was that just one child would be.
Somedays my biggest worry is why don’t more drinks come caffeine free.
you are so right. God HAS blessed America. however, that blessing is also a curse, i believe. since we are so blessed we don’t NEED the Father as much as others. we have so much and don’t find ourselves in deep times of need. when those times come that’s when people really seek the Lord.
that video was not something i should not have watched today. i was crying before it even began. but what to do with that? i don’t want to be “moved” by a video and then sit back and do nothing!
God has blessed America and He expects us to do something with it.
Very powerful. I agree with you and am touched by the video. I’m reminded to focus my prayers towards the “least of these”…Thanks Pete…
Thank you, thank you, thank you….aren’t we supposed to use the blessings given to us to help others? I didn’t even have to watch the video to become a wreck…this tears at my heart constantly.
Pete… as Harold said we are all a conduit for God…He uses us in ways we have no way of knowing we are capable of… and sometimes we do not know He is using us at all.. but He is. But who am I to tell you… I think you already know all of this.
With that said, I will say:
If your post causes something to happen that helps even one family, then your post made a difference.
If your post causes someone to think through his/her own life and the blessing they have and it moves them to action – no matter how small, then your post made a difference.
If your post opens someone’s eyes for the first time, then your post made a difference.
If your post moves someone else to tears and wakes them up for the first time, your post made a difference.
I have nothing to add what’s already been written in the comments, but to simply say, “Thank you for this post.”
Pete, thanks for socking me right in the solar plexus. Let me ask you a question. Do you think we don’t pray that way because we already know what Jesus is going to tell us?
I heard an interesting illustration several years ago. It seems this man died and met St. Peter at the pearly gates. St. Peter said, “we’ll go on in in a second but I thought you might be interested in what they are doing down below.” When they arrived, there was a huge banquet with mounds of food. But, all the people, instead of arms, had long spoons, just long enough that they couldn’t reach their mouths. The result was hellish. When they returned to heaven, the scene was exactly the same but…..they were feeding each other.
Something to think about, isn’t it?
Thanks for saying something Pete. The church in America has gotten so comfortable that we don’t dare risk rocking the boat with truth.
I love this prayer:
‘Heavenly Father,
We come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good’ But that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it Building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and Pornography and called it Freedom of speech and expression. We have ridiculed the time Honored values of our Forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free…
Amen!’
Minister Joe Wright a former B 36 and B 52 Radar Operator praying before the Kansas Senate
so pete, can you go back and post that whole question on thankfulness again and see how the responses change?!?
I saw a bumper sticker about a year ago that really stuck with me…and i usually really make fun of bumper stickers…
“God bless everybody. No exceptions”
What a difficult video to watch. You make a great point. I specifically prayed after watching this that God would show me what action he wants me to take. No loving mother should ever have to give up her child against her will, that story is heartbreaking and will stay with me a long time.
Thanks for such a thought provoking post.
@jon mckanna That’s a great idea!
Thanks for the poignant reminder that, no matter how difficult MY circumstances might be, I’m still better off than much of the world. And, because I am, I have a responsibility to try and make their world better.
Thanks for this post. It really helps put things in perspective. We have so much to be thankful for!
Love this post. Thanks for helping us keep looking outside of ourselves. Thanks for helping us see what God sees. Thanks for helping us not ignore what’s going on in the world. Thanks for moving us not just toward wreckage but action.
COULD not agree more Pete. Awesome.
Why not say, “God bless the World,” if we are asking God to bless something? As your post suggests, it would seem the rest of the world needs God’s blessing, too. Perhaps more of it than we do.
In my opinion, the phrase “God bless America” can lead to some frightening ideologies. What of the rest of the world? God damn them? What makes us different, that God should specifically bless us over another country? It seems arrogant to assume we are God’s “chosen ones.” We are no more or less valuable in God’s eyes than any of them.
Asking for God’s preferential blessing blinds us from seeing those around us with God’s eyes. It seems a selfish and arrogant thing to do.
Pete,
God uses you to wreck me. Often. That’s why I love you.
Dang that’s some good stuff!
Wrecked.
Yes it wrecks me. It should. If it doesn’t then shame on me. And that goes for tomorrow and the next day and…Someone already mentioned it but if you need some ideas of what you can do (even from the comfort of your own home) check out– http://www.inspiredtoaction.com/. They are on day 4 of a forty day fast–different bloggers are taking a day to fast and promote a ministry whose focus is others. Some of the others that have been blogged about so far are: Compassion International, JesusGreaterThan, Blood: Water Mission, Luo, Proliteracy Worldwide, and the Mocha Club. We can be a blessing to others.
I can’t click on the video. I know it will wreck me. We Americans have no idea how good we have it (in general). I like this post. A lot.
Well, I don’t even know how to explain to you how much it wrecks me. How much having orphans in our own country wrecks me. How much the US Foster Care system stinks and because of the corrupt-ness (is that even a word) wrecks me. it is because of that corrupt system that I am no longer the “adoptive mom” to my son. I’ve shed more than my share of tears the last few weeks, the last 24 hrs and in the last few hours because “I” am no longer the “MOM” to the son that “WE” adopted. That “MY SON” will turn 14 in 2 days and I will not get to celebrate this with him. Because the country that I live in, the system that I trusted, failed my son….
Shame on me is what I think daily..
Shame on me that I was not able to be the mom that my son needed…
Because his ‘illness’ was so severe…
Shame on Me.
This situation has made me loose much of the faith that I had. Deep in my heart, past the part that has wrecked me, I knowthat my God is a great and glorious God and that he feels andhears my pain.
yet….i’m still struggling with this hole situation. Andit has been nearly 2 yrs.
I’m rambling….so’ll I’ll stop while I’m ahead.
I will say thank you Pete!! I truly got/get so much from your posts. Right now, in my life today and tmw..it is the only portion of any religion and/or faith in my life. Thanks!
I took the liberty of tracking down the video because I could not reach the link through the [CLICK HERE] point.
I read every single response to this post and except for the one where Jody referred to Minister Joe Wright’s prayer before the Kansas senate I did not hear any cries for the 48+million babies that have been murdered (aborted) in the US since 1973.
I realize Pete that the post was not about abortion in America but the plight of Ahri and his family and the many kids that are turned over to the state in Indonesia.
Have any commenting on this post wondered why CNN has not run any blurbs on what is happening to Christians in Indonesia at the had of Muslims. Or would we all have the same heart break if they had run a blurb on the babies killed by the abortionist in our own back yards? And a better question is why would they see the plight of Ahri and not the millions of innocent children slaughtered before the god of Molech in America.
Worth considering my friends?
malachi
http://bromalachi.wordpress.com
I think you hit the nail right on the head. For some reason, much of the American church has forgotten that Jesus wasn’t American. We too easily forget that most of the world’s wealth is here. We worship God with freedom and we pretty much do as we please here. God has blessed American greatly. So, we pray, God bless those that need to hear from you. Great post man.
OK Pete, as I was reading down the post (didn’t read allll of them) but I noticed that my heart was not being “wrecked” like everyone else was. I almost didn’t post in fear of “looking” cold hearted, unchristian like, etc. But here are my thoughts…..
I was thinking “wow, this boy is going to get an education, health care, food and probably his own bed.” I was also thinking….”what about birth control? Let’s bring in another child that we can’t raise and we have to give away.” I am wondering how many more kids they will have.
Should we keep bringing babies into the world and not understand the ramifications of what we are doing? Do we not have a responsibility to quit producing?
I am sad for the boy. I am sad for the situation. (I just said a prayer for him) I am also sad for the starving kids in this country. Large companies throw food in the dumpsters because of the fear of litigation and starving kids are just the tip of the iceberg….what about those children abused, those abandoned in dumpsters, those murdered, etc. etc. etc.
God did not envision this world today when He first created it. He did not intend Christianity to have the face it has today. There needs to be a change. I am “wrecked” on how Christians treat Christians. If we can’t take care of our own….how can we take care of others?
God did not envision this world today when He first created it or us.
yea, wrecked, pretty much sums it up
Dear Pete,
Thanks for the inspiring statement!
Maybe you don’t even know me, because i lived in Indonesia, exactly in Bali.
God, yes i believed with Him, and He has bless all people all around the world, even we are Cristhian, Hindu, Buddism, or athers. Praying it self is doesn,t enough to make changes, we need movement. Movement to reduce maternal mortality, movement to reduce infant mortality, to increase an access to education or health services.
I agree with your thoughts. We are indeed “already blessed” in America. In the business I’m in, there is a man who, when he reached his level of financial success, went to Honduras to help starving and homeless children there. I just watched his documentary the other day and was so inspired. It is so good to know that there are Americans who are giving to help the poor and homeless children of this world.
May God please continue to bless America as well as the rest of the world he created.If you are blessed enough in America you might only see landscaped yards and Old Navy dressed families.On the other hand if you are blessed enough you may turn off subrbia lane and wonder if you are still in this blessed America.How about a Sunday drive around life on the other side of Charlotte Ave?
Pete, My church group is going to Honduras in October(mission trip ) staying at an orphanage there,with kids that have been left in the same manner. So my question is..(to one wreck from another) would you like to go to Honduras In October with us?
Vicki makes a good point re: the other side of Charlotte Ave. Most in America are wealthy by comparison to most in the rest of the world. Still there are poor among us. Let’s open our eyes.
Wow. How dare I ask for anything.
thanks Pete for reminding us who have so much that there are so many who have so little. Keep up the great work
@Vicki & @Minnow, You guys are right. We have plenty of work to do right in our own backyards. I’m proud of the very proactive approach Cross Point is taking to reaching out to the under-resourced in our area. Whether it’s the ongoing relationships with Preston Taylor or some of our new partnerships like the one with Lighthouse Ministries. I pray these are just the beginning of what God has in store for us in reaching our own community.
I still have to be honest with myself and admit that while I have an obligation and opportunity to serve in my own community I can’t ignore the global needs. The reality is that the poorest of people across the street are still statistically rich compared to the world.
Again, let this sink in guys. There is a child dieing every 3 seconds! We’re not talking about these kids being in a tough situation because they’re not going to be able to get into the college of their choice. We’re talking about the fact that they are literally starving to death.
I love dreaming with you guys and praying through how we can make an impact! At CP, we are praying through what our local, regional, and global impact is going to look like. I look forward to this journey with you.
“There is a child dieing every 3 seconds! We’re not talking about these kids being in a tough situation because they’re not going to be able to get into the college of their choice. We’re talking about the fact that they are literally starving to death.”
This tears me in so many directions. First and foremost, I am incredibly selfish when it comes to food… I love food. Can you imagine the feeling of going with nothing to eat for even a day? Now go back to the last time you had the flu…didn’t you just want to crawl in a hole and die because you felt so miserable. And I’m sure you took it like a man and didn’t complain or whine about how crummy you felt. Now think of your children, I don’t know about yours, but mine have no self control when they are not feeling well. And when they are hungry…it hits the fan. My oldest child is almost 8 and can absolutely not be held accountable for her actions when she is hungry. She becomes a different person (I suspect she has a medical issue)she screams at people, throws things, becomes violent, it is not a pretty picture! Now lets go back to living without food for a day and take it to the extreme. THESE CHILDREN ARE LITERALLY STARVING TO DEATH!!! Do you know how long that takes? When my grandmother was in hospice with pancreatic cancer, she did not eat for at least four weeks, she took in minimal fluids and yet she was still alive. Can you imagine no food for weeks. I cannot. We need to stop talking about how tragic it is that this is happening and start doing something about it, myself included. I would whine if I had to eat the same thing three days in a row, yet these innocent babies live brief lives eating nothing but mush and rice, probably with bugs in it and they are grateful for it!!! I’ll be the first to admit I know very little. But I feel like something needs to be done, and someone has to make the first move. I have talked with a freind who wants to start an organization for inner city mothers and their children. The goal is to get the children into a healthy environment and educate the mothers so they can care for their children. Most of these women are very young and have been abused their entire life. When they have children of their own they don’t know any other way, so the cycle continues. I had one of these children come stay at my house for three days. She was two weeks old and she changed me. I am connected to her forever and I will always love her as if she had come from my own body. It breaks my heart to know that her mother curses at her and beats her with a belt at the age of one. Then I think what it must have been like for her growing up, she just doesn’t know anything different. This young woman is 22 and has four children from four different men. She was going to have her tubes tied when she had her last baby, but the nurses at the hospital talked her out of it because she is so young. They said “What if you meet a great man who wants to marry you and have more children?” Tragic… absolutely tragic. We ALL NEED TO DO something. My something is going to start helping women here, where is your something going to take you??? Stop talking, start doing!!!
With all due respect and understanding of the point at hand, I think that we DO need to keep praying for the blessing of America. God truly blessing this nation does not and should not be related to material things. Praise the Lord that a family cared enough to turn over their child to someone who could provide for them instead of being murdered at the hands of someone strung out on drugs here in the USA. How many children haven’t even taken a single breath because they were killed in their mother’s womb?
Asking for God’s blessing on our country is not wrong. In fact, how could we not pray for this country in the face of the materialistic mindset of America. I dare say that in the majority of instances believers in those poor countries have a far deeper faith than those of the American church. We’re too busy putting on shows and bragging about gadgets to understand that our faith is so shallow.
That’s not to say that we shouldn’t pray for those and seek to do good for those who are in need because we should. I’m just saying that we’ve lost sight of what kind of blessing we should be seeking from the Lord.
Pete, great post. Thank you for reminding me that I AM blessed already as an American. Now, what am I going to do about it? Sara, thank you for your inspiration! I love people who put their passion into action.
Pete, a great post and a great challenge as we head into the July 4th time of year. I always feel pressure to do something ‘patriotic’ and feel like that’s not really appropriate at church. The thing is that I believe God is so much bigger than one country. We are incredibly blessed in America, and there are other countries in the world in need of blessing. I hesitate to say “God Bless America” not only because I think we’re blessed enough, and not only because I think there are others in need of blessing (I always add, “and everyone else,” whenever someone says God Bless America). I hesitate to say it because I don’t want to promote the idea that God somehow chooses to bless some of God’s children (us) and refuses to bless others. I don’t think God is like that at all. If God is at all responsible for the blessing we have received, it is not to give us a blessing, but to make us stewards and caretakers of that gift so that we may bless others.
Okay, so I just re-read my comment and I have to clarify something just in case it would get taken the wrong way… I was aiming that at everyone, not Pete. Though when I re-read it it came across different than when it was in my head. Sorry if it offended, it was really not meant that way at all. I think as a society we ALL need to rise up to the challenge and recognize those around us that are in need (and those thousands of miles away). Okay, I feel better now.
Okay, so I just re-read my comment and I have to clarify something just in case it would get taken the wrong way… I was aiming that at everyone (myself included), not Pete. Though when I re-read it it came across different than when it was in my head. Sorry if it offended, it was really not meant that way at all. I think as a society we ALL need to rise up to the challenge and recognize those around us that are in need (and those thousands of miles away). Okay, I feel better now.
wow, this is so right on.
painfully amazing. we are beyond blessed. god let us “bless” someone else.
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