The words of Jesus, found in Matthew 5:
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Know what you sing about today.
Friday, July 4, 2008
God Bless America
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4 comments:
During prayers this morning my daughters and I prayed for America. We also got out their globe and prayed for every other country we could find. There are no shortages in America of poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, those who are hungry, and all the way down the list. There are also no shortages of people in America who have no mercy, who do not make peace, and who persecute others. Sometimes I think I fall into every category, on both sides. Anyway, these are the people who make up America. These are the people who God has put in my path. I pray for all of them, all of us. God bless America.
I SO agree with the duality you feel -"falling into every category on both sides." I think there is a point where it is important to live in the tension of what we do not understand (instead of invent theology) and yet there is a place where we allow ourselves to live in the tension of things we do understand but refuse to respond to. Thanks, Todd, for your INSIGHTFUL post.
One question: does our patriotism somehow produce division from the rest of the world? Does it create "us and them" kind of thinking? I know our theology does it, does our nationalism as well?
P.S. The dichotomy of being thankful that I live in a country where I can express my faith and my opinion BUT irritated that I live in a country that misuses its influence so terribly. Some would say that criticism is unpatriotic, I say it is necessary to continue to produce/nurture the good things about America.
No doubt just like our theology, our patriotism should not produce division, but it still does in practice. It produces the "us" verses "them" thinking. It also makes us think that our way is the one best way, and we should force it on the world. But this doesn't mean we should stop being patriotic any more than we should stop being Christian. There is too much to love about this country. If nothing else, we should love this country because we can have this public conversation.
Too many people disagree with our foreign policy or our laws or how we manage our affluence, and turn that disagreement into resentment for the entire country. There's nothing unpatriotic whatsoever in the act of criticizing our country. What would be wrong is if we allow our criticism make us unpatriotic.
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