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4th of July Post

By Melissa Markham on July 3, 2007 9:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have been tossing around the idea of writing a post about how proud I am to live in America. I will warn you now that I do not follow politics, I don't even watch much news. In a way, this is good. It keeps from tainting my perspective of our country that I have had since childhood. In a way it is bad and resembles head stuck in the sand syndrome. I write tihs for me and me alone. If it means anything to anyone else, so be it.

I am proud to live in a country that when times are bad, the citizens band together to help those who need it. Remember the responses from Americans to their fellow countrymen after Hurricane Katrina, 9-11, the 4 hurricanes in Florida, the mid-west Tornadoes. Time and again, Americans rise to the occasion and help others. In fact, Americans do more to help their neighbors and their selves than the government does or could do. And that is the way it should be.

We are blessed to live in a country where we can worship where and as we please. To live in a country where we can speak out against the government. To live in a country where we aren't afraid to take risks. Where people can go from being at the 'bottom' to being at the 'top'.

So many people both inside of our country and outside of it say horrible things about America. I respect their right to have an opinion and as my husband's father often said, I would fight to defend their right to have an opinion. But I get tired of America bashing. It must have been awesome after the 2 world wars when Americans were seen as heroes. Now we are seen as villians. I am not happy to be in the wars we are currently involved in. In fact, I think that when we tried to be an 'isolationist' and stay out of WWI and WWII, there is a lot to be said for that. Let the rest of the world take care of their problems. We will take care of ourselves and not bother anyone else. Unfortunately, even if we were to return to an isolationist viewpoint, it would matter. Terrorists are not going to leave us alone.

Also we live in a relatively small world and we all have to interact. We can't stand idly by while others suffer. It is not the right thing to do. And so we get involved. Almost a century ago, we stayed back and didn't get involved and the international community condemned us. Now we take steps to try and make the world a better place, and the international community condemns us. Seems like a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation.

Tomorrow my family is going to 4th of July Festivities at Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson's summer home. There will be all kinds of colonial entertainment and crafts and games. The time I am most looking forward to is the 3 pm reading of the Declaration of Independence. I will stand there, eyes closed and let those words written 231 years ago wash over me and fill me with their promise, their hope, and their strength. The words written in that revered document still have meaning today to many, many people and have been a beacon to people from around the world. We live in a country that has often led the way and I am proud of that.

I pray for our country. I pray that we will overcome our mistakes, and that we will do more good for the world than harm. I pray for our leaders. And I pray for the world, I pray that one day, every person on Earth will know what it is like to live in a free society.

God bless America. God bless you.

Happy 4th of July!