Monday, July 6, 2020

'Merica 2020

Happy July 4th! I know I'm a couple of days late, but it's never too late to mention Independence Day in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

We're still that, in spite of all the messaging out there currently.

I'm a bit weary of it to be honest. Weary of the complaining and the nit picking and the nastiness. The steady stream of fault finding and blame/shame and most of all the thought police who tell us loving our country is wrong.

America is an imperfect place full of imperfect people. She was founded by imperfect people too, people doing what they felt was right given the times in which they lived. Making mistakes, failing in a lot of ways, but also gettting a whole lot right because here we are more than 240+ years later and America still stands, still brims with opportunity, diversity, and a long long list of freedoms so many people around the world can only dream of.


A long time ago, before the internet, television, or even the telephone, courageous men and women envisioned something beautiful and set the wheels in motion to birth a nation.

The wheels are still turning and we're not there yet, but we have come a long long way.

If this country were my children I'd send them to their room to write a list of all the good and hopeful things to be found in America. I'd make them read it every morning as a reminder that gratitude is a habit just like complaining, but it's gratitude that softens hearts while complaining makes us bitter.

Are there things in this nation worthy of real complaint? Absolutely. But those very real issues are lost in the noise and chaos of so much that is not. Somewhere along the way we adopted an 'everybody get out there and change the world and be loud about it' sort of mantra. And p.s. if you're not you don't count.

Maybe we need to stop aiming for the whole world?

This is planet Earth not heaven, and I for one wish we could each strive to bring peace, forgiveness, and kindness to our own little corner of it. America is a beauty. Flawed and free. Pained and  passionate. Imperfect, impatient, strong and generous. She is not just one thing. She is not an either or.

America is a mixed bag of people, emotion, imagination, wit, brains, skill and heart.
'May God shed His grace on Thee....'

7 comments:

  1. Happy 4th to you and your family! I echo your words. May God shed His grace on thee... we are so in need of revival. πŸ™πŸ»❤️πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ

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  2. I loved this post. We definitely need more positivity (is that even a word?) in our world right now.

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  3. E Pluribus Unum Out of many one. It was refreshing to read your thoughts.

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  4. I echo your exact thoughts. So heartbreaking to see our country in this sad state of affairs. Blessings abundant!

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  5. Amen! Great post Joyce. I like the paragraph "If this country were my children I'd send them to their room to write a list of all the good and hopeful things to be found in America."

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  6. I totally agree. And I am so glad we still get to vote

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