Which Way?
In today’s political arena, many dictates and mandates are being handed down trying to limit what we can think and what we can say. Certain statements and comments that were said in the past, are now considered politically incorrect. Certain comments or beliefs are considered radical or hate crimes. More and more, society is dictating what we can say, and what we believe.
In my lifetime I have watched society move away from the morality, respect, and honor this country, flag, and God deserves. We have changed from a country built on the basic beliefs of good and fair treatment of all citizens, using the 10 Commandments as a guide, to faithless godless people coming to this country wanting us to remove any memory of those guidelines, because they find it offensive.
In my youth it was common to see every household go to a place of worship, (of many denominations), on Saturday night or Sunday morning. They were free to choose what they believed and where they would go to practice that belief. In the home, manners as well as morals were taught by the parents, and any diversion from what the parents taught came with a reprimand and instructions to behave.
In today’s society, for the most part, we have moved so far away from the practice of honoring the flag, respecting what it stands for and behaving in a moral and self-respecting way, it is hard to remember what we were taught in our youth. As with many generations our parents told us what we have told our children, that when I was your age, I would never have gotten away with that. It seems with every generation, rules and regulations become slacker. The rioting that occurred in Washington State, and in this nation’s capital, would never have been tolerated by the local state or federal government in the past. If things don’t change soon in this regard, we have to ask ourselves what our future will look like.
With covid and its many forms and variants, it is isolating us as neighbors and communities. We are becoming islands, little pods of society that sit in our homes and want to be waited on by every delivery system that is out there. We are using this excuse to let the government tell us not only how to behave, and what to say, but to sit home and not go to work, to receive unemployment, and in doing so cripple the nation.
We ask ourselves why is this happening? What can we do to stop this corrosion of our society? We can do that by following the words of the song’s that Reba McIntyre sings.
Back to God
Oh, have you looked around
Have you heard the sound
Of mama’s cryin’
Or do you turn away
When you see the face
Of the innocent dyin’
In these darkest days
Are you not afraid
That it’s too late
You gotta get down on your knees, believe
Fold your hands and beg and plead
Gotta keep on praying
You gotta cry, rain tears of pain
Pound the floor and scream his name
‘Cause we’re still worth saving
Can’t go on like this and live like this
We can’t love like this
We gotta give this world back to God
Have you lost a love?
Do you feel like givin’ up?
Has your heart been broken?
Are your kids okay?
Will they come home safe?
Do you lie there hoping?
You can make a wish, you knock on wood
Oh it won’t do no good
You gotta get down on your knees, believe
Fold your hands and beg and plead
You gotta keep on praying
You gotta cry, rain tears of pain
Pound the floor and scream his name
‘Cause we’re still worth saving
We can’t go on like this and live like this
We can’t love like this
We gotta give this world back to God
You see the problem isn’t that the government is moving in on our territory, the problem is that we are moving away from God. We don’t think we need his guidance, wisdom, or protection, because we can do it by ourselves. Just like any spoiled child who doesn’t want their parents help, until they get into trouble, then mother and father are the first ones they call.
I don’t know if you realize it or not, but we as a society and this country are in trouble! We need to call on our heavenly father to get back on the right track.
As parents it is our responsibility and obligation to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, to teach them respect for their elders, authorities, their country, and the flag which it represents. Impress on them the great need to turn this country back to God, and we can do this by example.
We as writers need to watch that we never glorify the people whose agenda is raising themselves up on their own petard, disregarding laws and the people who enforce them. We need some heroes in our stories, articles and papers of real people like the men in blue, green, and brown.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (lucre). Matthew 6:24
And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed. Deuteronomy 31:8
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. James 4:4
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Isaiah 25:15
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Matthew 23:37