Open Arms

With the 4^th of July nearly upon us, I thought I would take a moment to talk about freedom, freedom worth fighting for.

 

The 4^th of July, an American holiday, our day of independence. We learn about it in school, Paul Revere yelling “The British are coming, The British are coming!” and we all learned the signals, one if by land, two if by sea. Our history is important to us, the heroes and symbols give us an anchor in history, a reference to call to. They allow us, through story and song, to relive the events and to experience the pride or sorrow of our past.

 

America is just over 200 years old, young in the eyes of many other nations, but she has had a very productive past. She has had her ups and downs in the story of the world, but all-in-all she has be a faithful motherland to us, she has provided safety, jobs and prosperity.  

 

America, as any nation, has her problems; she has born the scars of slavery, civil war, two world wars and many slanders from with in her borders, but like a proud parent she holds her head high for she knows she is on the path of freedom.

 

Our Freedom is on her shoulders, the shoulders of all her fallen men and woman who fought for her, to protect her and promote her ideals all over Gods green earth. Our freedom was not free, we have paid the highest price for it, and we have paid the price of blood, the blood of our brothers and sisters.

 

Let us not let the blood of our brothers and sisters run in vane.

 

 

We have hear the call many times, have seen the heroes, and looked upon the symbols of the great nation, we have reflected and even at times protested, but in the end America has been good to her children.

 

America is not perfect, she has her flaws, but I chose to write about her in a more positive light, too many of her children are already writing about her faults and down side. We hear of her imperfections and hear tails of her lack of compassion, but it seems that they forget to offer up the stories of her great compassion, the stories of heroic tales and self sacrifice in her name.

 

America needs her children now more then ever before. She is being attacked from with in as well as from with out. Her history and her memory is being challenged and slandered, her valiant past is being turned in to nothing more then gun toting cowboys with a bad attitude. America is being displayed as a woman who once thought she was a beauty, but now is nothing but a want-a-be with a bad hair day.

 

Lady Liberty is no long the tall slender beauty she once was, in the eyes of others, but rather she is portrayed as an old cranky woman, who yells at the local kids for playing on her lawn.

Lady Liberty deserves more respect, she has taken in the world’s outcast, she has opened her arms to all who have no place to call home and welcomed them with love and understanding.

 

Freedom is offered to all who call her name, to all who are willing to take up the yoke and work hard for her. Freedom is a gift that is offered to the world, a gift that must be exercised and protected, for she is a fragile gift, one that is easily broken.

 

So this Independence Day remember that America, though she may seem broken bent and damaged she is the shinning beauty in the harbor, she is the Light on the hill, the beacon calling to all. She is the caring mother who loves all her children, and welcomes them home with open arms.

 

Paul