28 June 2009
Sharon’s Sunday Blog
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: General .
By Sharon Anderson
America, God Mend Thine Every Flaw
Friday, at Deseret Industries (a second hand store), I walked by a cart with books waiting to be put on the shelves and happened to notice one entitled Just and Holy Principles – Readings on America and the Constitution (1998). This like-new collection of over 25 talks, given 1839-1996, cost only a dollar, so it seemed like a gift put there just for me. It was a serendipitous discovery that helped counter the disappointment we felt that evening when we learned that the House passed the Cap and Trade bill. The book contains a timely and inspiring discourse, “America, God Mend Thine Every Flaw” by Neal A. Maxwell given 4 July 1993. Here are some excerpts:
As we sing of a “patriot dream that sees beyond the years,” it reminds us of the special perspective that patriotism possesses. True patriotism takes a long view of this nation’s needs. What does this reminding lyric tell us about our consistent and collective refusal, regardless of party, to face America’s mounting national debt and our destabilizing budget deficits.”
We cannot seem to see beyond the political moment, let alone “beyond the years.” Indeed, if certain conditions remain uncorrected in a lasting way, the “patriots’ dream” may be replaced by some nightmares!
Patriotism that sees “beyond the years” leave legacies to rising generations instead of debt. It leaves clean turf, not the debris-strewn fields of a selfish society.
“As we sing the words “confirm thy soul in self-control,” what of our society’s increasing lack of impulse control? More than we realize, our whole society really rests on the capacity of its citizens to give “obedience to the unenforceable.”
Widespread and sustained lack of self control will bring either several external controls or anarchy. The lack of self-control collectively and individually adds to our debt, to America’s devastating drug problem, and to our growing crime.
The quality of self-control is best grown in healthy family gardens. Healthy families are the first places in which we learn how to balance rights and responsibilities. ”
We rightly sing about how a “good” America should be crowned “with brotherhood.” But instead of increasing brotherhood there is increasing separatism.
We plead for God to “mend” America’s “every flaw.” But can we both acknowledge our flaws productively and believe in the Mender? God’s blessings will depend upon our behavior. We can be “free from bondage, and from captivity,” if we serve God.
God’s blessings in the future are vital not only for America but also for the world. More hinges on what happens in America than we realize. America, with all its problems, is still a beacon. This beacon needs to shine more brightly today for the sake of alll mankind in order to give “hope to all the world.”
Patriotism required that America have and maintain a spiritual core in order that our hopes are not in vain. Without this spiritual core, our liberties, our cities, our fiscal policies, and our brotherhood will finally falter and fail. Virtue must, therefore, reside in the people as well as in the leaders.
The best single way to improve the quality of life in America is to improve the quality of our own individual lives and our own neighborhoods.
Our inspired Constitution is wisely designed to protect us from our excess of power, but it can do little to protect us from excesses of appetite or from our indifference to great principles or institutions.
Any significant unraveling of the moral fiber of the American people, therefore, finally imperils the Constitution. The moral fabric of this society can become dangerously and relentlessly frayed as too few strands strain to hold us together. Hence shared patriotic, spiritual, and moral commitments within this nation’s border are a vital as defending those borders!
God bless America by helping us to mend our flaws!
Note: In July 1993 national the debt was increasing by an astounding one billion dollars every 24 hour— little compared to what is happening today.
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