Americans love their homes, a log cabin in the wooded areas on the remote mountainside, or the palatial mansion surrounded by manicured lawns, stately trees and surrounded by gates to assure the privacy of the owner.
Americans love food and far too many eat more than their share, therefore we have become a nation of obese children who grow into obese adults. Americans have become one of the best-dressed people in the world, with designers earning millions. Shopping malls have become the hub of every town and city. Shopping is now one of the favorite pastimes of the majority of housewives, teens and now, more than ever in past history, men and boys.
Americans have become addicted to cell phones. They are unable to drive across town without a phone in their palm, held close to their ear while trying to steer their vehicle through traffic that is advancing at a fast clip on six-lane highways. Cell phones are used while shopping for groceries, filling the gas tanks, mowing the lawns, during stops in a drive-by fast-food station, as they stroll the streets, and as they eat their meals.
We are a country that has welcomed those seeking a better life from all parts of the world, therefore we are a mix bag of humanity. Many religions from other nations have come our towns and communities.
We are once again engaged in war where our young men and women are on foreign soil seeking to make a better life for a oppressed people who hate and kill them for doing so. and in this attempt, America has lost favor in many parts of the world.
Yet, as we celebrate our independence, Americans value their freedom above all else. America is a nation that was founded on Christianity. We are militarily the strongest nation in the world. We honor our flag, we pray for our leaders and we will become united once again.
Millions of Americans of my generation had fathers who fought in World War I, husbands who fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam and sons and grandsons who now are fighting in Iraq. We do not live in fear because we believe, as those who came before us, we will meet the challenge of whatever is ahead with courage, intelligence and bravery.
I will be eternally grateful that in the broad scheme of things I was allowed to be born in America. As I look at my grandchildren and now, great-grandchildren, I try to envision the America of tomorrow. I pray they will continue to find the freedom to worship as they grow in favor with God; that technology will benefit them in ways I cannot imagine. I pray they will know that those before them left a legacy of faith and courage in bad times as well as good.
I pray they too will take great pride in being an American and will strive in becoming the generation that reclaimed the right morals, that stood for all things that has made America great, and will honor the flag that flies for freedom and a renewed justice for all.
As the fireworks fill the skies in celebration of the greatest nations’ birth this Fourth of July, may each of us pray for peace and be thankful for a country that God has truly blessed.
Mary Sauceman, a resident of LaFayette, writes a weekly column for the Walker County Messenger.
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