put on your oxygen mask – America is burning

memories of 1812 – a country under siege, lessons learning

my country is burning, burning right before my eyes – my tears cannot be counted, they are too many – too many to disguise – but they are not enough to put out the flames

and so I am forced to watch the destruction of cities, dreams demolished, dreams denied, lives lost without lament – none of them decried   . . .

the enemy?  not some foreign invader who cares little for us, who would take our freedoms and our lives with no thought of conscience to stop him from such evil ends  . . .

no, it is my own countrymen who do these deeds of devastation, defying something evil hiding in our midst, something lurking just out of sight, too ugly to be seen in the light,  buried beneath the banner of liberty and justice for all . . .

perhaps they thought when all was burned away, this evil would be exposed for all to see or would have gone up in smoke along with all the rest  . . .   certainly this evil enemy, this enemy of us all, cannot be fireproof?   can he?

Peace is shattered, Truth buried where we cannot find her anymore and Hope?Hope of finding Truth and resurrecting her before it is too late, seems to be hiding from us in these moments when we need her most –

we need Hope, Hope that Truth will be found and revived, that Freedom will find her voice again, that she will be allowed to speak, that she will be listened to . . .

maybe we don’t want to hear what Truth has to tell, a truth too terrible to be told, so we have closed our eyes, and turned our heads and refused to listen . . .

now America is burning, we are our own enemy – when we have done away with democracy and free speech, when our liberties and our freedoms are gone – when we no longer have the right to pursue our dreams in peace and safety – what will be left to us still standing after every statue is toppled and every God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness has been trampled underfoot?

what will be left to us besides burned out buildings and empty spaces?  neither of these containing any memory of who we were, who we were hoping to become, where we have been, what we have overcome to get to where we are today, and what is the way forward?

our history shows us where we were wrong and it is our history that will show us the way forward out of those wrongs

the only ones who are doomed to repeat history are those who don’t know history

will it be the hatred, the anger, the violence, the intolerance and the silencing of any dissenting ideas or voices – is that what will survive the flames that light our cities by night?

is that what we will have to show for this time in history?  will this be the time when tyranny takes over, voices are silenced, the mob rules and fear silences the majority of Americans who just want the freedom to work, worship and live in peace?

books are banned in China – that doesn’t happen here

certainly someone will speak up?  is everyone filled with fear?

fire is refining, supposed to burn away the bad;  leaving behind what is better, better than what we had –

“These (trials) have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  (1 Peter 1:7)

but it seems to me at present, hate, anger, lies, deception, manipulation, fear and violence are enjoying free reign while truth, freedom, justice, peace, and democracy are either being held hostage or they were burned beyond recognition in the fires set by the rioters across our country.

Either way, racial injustice, the evil that the protesters hope to eradicate by their actions, may survive the fires while everyone else gets badly burned and we all lose what was worth saving about this country that we all claim as our own.

Hong Kong is currently fighting to maintain its freedoms, even as China attempts to take control of Hong Kong.  Why would Hong Kong resist?  They know what life without personal freedom is like.  We don’t, but we may be about to find out.

In the last few days, people have been fired, silenced, shamed into submission or into issuing public apologies for any words they might have said which don’t appear to fall in line with prevailing acceptable public speech at the moment. Who decides what speech/thoughts are allowed to be shared and which are not?  I thought we still had free speech in this country?

Did I miss the repealing of the first amendment?

Ultimately, it is Truth that needs to be set free, because it is Truth that has the power to expose and to defeat injustice, racial injustice, all injustice.  Ironically, it is Truth that sets us all free.

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  (John 8:32)

No protest, no legislation, no slogans, no hashtags will bring about the changes that need to take place.  This is because a change of heart is necessary in order to abolish all injustice – to put an end to man’s inhumanity to man.

sadly, we are incapable of changing our own hearts – but the One who made us is able to change our hearts.  we need to humble ourselves and ask Him for what He wants to give us –

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  (Psalm 51:10)

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws.”  (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

God’s laws are – love Him and love each other.  If we were truly loving each other, we would be treating each other justly.

“Love does no harm to its neighbor.  Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”  (Romans 12:10)

It is no coincidence that while corona caused the cancellation and the closing of all of our places of worship, other forces rushed in to fill the void left in each of our lives when we could no longer exercise our faith corporately in community with each other.  That is where America got her start, in houses of worship – that is where America gains her strength – in houses of prayer.  And that is where America will receive the heart transplant she so desperately needs in order to survive – in our places of worship and prayer all over this country.  Without it, she will surely die.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,  . . .  He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.”   (Psalm 33:12 &15)

I pray that George Floyd and David Dorn did not die in vain.  I pray that “the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”  (Gettysburg address)

I pray that we all drop to our knees and cry out to the God who created us in His image and bestowed upon us the “unalienable rights” that our Declaration of Independence acknowledges are from Him not from government.  When we do this, we have His assurance that He will hear us and in hearing us, He will answer us.

“If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”    (2 Chronicles 7:14-15)

Lord, heal our broken hearts – heal our battered, burned and broken land

sincerely,     Grace Day