An American Citizen's Fourth of July!

Our pastor, Chuck Wilson, has a blog called "Musings From the Mountains," and I wanted to share  with you his post for yesterday.  If any of you are interested in subscribing to his blog, please let me know and I will send you a link that will show you how to log on.  He always has interesting and thought-provoking things to say, and unlike mine - his posts are relatively short!

Here's to everyone having a wonderful celebration of our nation's 234th birthday!  And amidst all the food, fun, and fireworks, please remember to say prayers for all our civic and national leaders, and especially our men and women in the armed services working and living throughout the world. God bless you all!


I was born in Revolution, July 4, 1776, but my revolution was about freedom for all, not just the privileged few. The blood lines of the world run through my veins because I stand for freedom for all - regardless of race, creed or national origin. I am three hundred million souls and each one represents the past, present and future of my freedom. I am Washington at Valley Forge, Paul Revere's ride, Lincoln at Gettysburg, Ike praying on the beach before D-Day, Martin Luther King Jr. preaching from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and President Bush planting a flag at the World Trade Tower ruins on September 14, 2001. I am computer chips in the Silicon Valley, steel mills in Pittsburg, furniture factories in High Point, textile mills in Spartanburg, Skyscrapers in New York City, and Mom and Pop businesses all across my map providing the very backbone of my free enterprise system. I am sandlot baseball games in Ohio, playground basketball in Harlem and kids shooting marbles in Elba, Alabama. I am children enjoying Disney World in Orlando, Universal Studios in Hollywood, and ThunderRoad at Carrowinds. I am Hank Aaron, Turner Field, the World Series, volleyball on Carolina beaches, High School football in Texas, tennis at Forest Hills, and golf at Augusta National. But I'm also T-ballers in ballparks all across the land, dreaming of "hitting it out" for the first time. I am Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jon Stewart, and funny stories being woven around crossroad country stores to remind us not to take ourselves too seriously. I am Mark Twain and the mighty Mississippi, kayakers on the Nantahala, a fly fisherman on a trout stream in Montana and Sunday rafters on the Tuckaseegee. I am the Ballot Box, the Bill of Rights, the bald eagle, the voting machine, the City Council, the Mayor, the Governor, the Congress, the President of my 50 states seeking to implement government of the people, and printed on my currency is my motto, "In God We Trust." I am America. It's my birthday, celebrate it today at your house of worship or wherever you may be. Reclaim my roots, that you may give an even better future to your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. I belong to you.  



Knowing that I have some readers who are not US citizens, I want to close with the following verse written by Georgia Harkness:

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,

And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine!
But other lands have sunlight too, and clover,

And skies are everywhere as blue as mine!
This is my prayer, oh God of all the nations -

A prayer of peace, for their land, and for mine.

I pray for you all, enough...