As I watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York, I was reading a piece by J. B. Shurk entitled God Bless America. Shurk reminds us, as we face the current culture war with the Left that we have faced much more difficult times in our past, times that as has been said before, "try men's souls." Contemplating what these heros did in our past, one wonders if I would have had that kind of courage. Yet, if they could do these things, we can too.
Don’t fear the interesting times. Decades after they have come and passed, our descendants will marvel at all that happens now. If Americans alive today succeed in preserving liberty for the future, those born tomorrow will be forgiven for failing to appreciate the cost. They might even celebrate what we achieve without knowing our personal agonies. That is how great things come to be — by equal measures grit, sweat, tears, blood, and determination. Only afterwards do those who benefit from those efforts mistake triumphs as foregone conclusions.
If nothing else, be thankful that you come from a place filled with heroes who have stared down empires, made the impossible look easy, and found the will to unite even after civil war. America is a special place because it is home to exceptional people.
One of those exceptional people was Irving Berlin, one of the greatest songwriters of all time. A Jewish immigrant from czarist Russia who reached Ellis Island when he was five, Berlin rose from poverty to stardom. In celebrating the end of WWI, he wrote a heartfelt tribute to the country that had given him everything. He prayed: “God bless America, land that I love / Stand beside her and guide her / Through the night with the light from above.”
May we always follow that light. Amen.
Thankyou, Mr. Shurk, for reminding us we can, indeed we will prevail. May God's blessings be upon all of us today.
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