Fourth of July

It is the Fourth of July. I'm glad I live here. I want my country to do well, but I would rather it do what is right. That isn't happening much.

One of my greatest pet peeves is when people put their American citizenship before their Christianity. It happens all the time. It is one of the reasons we are in Iraq.

I was on a mission trip in another country awhile back when I saw this mindset raise its ugly head over and over.
"How dare she look at me like I'm a devil, I'm an American!"
"They wouldn't dare do anything to an American!"
"What do you mean he's handsome? I've got to get you back to America."
"This would never happen in America."

It was a long trip.

One of my students asked me why we didn't say the Pledge of Allegiance in our school. I told her I didn't know why any of the other teachers didn't do it, but my reason was that my allegiance was with Jesus.

I have been reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In the Memoir section by G. Leibholz:

"It was Bonhoeffer and his friends who proved by their resistance unto death that even in the age of the nation-state there are loyalties which transcend those to state and nation. They proved that even in this age nationalism stands under God and that it is a sin against Him and His call for fellowship with other nations if it degenerates into national egotism and greed."

So, this is where my mind has been on this 4th - there and trying to figure out where all the new socks we just bought for Clay went to.