We ARE a good people!

We seem to have lost our perspective about who we are.

Perhaps it is a sign that I am getting old, but to be perfectly blunt: I have lived a good life as a citizen of the United States of America., dammit!

Recent posts from the Hoover Institution have convinced me that we are a complex nation, and we certainly disagree with each other about the direction of our nation, but folks, this is normal! We were made from a disagreement with an English monarch, and over the 230+ years that we have been recognizable as a nation, we have done much good.

Did you know that former President Herbert Hoover was appointed by President Harry Truman to be the Food Ambassador to Europe? Post WWII Germany was a mess because of the damage that WWII bombing had caused. We won the war, but the people of Europe were starving….literally. A popular saying at the time was “Mr. Hoover knows where every bag of flour in the world is located” and he made it his mission to make sure that Western Europe (Eastern Europe was already under the control of Stalin) was fed and clothed.

There are many more examples in our history. Instead of focusing on the good we have done and continue to do we have fixated on what we have not done well. My descendants never owned a slave….in fact a few were sent from Poland to be “housekeepers” for wealthy families in America. Slavery is an abomination and the Civil War and the difficult 100 years following did all we knew possible to assimilate former slaves and their families into freedom and prosperity. Oh, I know I will hear it about that one! Bring it on!

Another misconception: Americans have been a people who believe and trust in God. Equally important is that America does not prescribe whether to believe, how to believe or in Whom to believe. That is the fruit of our Bill of Rights and the preaching and service of Christian pastors then and now. We need not focus on the wrongs and forget the good.

As a Lutheran Pastor, I am thankful that our people of the USA have the freedom to be wrong! I am convinced in my heart of hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord of all and it is only through Him that salvation is given. No one in our nation will deprive me of this certainty in my life. I am thankful, however, that the Book of Concord is not the only rule and norm of faith for all citizens of the USA. It is an excellent exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and I have taken a vow at my Ordination that I would regard it as the Confession that fences my doctrine in and gives those I serve the assurance that I am not just making things up when I preach and teach.

A self-evident truth is that the USA is not a Lutheran nation, though I do offer our faith as a source of comfort and truth. The fact that any specific faith, or a seemingly impossible lack of faith, is not prescribed in our Constitution is a great thing. We refer to America as a place where Church and State and not the same thing, though as American Christians our faith motivates us to be good citizens and be concerned with the needs of others. Christianity is not a “private” faith. Try as I may, I cannot keep my faith to myself. Even when not talking (a rare moment, indeed) I am living my faith by prayer for those I meet, those less fortunate, and those who are hostile to me because of my faith.

I am getting really tired of the denigration of our nation. It is relentless in our media, especially in social media. Social media is almost the direct expression of the sin of “turning in on ourselves” that Martin Luther described as a definition of the sinful nature and that seems pretty self-evident to me. Much of our “instant” social media places tremendous pressure on people to “cocoon” into their own little world. We see it even at public events, where people are focused on recording or taking selfies and totally miss the point of the event. IF we are to regain any sense of community we must control the use of these intoxicating social media platforms in our children. That means parents have to put the damn phone down too….and grandparents too.

OK, enough of the old Pastor trying to make sense of the world he lives in. If this is helpful, please let me know in the comments below. If I am way off base, sign up for a Substack page and share your own perspective.

I pray God’s blessings on the nation of Israel and on all of us that we me look to our Prince of Peace for inspiration, motivation and salvation. Remember that God is with you!