| | I haven't blogged in a long time, nor would I be now if my husband hadn't gently suggest that I do. Honestly, I think he is just tired of hearing me vent about my disdain for the holiday soon approaching, and thought he could gain some peace and quiet if I blogged about it instead. We Grabers do tend to have a few soap boxes that we have trouble climbing down from.  Consider yourself duly warned that this blog is nothing more than me complaining about July 4.
So, the 4th of July. It's pretty much my least favorite holiday - for many reasons. I'm not a big fan of noise and commotion, both of which I'm hearing plenty of outside my door right now. Which, by the way, is also a point of annoyance. Why do we have to "celebrate" (if commemoration is indeed the reason why most people shoot fireworks around the 4th - which I doubt) this holiday all week? I've been hearing what sounds like gunshots around my neighborhood all day - and it's not even the 4th yet! I think I could cope much better with this holiday if it truly only lasted for one day. But that's never been my experience. So, all these loud explosions have me on edge. I'm naturally a jittery person and it has never taken much to startle me. Feeling like I'm in a war zone hasn't helped this much. (Let's just say that it's a good thing these fireworks haven't scared my daughter or kept her from sleeping, or this neighborhood might really turn into a war zone!)
The other thing that bugs me about this holiday is the amount of money we Americans spend on it. Why anyone would want to spend money on something that's just going to blow up anyway is beyond me! Besides the fact that fire (and virtually anything that is dangerous) gives me a sense of uneasiness, I would never spend money on something that won't last longer than the fuse it's on. Even when we lived in "not the best neighborhood" in Green Bay, our neighbors would blow up what seemed like hundreds of dollars a night for the week of the 4th. I think it's safe to say that I will never have a "fireworks" column in my budget book.
Finally, beyond my mere annoyance with the pyrotechnics that are associated with the celebration of the 4th of July, I find myself contemplating my roll - as a Christian - with government and politics. A sampling of the many questions regarding these issues that I've wrestled with as of late:
- Yes, I believe that we are to honor God-given authority in our lives (including the government placed over us), but at what point does that respect over step its bounds and supplant the reverence that I have for Christ and His Kingdom?
- Though I enjoy the freedoms we have in this country, I also see over the course of history that the church grows through persecution and becomes complacent through times of comfort and ease. Consequently, do I continue to pray for religious freedom, or do I pray for Christ's church in America (and my own spiritual walk) to be sifted like wheat in order to grow and further honor God?
- Sometimes I get the feeling that since we are a "Christian nation", we believe that God favors our nation above others, and is "on our side". How do we maintain a sense of patriotism and still guard against this dangerous assumption?
- Do we "celebrate" and enjoy our country simply because it is the land of opportunity? Are we (am I) living the American dream and forgetting that God did not call us to lives of ease and comfort? Are we clinging to our excess possessions, or do we hold with an open hand our material comforts and lifestyles of luxury? (Derek Webb's song "Rich Young Ruler" from his album "Mockingbird" has been a big challenge to me on this subject.)
I greatly respect Derek Webb for his honest lyrics that confront current issues in the American church. Part of his song "A King and a Kingdom" (also from his CD "Mockingbird"), sums up much of what I've been trying to say:
there are two great lies that i’ve heard:
“the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”
and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or aman
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it's to a king & a kingdom
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| | Posted 7/1/2007 11:56 PM - 20 Views - 4 eProps - 2 comments
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