After 9/11 the prayer “God bless America” spontaneously appeared every where, but as time as passed people went back to business as usual and the many of the signs were replaced with notices of sales or bargains.
Three years later the war against terror is not over. Our soldiers are still in harm's way. Those who plotted destruction then are still looking for ways to inflict harm on this nation. They have promised to attack us this year.
Now more than ever we need to pray for God's protection. We expect our leaders to make wise decisions, our soldiers to risk their lives, and those involved in homeland security to find the terrorists before they can act, but the primary task of protecting the nation belongs to the believers. Over the July 4th weekend, I attended a special service to pray for the protection and conversion of our country. It was extremely moving, but given the warnings from Homeland Defense, it was not enough.
Watchmen can't just watch one day. Someone must always be on duty. It is up to us as spiritual watchmen to pray for our country, not just on holidays or anniversaries, like this one, but every day and whenever possible to do so publicly.
There are those who would banish all references to God from our public life, appealing to a supposed separation of church and state not justified by a straightforward reading of the first amendment, which guarantees freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. Our Founding Fathers would have been horrified to see how their intent to protect the right of all men to worship as they choose has been twisted to drive mention of God from the public square.
Charles Carroll, a Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, saw a necessary connection between the stability of the republic for which he had risked his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor and encouragement of religion: “…without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure…are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.”
It is not enough to defend the public mention of God in the courts, for what good would it be if “In God we trust” is on our coins and not in our hearts? Prayer for the nation is part of Christian piety. We can hardly expect those who don't believe in God's power to pray for His protection.
How shall we pray? For me the words of the patriotic hymns are inspiration. We can pray the second verse of “America the Beautiful”: “God mend thine every flaw, confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law.”
Or the words of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”: “As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free. His truth is marching on.”
The words of “America” remind us who is really in charge: “Protect us by thy might, Great God our King.”
From “The Star Spangled Banner” we can take this verse “And this be our motto, 'In God is our trust.'”
After our nation was attacked on 9/11, while the smoke was still rising from the rubble, members of Congress assembled on the steps of the Capitol — a building spared by the heroism of the passengers on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania — and spontaneously began to sing: “God bless America. Land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her, through the night with a light from above.” We can add our voices to theirs.
No country in the history of the world has ever been so blessed and therefore from we to whom much has been given much will be expected. We must resist the temptation to be proud, and remember that the manifold blessings we enjoy are a gift from God and purchased by the blood and sweat of those who went before us. We must humble ourselves before our heavenly Father, confessing our failings, begging His mercy, and entreating Him to protect us that we may prevail against the enemies of freedom.
Mrs. Dale O'Leary is an internationally known speaker and freelance writer, editor of Heartbeat News, author of The Gender Agenda: Redefining Equality and The Art of Raphael: Coloring Book. Her conversion story appears in Spiritual Journeys. She is currently working on a book on forgiveness.
