I have learned just because I believe something that it isn’t necessarily true. There is power in the ability to be objective. There is tremendous growth in being open to the possibility that I am wrong. Fear restricts or closes the mind to possibilities and exploration and of course, growth. Little bits of denial and ignorance and avoiding create sediment. Over time, the layers of sediment form rock. Individual issues then become national mandates and often codified by law. Folks, law doesn’t mean “correct”. Our current laws are made by man and therefore seriously flawed just as the fruit is form a poisonous tree.<\/p>\n
There has been a lot of writing and talk by many, but not \u201cmany enough\u201d. Things don\u2019t seem to be turning around, but rather marching steadily toward implosion. And yes, many times I have stepped away from what I believe I think is true and correct in order to accurately assess and prayerfully correct the apparent incongruences. I have failed to find resolution.<\/p>\n
Our society has been fragmented into vicious, rock solid pockets of individualism. Each person\u2019s nuances and personal preferences form their immovable identity. Soon, our country will fragment along these types of lines. Some of the succession lines will be drawn along; religion, geographic identity, political ideology, race, sexuality and so on. E Pluribus Unum is now being reversed to \u201cOut of one, many\u201d.<\/p>\n
We have been practicing \u201cdistance\u201d from our neighbors for many, many years. What are the ties that will bind us? What will be the indivisible glue that will keep our union together? What will be the greater need that will supersede our individual preferences and opinions? I just don\u2019t see it anymore. Nationalism is an old worn out comfort blanket that went of style with the generations of those who were around for WWII. America stood together to fend off an attack on our homeland. That wave continued for many years after WWII.<\/p>\n
Too many people since then have treated our country like a rental car or a rental house. It really doesn\u2019t matter what you do as long as you get what you want. If it breaks or tears up, that is somebody else\u2019s responsibility. Too many generations have been spoiled by the security, opulence and comforts provided by previous generations. Difficulties today are often described by the lack of stuff and wants. Yes, there are folks that truly have needs and troubles that weren\u2019t of their choosing. But, we have spent the bank taking care of those who didn\u2019t need taking care of. We continue to coddle those who don\u2019t need it which just continues the pattern of generational dysfunction.<\/p>\n
America doesn\u2019t care. America is only the collective of its inhabitants. America can only be what the people make it. The inhabitants don\u2019t want America. The renters or now more aptly labeled, \u201csquatters\u201d are not interested in a greater good or doing what is necessary to make things better.<\/p>\n
Right or wrong, people look around at what others are doing to determine if what they want to do is ok. There are far too many people who don\u2019t contribute and don\u2019t care and don\u2019t participate. Why do I expect that things will change? Silly me. I have put faith in man.<\/p>\n
The process will increase in speed exponentially as folks like me stop trying to teach, lead and help and of course pay the fare for the train. I will be a martyr for my God and my family, not my country. My God and faith don\u2019t require me to die for him, but I would before I denounce him. My family is my responsibility to lead and protect and they deserve it.<\/p>\n
America formed out of a united group of people who had faith in God and feared lack of liberty more than they feared discomfort or even death. We are not that country anymore. Today in America, our inhabitants don\u2019t know God and feverishly denounce or avoid him. Our inhabitants are terrified by discomfort while they are blindly being deprived of true liberty by their pursuits of selfishness and greed that is fueled by their lack of security and fulfillment. Our inhabitants focus on the weekend, not the continuation of our freedom. Our inhabitants worry about image and personal transgressions while ignoring a national shame being propagated through apologies and weakness around the world. Our inhabitants only concern themselves with issues that will ensure their comforts while ignoring the demise of a nation that once shined like the brightest star on the darkest night.<\/p>\n
It is dark again. Where is our shine?\u00a0 — R. A. Grier<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have learned just because I believe something that it isn’t necessarily true. There is power in the ability to be objective. There is tremendous growth in being open to the possibility that I am wrong. Fear restricts or closes the mind to possibilities and exploration and of course, growth. Little bits of denial and … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15\/revisions\/16"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}