I’ve spent my first full day in Romania and have found the people to be very friendly. However, it is obvious to me that it is a very poor and undeveloped country. In speaking with our interpreter, she informed me that a family does good to make between 800 – 1000 dollars a month. While this is far better than many nations, it is still a far cry from life in United States.
As I sit here a continent and an ocean away from my own country I think to the two things that have defined Romania and many of the countries bordering it. One was the Hapsburg Monarchy (1278 – 1918) and then the Communist rule following WWII up until December 1989.
Both of these things – a society built upon the idea that some people are “royal” because of an “accident of birth” and others are not and a society that was built on trying to eliminate God from its very fabric are two defining factors in what has designed our country.
Our revolution was a revolt against a king and his oppressive policies. One of the slogans of the America revolution was, “No king but King Jesus!” Our first president, George Washington, refused to be crowned king and at the end of two terms of service willing succeeded power to the next duly elected president.
And then in the last century our battle against Communism was a pivotal and defining factor in forming our nation. The fact that we are a nation built on the premise that we are endowed by our “Creator” with rights weaves a moral fiber through our society that allows us to call oppressive and godless regimes evil. Our wars against Communism were more than just trying to take or defend territory. We were fighting a battle between good and evil. As Ronald Regan, our president during the collapse of the Iron Curtain, said in referring to U.S.S.R. – “An Evil Empire.”
So here is my point for all this rambling. Being in Romania for a couple days now and seeing the legacy of hundreds of years of oppression where people ruled, not because they were elected by the people but by brute force and also getting away from all the noise of life in US America, it has occurred to me that we criticize our nation way too much. Maybe it just because I run in those circles, but it seems to me that we Christians lead the way in complaining, criticizing and spewing out negativity.
It would do us all good to take a trip to much of the rest of the world and see how most people have to live. It would be a great reminder that good ole US of A ain’t that bad after all.
Am I recommending a mindless “toeing the party line”? Of course not! But let’s pray for America and our leaders. Let’s bless our nation with God ordained words of blessing and hope. Let’s be the salt and light of our society. America is worth fighting for / not fussing about. America is worth being committed to / not complaining about.
So tonight, I close with these time honored words, “God bless America” and also, “God bless you.”
david l. kemp
The ONE THING 