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Finding the Way Home
The eNewsletter Archive
Below is the archived version of Marshall Hayden's eNewesletter "Finding the Way Home." If you would like to be added to to mailing list, please send a blank email to evangelism-subscribe@worthingtoncc.org.
You may also view our archived articles here.
July 2009
Last evening at church we enjoyed a really great music program that featured the songs that followers of Christ want to sing and play to express their faith as it plays out in national loyalty and an appreciation for this remarkable republic.
Heartfelt gratitude was expressed to the men and women who have served their country in the armed services. The choir and the instrumental ensemble presented a tribute. It was a medley of the signature songs representing each branch of our military. And as that song was sung the men and women who have served with that arm came forward. At the end there was a long, enthusiastic, grateful, standing ovation.
We clapped to the rhythms and sang some words in soft tones, even though we weren’t in the choir. It was hard to be quiet. The right kind of tears, and broad smiles, were the order of the evening.
And there was no neglecting God’s part in the founding of the nation, and in her present health. Some songs spoke of the disciplines and the loyalties necessary to keep her great and strong. And we had to think hard about some things that have changed and are changing, giving us reason to be concerned and to think about what we should do and can do.
That’s the point of this note!
I went away with great feelings about the talent in our church family, about the excitement of the music, about the thoughtful and careful narrations that were prepared, and about some of the powerful words that were sung. We heard music about the right kinds of freedoms, received and given; and I was heartened by our awareness. And I went away wondering just what my role must be in providing for my neighbors, children, grandchildren, and the masses longing to be free – one man’s contribution to the future health of this community and this country.
Will I be part of some solutions or part of the nagging problems that hold us back and threaten us? Will I consider that somehow I am an exception to the laws of God and of this land; or will I walk the second mile in the style of Jesus? Will I lay aside some of my legal rights, when I know they are not truly right? Will I make sacrifices for the common good, even without the president asking for them from me? Will I love my neighbor as I love myself? Will I be determined to leave my place better than I found it, even if it is not my child, spouse, or friend who occupies that place?
More than singing the songs, waving the flags, clapping to a martial beat, and cheering the fireworks, that’s the kind of thing, I believe, that will make me a real patriot.
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