Silent Majority . . . It’s Time To Stand Up And Sing!
By Debbie Daniel (03/29/04)
“God Bless America . . . land that I love. Stand beside her, and guide her, through the night with a light from above . . . .”
Oh, how those words resonate with a heart that is hurting. The reverent image I still see, and the melodic voices I still hear – of our men and women in congress standing on the steps of the Washington Capitol, lifting their hearts and voices to an Almighty God – will forever be ingrained in the memory of my heart and mind.
It became a hymn; it became a prayer of distress; it was our surrogate national anthem. But whatever that song represents to you, its powerful message of petition and submission was to someone greater than any of us.
We didn’t call a special emergency meeting . . . we sang.
We didn’t sing the words of Francis Scott Key – “The Star Spangled Banner” – it was absolutely a time when we needed more . . . a prayer. It was a providential moment, and we ingratiated ourselves to our Heavenly Father in song. That was it, pure and simple.
As we all walked away from that beautiful scene of unity and went back to our everyday lives . . . where did we go? Our hearts were heavy, but our resolve was strong, and our mission was defined. So, where did we go?
Here were some of the greatest leaders in our nation calling on the name of God for help:
“From the mountains, to the prairies, to the ocean white with foam, God Bless America, my home sweet home.”
Friends, I don’t care how you look at it – that’s a PRAYER; an admission of inadequacy, a call for comfort and guidance . . . God bless us – God help us.
And when the good Lord above reached down into people’s lives to be that comforter, that helper, a Lord of mercy . . . we slapped Him in the face and told Him to go away.
But He could not bear to leave us, and He continued to show His loving-kindness through caring people everywhere who gave of themselves, their money, and their time – anything to ease the pain and befriend the families of the fallen.
But after the dust (literally) settled, it was life as usual. We didn’t need any more blessings; we had “done our due,” and now we needed to move on. In fact, it seemed that many wanted to rush back into life so they wouldn’t have to think about the horrible disaster that had happened only days before. We wanted normalcy.
We used God for only those first painful moments and then after that everything would be fine . . . but it wasn’t. The spectacle we made to God must have been only for show. Did we need to look spiritual, engage in a godly moment, or were we serious about our cries for help?
Well, one lone individual would try to prove it to be merely a sanctimonious gesture to reach out to God. Michael Newdow – believing that he represents all of America – has taken it on himself to see that the words “Under God” are literally excised from the Pledge of Allegiance. And he’s made it all the way to the Supreme Court to see that it happens. He says, “Government will not be in the business of religion – how do we know there’s a God?”
Mercy, we seem to throw God around only as it suits us. When we need Him, we cry out for help. When we want Him to butt out, we tell Him to go away. So, unless we’re willing to stand up to the Michael Newdows of the world, we’re proving his point – it was hypocrisy at its best.
We can stand and sing all day long to our Creator, but if one man says, “Go Away, God,” and we part the proverbial waters to let him through, then again we’re “done” (finished) with God.
We watched another lone individual fight for the right to keep a stone monument of the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building. It was an Alabama Supreme Court Justice that ran his campaign and won on a platform that he would place those commandments in that very spot of the building. But after all the votes were counted and this man, Justice Roy Moore, won the race, another voice – the ACLU – said: “No, you cannot have that monument shown in a public place.” And now it’s gone, and again we’re “done” (finished) with God.
When the ACLU speaks, we run the other way. They want Christ out of Christmas . . . nativity scenes are not allowed . . . the sanctity of our marriage vows have been dragged through the gutter – soon we will be “uniting” whatever lands on our doorstep – and we’re suppose to be tolerant as Christians.
We’re fighting now to keep obscenities off public television and radio, but some feel it should be allowed. We are told “freedom of speech” allows us to say what we want, as long as it doesn’t have the words “God” in it.
Soon our money will need to be reprinted . . . our Bibles rewritten to include a generic name for him and her . . . any building bearing the name of God torn down, and as Mr. Newdow has proposed, get rid of all the chaplains that lead prayer before congress.
And we stand idly by, watching it all happen. We either don’t know how to speak up, or we don’t care.
Is this how we honor God for what He’s done for us as a nation? Or do we really believe we achieved this success as a superpower on our own?
The wild donkeys are on the loose; heehawing and making braying sounds to obfuscate the truth. It is time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country.
We need to get back to those capitol steps and start singing again. Wherever you are, Silent Majority, now is the time to come forward. Let your voices be heard.
WE NEED YOU – it’s time to Stand Up and Sing!
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