I don’t really know what to talk about from this week. Nothing too exciting happened. For those who are following me on my philosophic journey, I’m still in the midst of Plato’s Republic. Reading for a half hour at lunch each day makes for slow progress.
This Monday was Memorial Day, as you presumably all know. I missed most of the festivities by sleeping the day away. We had a nice cookout in our backyard with some of our extended family, which was very nice. My dad and I had cause to go into the mall in the afternoon, and were thus able to enjoy the red, white, and blue signs announcing sales. Though related to Memorial Day peripherally, these don’t fundamentally relate to patriotism. I did, however, have one thing which for me was the highlight, or at least patriotic moment, of my day.
We were singing the closing hymn at Mass at my home parish of Saint Angela. Apparently, the Star-Spangled Banner has verses, which are as beautiful as the popular first verse which we are all accustomed too. Suddenly, as I was singing my best, (which is impossible at 8:30 in the morning), I remembered that event in the 18th chapter of Genesis where Moses pled with God not to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. God was planning to destroy the city but Moses argued that God should not destroy it for the sake of the few righteous people living there. I think by the end they were down to about ten people. As we sang, and as I gazed at the tabernacle, I thought of all the people in the world that want America to be destroyed. I have even met people, here, in the United States, born and raised here, that hope that very soon, the United States will collapse. And, beyond this, there are many who say that America is become a modern-day land of Sodom. They say it is a place completely without morals and utterly godless. However, just as quickly as I thought of this, to the forefront of my consciousness came the voices of all the older generation at mass with my family and me. These were the few righteous people. In little parishes all over the country, little groups of people still placed their trust in God and lifted up their voices, recognizing that this country was, is, and always will be His, and must rely on Him. Tears came to my eyes as I prayed, “Lord, for the sake of these righteous ones, do not destroy our land.”
God Bless America!
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