Many of us have become fair weather patriots, forgetting the terrible cost paid for the freedoms we enjoy. Today, Godlessness threatens, wherein the majority of good, God fearing men and women, seemingly cower before a small minority who actively oppose the very mention of God in our schools and public places. Fair weather patriots, in that we forget that this country was founded by those who put God first. “In God we trust,” was no mere slogan, but rather a statement of faith. In 1812, when Francis Scott Key wrote his inspired ode to patriotism, he spoke proudly of the Flag, praising the Power which first made, and then preserved us as a nation. We ought pay close attention to the lyrics. Consider the final verse:
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave! (1)
Reading these stirring words ought prompt us to remember our duty as freemen and women. Our duty is so to live in our personal lives that we might incur the blessings of Heaven, that we might be fit to act for the preservation of the Christian ideals upon which this nation was founded. Much is at stake here, for so did a prophet of God testify:
“Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ…” (2)
Indeed, much is at stake. Is it not time to look deeply inside ourselves? We remember then this: “…therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.” (3) Yes, we need consider our ways, and where the salve of repentance is needed, we ought apply it sincerely, and with real intent.
(1) Francis Scott Key, The Star Spangled Banner
(2) Ether 12:2 The Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ
(3) Haggai 1:5