A WOMAN'S VIEW ~ Lenore Buth

America will endure so long as we keep our foundation solid

In recent times many people feared America might crumble under the strain of politics

They forgot this Nation has come through hard times before. Survived and even thrived, because of (or in spite of) whoever held elected office. 

On January 9, 1790, our first President, George Washington described the beginning of these United States and used a phrase that's now common:

"The establishment of our new Government seemed to be the last great experiment for promoting human happiness."

Democracy, still in existence--to the amazement of the rest of the world. (Can there be any explanation except it is by the grace of God?)

You and me, blessed to live in America, the land of new beginnings. The land where anything is possible.

You and me, still here and still alive, by the grace of God. Every day is the gift of our Creator. May we take Psalm 118:24 to heart--and live it:

This is the day that the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

It's time to make a new start 

Our recent Presidential election shows an almost equal divide among votes received. Opinion polls report the same. Differing mindsets are not bad because, hey, this is America. What's harmful is when "we" quickly judge "they" are blind and vice versa, forgetting we each have the right to sincerely believe what we believe.

Let's ditch the carping and criticizing that causes discomfort among friends and family "on the other side."

When we hang onto the mindset of "sides," we all lose. Our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, laid out the reason why:

"A house divided against itself cannot stand.”  

America's history is peppered with accounts of missteps and misguided leaders along the way. Yet God preserved this "great experiment" over and over again. And he tells us how to relate to those in authority positions, as in:     

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.  Romans 13:1  ESV

This Nation was founded on timeless principles  

Our founding fathers hammered out the unforgettable first paragraph in our Declaration of Independence: 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Their last sentence identifies the cornerstone and foundation stones for their Declaration:  

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

Our Founders were wise and principled individuals, yet they relied on our all-knowing God to show them the way.

 

It cost them dearly  

Those men ho signed the Declaration of Independence and later, the U.S. Constitution, risked everything they had to found this Nation and to break away from powerful Great Britain. 

They knew the hazards beforehand. A number paid with their lives and their fortunes--or members of their families did. As for their "sacred honor," some people around them called them traitors to the Crown. That surprised no one. 

John Hancock refused to be intimidated and signed the Declaration first in large, bold script, declaring, "Well, I guess the King should be able to read that!"

Did our Nation's founders believe in God?

Decide for yourself:

"We recognize no sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus."  -John Adams and John Hancock

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."  -George Washington

"By renouncing the Bible, philosophers swing from their moorings upon all moral subjects... It is the only correct map of the human heart that ever has been published...  -Benjamin Rush

Our U.S. Constitution came into being in 1787

That's when many of these same men came together to write the binding document that would detail how the federal government would function.

It required courage even to try to put together this new way of running a country--and it took time. The Constitution vested the power of this union in the people, yet each state had different laws, interests and cultures. The challenge was to lay out how this group of states could unite into one body. 

Predictably, not everyone favored such a system of government. Many citizens still had ties with Great Britain and remained loyal to the Crown. 

As before, the founders forged ahead and relied on Almighty God:

"For my own part, I sincerely esteem it [the Constitution] a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests."  - Alexander Hamilton (In 1787 after the Constitutional Convention)

The great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone, that renders us invincible.  -Patrick Henry

"The Constitution only guarantees you the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."  -Benjamin Franklin  

These men had no instruction manual

They were striving to do what hadn't been done, to put together a nation like none other on earth and set up its governing structure from scratch

They had only themselves and God. But that was more than enough.

The brave men who penned the Declaration of Independence knew their Bibles. The principles they set down for this fledgling United States of America reflect Bible verses like these:   

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.- II Cor. 3:17

 

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. - Psalm 33:12

Reflections from some later U.S. Presidents 

"The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God." -President John F. Kennedy

"If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under."  -President Ronald Reagan

"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."-Dwight D. Eisenhower

Let's leave behind grumbling and intrigue and search out reasons to give thanks

May we look for evidence that God has not walked away from America. It's all around us if we have eyes to see--in people, in nature and yes, in politicians.  

 

Every day let us humbly ask God to watch over us and to guide every public official, at every level, whether we voted for them or not. Let's also pray He will preserve this nation from those who would destroy it, whether from without or within.

 

Rich or poor, old or young, let's deliberately talk about what's right about America and those elected to lead us. That simple strategy will help us be a positive influence in our family and among our friends.  

 

Our founders meant us to live honorable and peaceful lives. So does our Maker. Here are just two of many Bible verses that flesh out how to treat the people around us.  

Let each of you look not only to his [or her] own interests, but also to the interests of others.  -Philippians 2:4

 

[Jesus said] "And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them."  -Luke 6:31

Imagine if we remembered who we are as Jesus people

 

Imagine if we let it show.

[Jesus said] "You are the light of the world . . . let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."  -Matthew 5:14a, 16  ESV

If you and I live by those simple instructions our Nation will grow stronger.  

 

It was true for our Founding Fathers and it is true for each of us: God is our strength, our hope, our refuge. 

 

With a grateful heart,

Lenore

What we can learn from Mother Teresa

Let's declare a break in playing and replaying what's behind us--or ruminating on what may be coming next. 

Let's focus instead on the little woman the whole world seemed to love during her lifetime and even now: Mother Teresa.  

No need to go into all the ins and outs of her life, except to say she spent her days serving the poorest of the poor, mostly in Calcutta, before she died September 5, 1997.

Mother Teresa lives on through her timeless words, the deep truths she spoke in simple words. I'm not Catholic, but I admire the unselfish way she lived.

She is said to have had the following lines posted on the wall of her office. They're worth a careful reading, because these truths have value for us all, no matter our age or life situation.

To me, they seem especially fitting for right now. See if you agree:  

• People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
  
  
• If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
  
  
• If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some enemies. Succeed anyway.
  
  
• If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you. Be honest and frank anyway.
  
  
• What you spent years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway.
  
  
• If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
  
  
• The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway.
  
  
• Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you've got anyway.
  
  
• You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God. It never was between you and them anyway.
  
  
• May love touch your heart, may peace lift your spirit and may you find happiness in all your endeavors.

Mother Teresa's words are enough to keep us thinking for quite awhile

Obviously, she was a woman of faith and she lived a life of service. Some people wonder what motivated her to spend her life caring for those the rest of society walked right by. I think the answer can be found in Bible verses like these, from 1 John 4: 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God ...

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him ...

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another ... We love because he first loved us.

Mother Teresa wasted no time proclaiming who was right or who was wrong. She simply loved and gave of herself

Here are three of her quotes that also speak to us today:

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."

"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies. 

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin." 

You and I can help make our world a better place if we follow her example and live out what the Bible teaches us right in the place where we live. Where God has planted us.

As she said, We have only today. Let us begin.

May God bless you,

Lenore 

Right now many of us are mourning a deep loss

We're grieving the loss of what we believed America is all about.

That a mob would batter their way into our U.S. Capitol building makes us heartsick. "This is America!" we want to scream. "That does not happen here!

Except it did. On January 6, 2021. 

Many of the folks in that mob no doubt considered themselves "good people," who were upholding truth, justice and what is right.   

Reportedly, many were Christians. Yet everyone with even a smidgen of Bible knowledge knows that Jesus taught his followers to obey the laws.

Standing to show support is one thing. The actions of those who stormed the Capitol went way beyond that, to breaking the law.

The Apostle Paul got specific about how Christians are to relate to those in charge. 

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.   Romans 13:1-2   ESV

Paul offered no exceptions such as "unless you don't agree," or "unless you didn't vote for them" or even "unless you don't like the way they exert their authority."

Our call as the people of God is to "be subject" to those who were elected or appointed to their positions of authority. They are where they are because our all-knowing God put them there. 

(It also doesn't matter if we can't figure out how or why.) 

Freedom always carries risks 

Freedom and democracy only work if we citizens govern ourselves first of all and live as law-abiding people.

President Abraham Lincoln said it long ago:  

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms it will be because we destroyed ourselves."   

If the citizenry as a whole becomes cynical and trusts no one in Government or in any position of authority it will erode our Nation from the inside. 

It's the same for us as individuals. If we become bitter and distrustful we begin to die on the inside. Our call as Christians is to live by what we say we believe, what the Bible teaches.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.  2 Timothy 1:7   ESV

Where do we go from here?

President John F. Kennedy offered timeless good advice:

"Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democrat answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future."

Whether or not we realize it, we're part of what the future will be, not only for ourselves but for the people around us. Let's be up-builders. 

Jesus summed up how we're to live: 

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. this is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  Matthew 22:37-39  ESV

It's time to refresh and refuel

A steady diet of TV news or Internet articles causes malnutrition of our hearts and minds.

The way to nourish and uplift our spirits is by making time to read our Bibles and pray. Pray for our loved ones and ourselves and also asking God's guidance for our leaders and that there will be peace within our Nation.

Here are three Bible verses to keep close to our hearts: 

[Jesus said] "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me."  John 14:1   ESV

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Isaiah 41:10  ESV 

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.  Psalm 28:7-8   ESV

How shall we live from now on?

First, we're to remember who we are as Americans and even more, as God's people.

Beyond that, we're to speak and work for the good of our family, our community and our Nation. Once again, the Bible tells us how:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  1 John 4:7-9   NIV

Now's the time to let the anger and sadness melt away in God's love. If we are Christians through the love of Jesus, let's live that way. Let's rejoice because we know HE has the last word.

Our merciful God was there before the beginning of the world and he will be there after the end. It's all in his hands and we are safe.