An American In a Strange Land

Sometimes, as I stand quietly staring into a crowd, I see so many unfamiliar faces.  At one time, when I was much younger, I did not feel so apart from others.

In today’s culture, we forget the many who sacrificed their lives to make this country a united one.  Don’t get me wrong, diversity is a wonderful thing otherwise Jesus would not have separated us by language.  He wanted us to appreciate the excitement of learning from one another and for us to become closer as a result.

But lately, in such an ever open society, it has become virtually impossible to distinguish foreigner from citizen.  Such is the path we have chosen as a nation.  We feel our way through life and let our emotions dictate our actions.  We strive to become something special, something apart from everyone else.  I recall what Saint John Paul II once said, “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought”.

Not so long ago, we let our knowledge speak for us.  We used our wisdom to guide our decisions and strived to be as one.  In my father’s day, it was a necessity to share your food, your time and your lives for the greater good because, in that age, we needed each other as we needed the air to breathe. 

I look around and reflect on all that we have accomplished and what we are not yet willing to do.  We are young, impulsive, brash and egotistical.  As Jesus taught us time and time again, we need to quiet our thoughts, settle and steel our minds for what is and will be. 

We so desperately need to return to a place when we were neither Jew nor Christian, nor slave or free and be proud and together as a nation.

It is with a particular sense of both separatism and supplication that I find myself so melancholy living in this land – so rich with the history and the extraordinary everyday people that made being here so wonderful.  I am an American in a strange land, but by God’s grace and mercy, I am also proud, so very proud to be a part of something so wonderful and to be my father’s and most certainly, my country’s son.

And I'm proud to be and American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won’t forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA (Lee Greenwood, Lyrics, 1996, Curb Records).

May the wind be forever at your backs, may the Holy Spirit bring your love into this world and may His peace be with you, always.

Happiness

Summer, the sounds of laughter, the smell of food cooking on the grill, the long days and the starry nights – don’t we all remember those days.  Those days, oh those so perfect days that never seemed to end.  As I get older, I want so much to return to those simple times.  My life gets so complicated now and convoluted that I sit in melancholy.  As I say time and time again that is it not healthy to dwell on the past and forget to live today.  We must think like children and bask in the moment, minute by minute, day by day.  Theirs is a willingness to just be themselves and to be accepted.  If we all had such an innocent mind, there would be a lot less war and bickering.  Why is it that children, no matter where they are in this world, seem to talk and get along so wonderfully?  It is because God lets them see each other in a different light.  They understand that to prosper and to succeed they must first come to terms with what makes each of them so unique and special. 

This recalls to mind a message my mom tried to relate to me before her death.  I remember sitting in the backyard on one of our long talks.  She mentioned that to be truly happy, we had to first begin looking at ourselves.  We create the things around us, breathe the air around us and we make our own lives better for having love.  As I think about this now, I am reflective, wishing more than ever today that she could be beside me but I know that she is with me in my heart.

She said that happiness is the key to what everyone seeks.  We all want a life made for us by the divine love of grace and we receive it.  We give everything we have to make a better world for us and for our families.  Through our actions, we set the stage for the bigger song called life.

They say happiness is a thing you can't see
A thing you can't touch

 

I disagree
Happiness is standing beside me
I can see him
He can see me
Happiness is whatever you want it to be
Happiness is a high hill
Will I find it?
Yes, I will
Happiness is a tall tree
Can I climb it?
Watch and see

They say happiness is the folly of fools
Pity poor me
One of the fools

Happiness is smiling upon me
Walking my way
Sharing my day

Happiness is whatever you want it to be

Happiness is a bright star
Are we happy?

Yes, we are

Happiness is a clear sky

Give me wings and let me fly

Let me fly, let you fly

For happiness is whatever you want it to be

Yes, happiness is whatever you want it to be (Lyrics, Scrooge the musical, Leslie Bricusse, 1970).

 

This is for all those parents who made their marks on this world, through the happy eyes of their children and in all who seek His pleasure called peace.  As Saint Teresa once said, “Try to put in the hearts of your children a love for home. Make them long to be with their families.” In the end, all we have is what our children make of our world that we create around them. 

May He continue to shine upon us all and bring a ray of light into our daily darkness and may His peace be with you, always.