Thundering overhead, the F15s liven the quiet sounds of the distant blue skies and impose themselves on the living creatures of the earth below. They are, like the fireworks of celebration, a reminder of American history.
The founding of the United States has been defined as a moment in human history as well as the history of a people of a particular geography. For it was the founding of the Republic of the United States of America that established the principal of a broadly elected form of government, “. . .of the people, by the people and for the people. . . .” These words by Abraham Lincoln were not spoken until well after the establishment of the United States, but they sum up the powerful motive of those who carried out the revolution necessary to attain its fortune. They were spoken at a moment in time when the nation was at the point of disintegration, yet like a phoenix, resurrected itself into a new state capable of rejecting the economic and social addiction to oppression and slave labor.
The hard road was bitter. Many times the country has reinvented itself in small ways and large. But the founding revolution has been vindicated at each step of the way. Sometimes the words, “God bless America” have been heard in song and prayer, evoking the emotional punch of heartfelt experience and hope. The history of America has suggested that divine intervention was, indeed, required to pass the Civil War test, tests in WW I and WWII. There have been more subtle moments as well in the great struggle during the cold war against communist powers. The Soviet Union no longer occupies numerous conquered peoples surrounding its true borders. In fact, the Soviet Union does not exist. We hope and pray that so much divine support becomes less necessary and the people, often virtuous in generosity to a fault, unify and find the solution to problems both foreign and domestic that plague its continuance.
Alternatively, the worst offense is to waste the love of our Creator and the lives of those lost defending America, and fall victim to hatred and malignant recrimination. America is no longer a juvenile country, but the leader of the world, and by extension, all of humanity. The cruelty of ISIS and the threat of nuclear war with North Korea rival the internal disseThention within America as existential threats. Then there are the traditional enemies of miserable poverty, starvation, and disease. The United States is our hope and our base for action, but civilizations fail and there are no guarantees of success, or even improvement on human ignorance and ill will. On second thought, God bless America.