Lord-
From our mouth we sing the praise of America.
Yet from the same mouth we complain about our fellow Americans.
As James the apostle would say---this ought not be.
For what makes America, are Americans.
The whole lot of us.
We are as different from each other as the plains of Nebraska are different from the mountains of Colorado, yet they are both found in America.
We are as different from each other as Las Vegas is from Salt Lake City, yet they are both found in America.
Just as the Missouri River, the Colorado River, the Hudson River, the Columbia River, and the Mississippi River all come from different sources and arrive at different destinations they all are the same, they are the water of our land. So it is that the person who drives for Old Dominion, the professor at Winthrop, the doctor we see, and our dry cleaner all are different yet they are Americans who love their nation but don’t always agree with it.
Lord, On this occasion as we remember our founding, may we as a people learn how to disagree without being disagreeable.
Be ourselves without being disrespectful.
Grant us the ability to love Americans as much as America.
To love not with words, but with deeds.
And to remember as much as we are grateful for our country, that Jesus is Lord.
Our hope does not rest in a nation or but in the God who has no border and who is not elected, the maker of Heaven and Earth, Amen.