Independence Day Special: Let your Light Shine!

We have arrived at the 247th birthday of the United States of America. I am old enough to remember the Bicentennial celebration back in 1976. We were a proud nation. We considered ourselves the greatest nation on earth. And that belief was rather universal throughout most segments of American society. It’s safe to say that is the case no more. Recently, I accompanied our high school students on a mission trip to Scotland and England. The people over there are fascinated with all things America. The teachers in the schools told us that all their students want to live in America one day. It was then I realized that I had lived long enough to see the people of other nations have a more favorable view of our nation than does the dominant narrative in the media, education and corporate world. This media of the United States as an evil empire rife with colonialism, white supremacy (the cause for every ill of society), patriarchy, racism, and every other negative ism out there. Yet the rest of the world sees us differently. What a sad state we find ourselves in almost 250 years into our nation’s history.