Untied or United?

Untied or United?

        When was the last time that you recited the Pledge of Allegiance?  The pledge is so rarely recited now that many young children in this generation probably don’t even know the words by memory.  As a review, here are the words to the Pledge of Allegiance of the United States:

I pledge allegiance to the flag

Of the United States of America,

And to the republic for which it stands,

One nation under God, indivisible,

With liberty and justice for all

             I honestly cannot remember the last time that I recited this pledge.  I wonder why it’s so rarely heard outside of court rooms, and in some cases, outside of schools now.  Could it be because of those two words… under God?

The original Pledge of Allegiance penned by Francis Bellamy in 1892 did not actually include these two words.  It was not until 1954 that the phrase “under God” was added. 

Those two words may seem insignificant- after all, they’re only two words- but without those two, the three major words that follow it hold absolutely no value.  Indivisible means “cannot be divided.”  Without God there can be no lasting unity, no genuine liberty, and no sincere justice.

A brilliant philosopher once said a phrase that has become a considerably well-known quote: “America is great because she is good.  If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”  Now here’s the big question: are we as a nation still “good”?  Every year, unborn babies are being literally murdered in America under the guise of legalization.  Is abortion “good”?  Sexual sins are becoming more rampant and openly displayed in our ever-increasingly liberal American society.  Are fornication, homosexuality, and pornography “good”?  Every day, drug and alcohol-related crimes are committed in cities across America.  Is alcohol and drug abuse “good”?  In my opinion, our nation is no longer under God.

A mistake I often make when typing the words the United States of America is to reverse the order of the i and the t in united.  Even as I write this post, I find myself repeatedly making this mistake.  If you reverse the order of these two letters, the phrase reads the Untied States of America.  At first thought, this is a pretty comical error, but a further consideration of this typo reveals a very unwelcome truth.

Take a closer look at the word united.  The letters i and t are directly in the middle of the word.  And what does i and t spell together?  It.  I like to think of “It” as being the presence of God.  God is in the very center of unity, and without Him, nothing can hold together for any considerable length of time.

Indivisibility, liberty, and justice are all linked to this “It” and to each other.  Take the American Civil War for instance.  For the first and only time in our nation’s history was the country divided.  There were many causes for the war, but besides the issue of racial injustice, was there perhaps a seed of injustice growing between the northern and sthern regions of the country?  Could this be one of the issues that eventually led to the separation of the states?  And consider divorce.  Why are there so many more divorces nowadays than there used to be?  Could it maybe be because our society no longer builds its families upon the foundation of God and His truths?  Because they no longer keep “It” as the center of their lives?

If you take “It” and reverse its order- get it all mixed up- what do you get in the word united?  You’re right back to the word untied again!  Has our nation become confused when it comes to the presence of God and a relationship with Him?  Have we exchanged a relationship with Jesus Christ for a cold and stale Christianity, a false religion, or even no faith at all?  As much as I wish it were untrue, I honestly fear that our country is on a downhill course toward becoming not the United States of America, but the Untied States of America.  Unless we reverse our course and return “It”- the Lord- to the center our nation, we will never stay united. 

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, our nation’s Independence Day.  As we enjoy the displays of fireworks, our cookouts, and fellowship with friends and family, let’s have a good time and celebrate the birth of our country, but let’s also remember to keep the “It” in not only our day, but the everyday of our lives.  May the Lord continue to bless the U.S.A. and to turn the hearts of its people back to Him. 

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

~Francis Scott Key

“The Star-Spangled Banner”

1814

*For a list of great patriotic songs, see the Some Gave All Heart-chords post in May.  Also, if you enjoyed reading the short story I had featured in my Memorial Day tribute post series, now you can reread all of the scenes compiled together on my writing blog The Avid Author. (www.theavidauthor.blogspot.com)  You can also find an excerpt and book trailer there for my new novel The Heart of a Hero.

NOTICE: I know some of you have had a difficult time trying to post a comment here without a Blogger ID.  I finally discovered the settings for my comments and have adjusted them so you shouldn’t have any more trouble.  You should be able to post a comment anonymously now without having a Blogger ID, although you can still sign your name at the end of your comment if you’d like.

Photo courtesy: www.123rf.com

~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords?  I was struggling to decide what to name my blog.  I wanted it to be a name that was both creative and meaningful.  As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments.  They are constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own decisions.  They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment.  A musician selects his songs according to his audience.  So do we.  Whether our audience is the world or the Lord, our song will be different.  This blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.  Music is a powerful tool.  Use it for His glory.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3