God Bless the U.S.A.

I love Holidays. I have many, many favorites. Celebrating the United States of America on the 4th of July is one of my favorites. I love everything about the celebrations on the 4th. I love the swimming, watermelon, carnivals, bbq's, flags waving, music and of course the fireworks-big and small. I love taking a few minutes to remember and be thankful that I was born here, a place set apart by God as a "choice" land.

On the sunday immediately following the 4th (July 6th), the congregation of the ward I was visiting sang The Star-Spangled Banner, our National anthem, written by Francis Scott Key. I was overcome with emotion as we all stood to honor our country in song. The first verse is very familiar, but on that day I was touched by the final verse of of the song:

"O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that 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!"

When we as a people, forget to "Praise the Power that made and preserved us a nation" or in other words when we forget God, our Heavenly Father, only then will we fail, only then will we be destroyed. When people want to forget about God and His role in our nation, when they want to strike out "One Nation under God" and "In God we Trust" from our National emblems. . when we forget from whence we came. . then we will begin to falter. This is the only war I am scared of losing.

"For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth posses it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off.

Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written."

Ether 2:10, 12 (From the Book of Mormon)


It is so wonderful to live in a land protected by such a promise. It is wonderful to live in a land where we can continually strive to live up to the ideals upon which this nation was founded: freedom, equality and the pursuit of happiness.