God Bless America! -- and He has

You may have noticed (hopefully) that I end every blog with "God Bless America." That's okay, almost everybody says that. We sing for God to bless America. We pray it in our churches, at civic meetings and on and on. This morning I was thinking about that as I drove to my office and it came to me, "God has already blessed America." I want you to consider some of the ways in which The Almighty, Jehovah, Allah, The Great I Am, or any other name you might use for God has blessed this "home of the brave and land of the free."

America has just elected the first Black president and there were not riots, no towns on fire, no militia in the streets. It was a democratic election and the majority spoke. Look were we have come. I mentioned it in a previous blog, but just 40 years ago there were race riots taking place in this country as blacks struggled for equality. People died during this turbulent time, but not so today. Our children are growing up "color blind." And God has blessed America. We have come so far in the short history of this nation. The civil war was primarily a race issue. The white land owners in the south wanted to continue the use of slaves while the north argued for their emancipation. Brothers fought against brothers, but in this year we have elected a Black man as President of the United States. I voted against Barack Obama and I did all I could to convince others to do the same, but not because of the color of his skin. I argued against many of his plans and positions, but I am proud that we have traveled so far that a black family is going to occupy the White House. God has already blessed America!

We are going to have a peaceful transition of power, something that the vast majority of nations does not understand. In many countries the current government uses fear and violence to prevent others from taking over. Some presidents simply extend their term of office. But not so in this country. President George W. Bush is going to hand over the power to President Elect Barack H. Obama on January 20 without this nation skipping a beat. God has so blessed America!

In this country, bloggers and politically active persons such as myself can criticize our President, our Senators, Representatives and can even say pretty tough things about them. Nobody is going to censor my blogs or arrest me for speaking my opinion. Now that Barack Obama has been elected the FBI isn't going to rush in and arrest me because I called him a Marxist. Tell me, don't you believe that God has already blessed America.

As I drove to my office this morning I saw field after field that just a week ago held enough corn to feed the world. The soy beans that were there a month ago can provide enough nutrition to save tens of thousands of lives in countries where there is a famine. I saw two deer standing in a pasture next to a herd of cattle. They were actually eating the same grass. I see pheasants, turkey, eagles and all sorts of wildlife on a daily basis. My friends, God has already blessed America.

But PLEASE do not take it for granted. God has blessed us in so many ways, but let's pray we never become blind to the blessings. Last evening while driving back from Lincoln on highway 34 my "low tire pressure" light came on. I didn't think much about it and nearly didn't even stop. But I was only about 6 miles from Seward so when I got into town I pulled in under some lights and saw that my left front tire was nearly flat. I found a station with an air hose and I tried to fill it, but the air was going out as fast as I put it in. So, I grumbled as I got that "donut" tire out of the trunk and changed the tire. But it occured to me that God blessed me by getting me into town on concrete under lights rather that on a dark highway with a muddy shoulder. You see, that's a personal blessing but as with our corporate blessings we can grumble and complain and when something good happens say, "Man that was lucky," or we can realize that GOD HAS ALREADY BLESSED US!!

Take just a moment to think how God has blessed this nation. Then ask how God, through us, can bless another people. Think about Barack and Michelle Obama and ask God to bless them. Think about George and Laura Bush and ask God to bless them. And, since this is a conservative blog and I need to insert some attempt at humor, think about the Republicans and ask God to bless them in two years and four years. Okay, that was a feeble attempt. But this is a great land, a free land regardless of color, national origin or religious beliefs. This is the land of the brave where black, brown, and white all fight together as one. God has blessed America indeed.

God Bless You and God Bless America! and He has.