Proud To Be..

A couple of weeks ago our large group speaker for InterVarsity didn't show up. She was supposed to speak to us about God's heart for Justice. So instead, I led us through a time of prayer that God's justice might be lived out in the world.

As a part of that prayer time, I invited folks to pray that God might forgive our country for how we've participated in injustice.

Afterwards, I had someone approach me and ask me about this whole "justice/injustice in America" deal. According to him, if it wasn't for the U.S. all the world would be speaking German or Japanese. If it wasn't for the United States, injustice would be a way of life.

This got me to thinking--how do I think about our country? How do I talk about it?

Okay, so first what I want to say is that clearly the United States has issues. Injustice abounds towards minorities, in our international trade practices, in just about every aspect of our corporate lives.

But there is something from this conversation that has lingered with me. In my part of the world, it's simply cooler, more intellectual, you get more street cred if you diss our country. What I want to inform how I think and talk about and pray for our country is the Spirit, the Scriptures, a heart full of faith, hope and love.

Cynicism, sounding sophisticated, or sounding cool & intellectual is not how I want to live as a child of God in this country. Being grateful for the freedoms that I have is an important spiritual discipline. Being grateful for the ability that I have to sit here and write snarky comments about my own country is an historically rare thing.

So let me say this: I'm glad that I live in this country. There's no where else that I'd rather be.

If that propels me into a smug, self-satisfied apathy, that's a bad thing. But if I'm falling off on the other side of the equation and reveling in country-bashing because it's just cooler or sounds more intellectually elite or I'm just cultivating my own propensity towards cynicism, that's just crap.

There it is.