God in the Star Spangled Banner Sung by a United States Marine

As I recount in the article, Mom Learns Patriotic Pride from Her Marine Son, I wasn't always patriotic. As a woman who was born with many nationalities, one of which is Native American, I couldn't help but feel a tug of empathy for our Native Americans who had the soil ripped out from beneath them. This country belonged to THEM, I told myself. We STOLE it from them.

But then I reasoned that we cannot change the past. We are The UNITED States of America, this is OUR country, and we are ONE people.

Originally this land was inhabited by spiritual people who believed in a power greater than themselves. Their prayers and rituals were different from the people who took this country away from them, but the new residents and the native residents had one thing in common - though they called this Great Spirit by a different name, they all believed in God and they all wanted to worship God in their own ways.

Lately, as the behavior in our United States has taken a downward spiral, those of us who believe in God, and especially those of us who grew up during the time when prayer was taken out of our schools, hope for a revival of the spirit that roused belief and faith, that recognized charity and hope, and that KNEW beyond doubt that the guiding hand of God was and is still there, reaching out to us. We need only follow our conscience, one of the places where God resides.

Don't get me wrong - I know it's difficult to imagine a God who would allow such atrocities to go on in our lives, but God gave us free will, and PEOPLE are choosing to commit those atrocities.

When I refer to people who don't believe in God, I'm not talking about those people who believe in a Holy Spirit, but who call that Spirit by a different name. And I'm not talking about agnostics who aren't sure about whether or not God exists, or even atheists whose lives have been so horrible they can't understand anybody who does believe in God. Many of those agnostics and atheists lead commendable lives and are compassionate caring beings.

I'm referring to those people whose actions spew forth hatred. When we took this land away from its original inhabitants, we wanted a place where we could worship without interference. The few people who didn't believe in God and who had only hatred in their hearts have managed to convince the rest of us to take God out of our schools and out of our government, and now those few people are trying to take God out of our money.

No matter how hard they try, though, they will never succeed in taking God out of our hearts.

They are few, but we are many. The only "few" I regard with any pride are the people who, despite the corruption in our governments, despite the criminal activity in our neighborhoods, and despite the temptation to take the easy way in gaining property or money, take the higher road, the road that leads to God.

The news misleads us into thinking that only a handful of people have integrity. The rest are dishonest and corrupt. The reason those stories make the news is because criminal activity is still considered abnormal. MOST of us are good, well-meaning individuals who try to lead exemplary lives. But with all the evil going on around us, many of us wonder if God is listening to our prayers - wars rage around us and drugs blanket our world like an evil plague. Where is God, some people ask.

It's time to remind ourselves that God IS in our country, God IS in our schools, and God IS in our homes and in our government. We just need to acknowledge the presence of this Holy Spirit and act according to our hearts and our conscience.

Please watch this video of a United States Marine singing the last stanza of The Star Spangled Banner. If you have any patriotism and love for this country, and if you have any love for God, you will appreciate the significance of our national anthem as it relates to God AND Country.

Marine Stuns Crowd at Tea Party

To read the lyrics for The Star Spangled Banner, click the link.