As a woman who grew up in church I often heard about being a good steward of the things God has given us such as our money, our time and talent. In more recent years, and in a less spiritual sense, I have heard the term “being good stewards” used for the economy, the earth, climate, and animal kingdom. I thought of something else we need to be good stewards of and that is the United States of America. 

Many Christians as well as others, also, have taken for granted the immense freedom we have in this country. They believe that whatever will happen will happen and is probably meant to be by a God Who is in control and makes the decisions about earth, anyway. But as I was talking on the phone with a friend the other night, it came to me that just as God gives us many things and expects us to have good judgment regarding them or to make right decisions in using them, what is the difference between watching how we spend our money or voting for the most qualified candidate in an election? 

As people of faith, we have been given a precious gift. We have a country founded on morals, liberty and freedom to believe whatever we wish. We live in a land that has never known Christian persecution or religious genocide. When the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution enforced, we never faced a hostile takeover, dictatorships or a World War on our shores. America is unique, confident and resilient. Even with slavery as a blight on our history books, there were decent men and women who fought and died to end it. 

Today, though, we face a minority of people in power who want nothing less than to remake America to look like every other country and we as good stewards can no longer just wait for things to work out on their own. We need to pray and ask God what He would have us do to maintain this precious gift, our country, After all, He inspired the founding fathers and led them to its creation as they prayed and waited for His guidance. As Americans we can truly say this is literally God’s country, given to us to live in, raise our families in and worship in by Him and no one else, He has entrusted America to us.  

It is time for Christians to take a stand. I believe He would have us use the freedom He gave us when our nation was established to speak our minds with civility to our elected leaders. He would have us vote for those who are the most qualified and not leave it to chance that somehow the right one would get into office.   There are even some He would call to public office while others of us would support them and fight for a return to principles that make sense. 

While listening to all the coverage of the healthcare forums across the country, I was struck by the continual theme that so many of the attendees were the elderly. I also noticed people in their 50s,the baby boomers. The news keeps saying it is this group that is so worried because of fear of loss of their healthcare they enjoy now. But as I listened to the reports, something else occurred to me as well. 

These people lived through World War II. They lived through the cold war. As a child I remember adults talking about the Communistic socialism that was on its way to our shores from Russia. I remember the bomb drills in school and air raid sirens. I remember the war movies chronicling the march of Nazism through Europe and how negatively it impacted everyone it touched. We knew about all the genocide of the Jewish people, the atrocities and the sacrifices our citizens made to win the war. During the cold war we all knew of families who built bunkers in their back yards as a means of survival if the worst should happen. Everyone talked about it. The schools taught the history. And America refused to give in. 

Today, the seniors are our only history of those times. The subjects are barely spoken about in the schools and air raid sirens and bomb drills are long gone. But for the seniors and baby boomers, the memories are still there and the proposed government healthcare plan scares them, for good reason. Many of their loved ones were lost to keep our personal freedom alive. They fought against government takeovers, cult worship of leaders and dictatorships. They were taught in their classrooms that America was about freedom and She was kept great by staying away from control of ideologues who have no respect for the Constitution. They may not be able to verbalize it, but when they tear up in fear that they may lose another loved one or their own lives, the fight in their spirits rise up and they are back on the battlefield again.