I received this "Thought for the Day" today from my father who received it from one of his friends. My father is 86, he is an honorable and loving human being, and a retired officer of the US Navy who served in WWII. He is a devout Christian. We both believe strongly in honoring and living what Christ taught: to consciously love and live for the benefit of all, above all else.

I love my father. He loves me. And he loves his country, as I do. He and I both are conscientious people, and we strive to act that way. We do not always agree, but we always try to live honorably as US citizens and human beings. He does it his way, and I do it mine...sometimes...we're not so different, if we look below the surface. 

Here is the "Thought for the Day" my father sent me. My response is directly below it.

_______________________________________________________________

Thought for the day (from Dad and his friends):

In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the anti-American
sentiment and negativity, we should remember England 's Prime
Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked by
one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America, he said:

"A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many
want in... And how many want out."  
 
Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:

1.  Jesus Christ
2.  The American G. I.

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

YOU MAY WANT TO PASS THIS ON TO PEOPLE YOU KNOW,
AS MANY SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN IT.

AMEN!

____________________________________________________________________

Dear Dad, and All ~

Here are my "Thoughts for the Day."

I think that Tony Blair didn't really answer the question he was asked, but even with the "..." part left out, one can interpret his response as positive and say that he is right about the people of our country: we love and die for things we believe in, and people immigrate here to become part of the freedom they perceive us to love and fight to defend. Few of us renounce our US citizenship because we believe at the core that the US is the best country to live in, for all the right reasons. But living here "for the right reasons" is what I want to talk about.

I believe that we can be proud of our fathers, brothers, sons, daughters, and others, who in war, in public, and in private service, have honorably represented the people of our country; my father is one of them. But if we truly are living honorably, as they have, we absolutely must allow rightful and thoughtful dissent. And we must become outraged at those who do not.

We must become outraged at those who dishonor our fathers (and all of us) by their wrong or even questionable actions, particularly if those people are in positions of power. This is our mandate under the Constitution. US citizens must continue to act honorably and to show justifiable outrage at unethical actions of the people and the government that represents them, no matter what their or our party affiliation. It is our right, and it is only in doing this that we will be able to live with true, conscientious freedom. It is only in doing this that we will be able to say with enormous integrity, and without hesitation, that we love our country.

So if US citizens continue to allow members of the US government to censor our voices of discontent, to lie to us, to act hypocritically, and to misrepresent our desires to work hard to benefit, protect, and love one another in an honorable way--especially when the most conscientious among us bravely challenge government policies that are unfair to our people--we will become synonymous with that unethical government in the eyes of the world. If this happens, as I believe it has recently in a number of areas, the people of the world will view the common, everyday US citizen as they view the US government. They have no other lens through which to view of us.

In the end, we can only be judged by our actions, and if we remain quiet and do not react to injustices within our country, we will be judged by the actions of our leaders.

The US Constitution guides citizens of our country to act with honor and to rail against injustice, even if it threatens our physical well being. This is also the way Christ died; it is what he died for, what he would have done today, and what his teachings guide those of us who abide by them to do in our human world. Our souls and our bodies are inseparable; one represents the other by our very actions; "I am in you," Christ said.

And it is all so simple, really.

All we have to do is to act in a way that is of benefit to all, regardless of the personal consequences, as Christ and other great masters did. Then, the people of the world will flock to our hillsides to listen to our wisdom and to embrace our way of life, for the only right reasons: because the people of the US speak the truth; because the people of the US do NO harm to themselves OR to others; and because the people of the US preach the justice they live, and they live the justice they preach.

I work for this each and every day of my life. My father has taught me well.

Nan

It is our earth, not yours or mine or his.
We are meant to live on it, helping
each other, not destroying each other. 
                                      ~ J. Krishnamurti