God Bless the USA

On the Back Porch

I recently read an article that reminded me in part, of a high school incident that really got the point across and made me and my classmates realize how real life is often shaped and manipulated through the actions of everyday people.

No, I didn’t go to school in Marlin, though this lesson is just as applicable to Marlin as it would be anywhere else in America.

This was in a history class, World History I think, which most of us felt was a total waste of our valuable time. At my weight and age, I cannot recall the teachers name, but I do remember that we were studying about the pitfalls of dictatorships that were prevalent in so many socialistic and communist nations.

Our teacher was a strict disciplinarian. We had assigned seats and constant homework, with occasional short reports and a term research paper. I tried to keep mine short to conserve paper, but seems she expected volumes of data.

During one class, a student worker brought her a note from the office. She excused herself and left the room. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that something extremely important was up because class just never got interrupted.

Soon, another teacher came in and told us that she would be taking over the class because our regular teacher would be gone for a while. She was sure that we would appreciate her style of compromise and lenient teaching methods. We were a bit apprehensive, but she assured us that things would work out.

She would overlook any assignments that we were behind in and if there were grades that were not what we wanted, she would give us a chance to bring them up. She asked us what we thought would make for a better learning experience as we completed the semester.

Well, the suggestions began to come: maybe we could have a free day to help catch up in other classes, and yes, we could watch films instead of wasting our time with boring lectures. The papers could be fewer and shorter, and all that reading took too much of our time. We felt we could learn better if we were sitting in groups with our friends, and open book tests would be neat.

To our surprise, she was agreeable with all of our suggestions because she knew we were interested in doing our best and learning as much as we could. She wanted us to have a wonderful learning experience, and after all, weren’t we lucky that we did not have to be moved to other classes where we might have had to “catch-up.” 

We thought that we had lucked into a bonanza!

But imagine our surprise, when just before the period ended, our regular teacher stepped through the door and demanded, “ How did the class respond?”

The replacement teacher replied, “Wonderful, they accepted everything that was suggested.”

Then our regular teacher addressed the class, “So you see students, dictators are smooth operators. They win you over with promises of free and easy, give you gifts and protection from external sources.

They give you the easy way regardless of the outcome and empower you to “save the planet.” They will never need military action nor unpopular laws to help them reach their goals. They just appease you and help you move into an easier unobstructed path that slowly makes you dependent on their ways.

Soon, you expect their handouts and you lose all initiative as well as your self-respect and dignity. You begin to accept their laws and regulations. You don’t seem to notice that your freedoms become fewer and you become more permissive of changes in your lifestyle. Soon the entire population is compliant and the individual is no more!

Yet today, we are still free and we still have our rights. And we can take part in choosing our lifestyle, elect our lawmakers and leaders, and demand accountability.

We are free to say and do what we choose, keep and bear arms, worship our God in our own way, and we still have the freedom to VOTE!   We do control our own destinies!”

The entire class sat dumbfounded and speechless as we slowly realized she was talking about us and our future lives. And I hope that I speak for each of my classmates when I say, from that day on we believed in democracy and became model citizens!

 

God Bless the USA

America! Land of promise and opportunity,

The land that each of us love,

Where heroes forged a land of freedom and unity,

Guided by God up above.

 

Where our ancestors braved the unknown danger, 

 People  with a sense of pride,

Relying on one another, both friend and stranger,

Their destiny to decide.

 

These statesmen fervently sought wisdom from their God,

To guide a fledgling nation,

To help their countryman traverse this sod,

As part of God’s creation.

 

To thwart the tyrants suffocating strangle hold,

On the people of this land

With actions that were daring, brave, and  bold,

Deeds that helped them make their stand.

 

Men whose vision saw the potential for this life,

They dreamed of a free nation,

One without the tyrants unending strife,

And they sought separation.

 

They made a stand for freedoms sweet caress,

Prayed that God would see them through,

And give them life without the tyrant’s duress,

As one they chose to stand true.

 

They pledged an oath to nurture and build this land,

And thus our Nation was born,

Our Nation lives on because of that gallant stand,

to that, our loyalty is sworn.

 

And to those that put themselves in harms way,

Our freedoms to guarantee,

We honor them and words of thanks we say,

For their gift of liberty.

 

So, long live America: let your banner wave,

Stand tall and proud; have your say,

Our land, our love, FREE, because of the brave!

May God  Bless the USA!

© Ol’ Jim Cathey  

    

God Bless America! And God Bless our future!

The Marlin Democrat

251 Live Oak St
Marlin, TX 76661
Phone: (254) 883-2554
Fax:(254) 883-6553