I am an American and I work in an affluent Northern Chicago suburb. I see heavy, heart-breaking tragedies all the time, including a few gunshot wounds every month.
When I did my internship at Sinai Hospital in inner Chicago last summer, I saw a horrifying number of gunshot wounds and other acts of violence every single day. Violence and crime is the daily reality for far too many people living in our country.
My fellow Americans, can we all please agree that this rampant, uncontrolled violence and crime is a tragedy and injustice of unspeakable magnitude? No American and no human being should have to raise their families and live their lives in a war zone.
I cannot tolerate this here, not here in my dear and precious America.
As Americans, we should not and must not tolerate this magnitude of suffering and evil. We must reject the lies and excuses that say this problem cannot be solved and that justify the continued suffering of the least and poor.
I don’t care what you think the solution is. Actually, I do care about your opinion, but that is politics which I try to avoid in my writing.
I ask you to join me in hoping, fighting and praying for us all to overcome division and to find unity and purpose in our shared and resolute belief that all Americans, like all people, bear the image of God and they deserve life, liberty and the opportunity to pursue happiness.
We Americans have become so focused on our past that we have forgotten that America is and always has been defined by our shared dream of a better and brighter future.
My dear America is not defined by the glorious achievements nor the terrible crimes of sinful American men. My dear America is defined by what kind of people we as Americans choose and fight to be.
My dear America is the country where billions of people from every other country in the world desperately wish they could come.
America is also a place filled with selfish, greedy, and evil men who lust and hunger for power above all else.
My dear America is the nation that put a man on the moon and brought global peace and prosperity on a scale mankind has never known.
America has also betrayed its values, slaughtered and enslaved untold numbers of people, supported brutal dictatorships, and continues to be unable to satiate its never-ending thirst for war.
My dear America is the place where men are free to worship God and seek Heaven here on Earth.
America is also the place where men are free to worship themselves and seek Hell.
My dear America is defined by the ideals and aspirations of American men and women. We are all sinful men with evil desires in our hearts, but we can also choose to pursue goodness, kindness, generosity, and love.
America was once the hope of the entire world and we will be that light again when Americans choose to shine brightly.
I have a question for my fellow Americans.
Are you spending your time worrying about the number of people coming here, or are you spending your time fighting to make America the kind of place that makes so many want to come?
The greatest privelege we have as Americans is the ability not to believe in Hell because billions of people are already living in Hell right here on planet Earth.
America was an experiment to see if we could be different and better than the old ways of an old world. America has been the hope of the world ever since, because we showed the world a glimpse of the Kingdom of God.
Please don't misunderstand me. America is not the Kingdom of God, but our vision of the Kingdom to come has always inspired us to build and be a better nation by building and being a better people. The fight for the soul of our nation begins first in our own hearts.
You and I are the future of this country, indeed we may be the hope of this entire Earth. We are the light of a dark world. We are free men who can and must make our own choices, but there are only two options for us to choose from.
I am an American and I choose to fight for Heaven and against Hell. What about you? Will you join me?
If you are an American and your answer is yes, then I am proud to call you my brother. You are desperately needed and I am grateful you are here.
If your answer is yes but you are not an American, I truly wish that you were and I pray that you will have that opportunity someday. When you do, I will look forward to seeing you and saying:
Welcome to this blessed, broken, American land.
Welcome to my dear America.
God bless you and may God help our country find its way back into the light.
-Paul
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