We can be grateful for the honest, common-sense letters I've noticed recently from your younger readers - like the ones Monday from Brandi Davis and Greg Smith - along with many others that really make sense. They remind me of a prayer:
"Lord, our country is in a real 'mess' right now: Our nation needs a fresh baptism of common sense!"
I think many of us could say "Amen" to it, and add: "Give us a fresh baptism of honesty and truthfulness," (along with a spirit of gratitude for the freedoms God gives us - and the responsibility of choosing the leaders our nation needs to lead us in the crucial days ahead).
It seems easy for us to forget that freedom of choice also bring the responsibility to take the consequences or results of our choices.
When I was about 30 years old, Billy Graham spoke in the old Billy Sunday Tabernacle in Winona Lake. He pointed out our "American idols" of materialism and sex, among other well-known sins. He called us to repentance, saying:
"We must repent of our sins or God will bring our nation to judgement! If we do not repent, and if God does not bring us to judgment, then He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah."
We would all find it hard to imagine God apologizing to anyone, would we not?
It was my privilege to hear Billy Graham speak many times since that afternoon in Winona Lake. I suspect that if you asked him today, if he has changed his mind after all these years, his answer would definitely be "No!" and he just might break down weeping. When I hear the political candidates for office speak these days, it makes me want to want to weep and tremble with fear for what I'm thinking ... since God is listening, too, and He knows the real truth. So, I thank God for Billy Graham and the truth he lovingly brought our nation all these years.
Make me wanta' be faithful too.
J. Robert Boggs
Winona Lake
P.S. One more reminder: Privilege brings responsibility to act on the basis of the truth we hear and understand! -JRB
