I Remember an America

I remember an America where we didn’t all agree,

But we stuck together, worked it out, and thanked God for liberty.

I remember there was once a nation that before it’s flag stood tall,

Not having to protest the whole of it when most was well with all.

I once knew a people of principle, who were not ashamed of God,

They were a light unto a darker world, where saints had not yet trod.

I once looked forward to the future desiring to leave a better world,

For our nation’s children and many others, who now burn the flag unfurled.

The days ahead once were brighter than they seem to be right now,

We have homes and food and water, but have lost the common law.

Not the law of politicians but the law which Christ commands,

That we love one another and not bring evil to our land.

Once we could disagree and be civil while we worked our problems out,

But now all comes with protest, hate, and all things good put into doubt.

Can we stop for just a moment, take a breath, and just behold,

The world of blessings in which we live, how can our hearts be so cold?

Because we disagree on methods or swing to the right or to the left,

Must we leave our once great nation so spiritually bereft?

We are not a godly nation when our own way must always prevail.

Until we seek the good of others, God’s law will not prevail.

We will continue on our present course though it leads us off the cliff,

Our children picking up the pieces of a nation now morally adrift.

We have outlasted most democracies, perhaps the republic is to thank,

But our days are so, so fleeting, we rode high before we sank.

It’s seems more important to be hateful and make our point,

When civility and love would be more productive, our ills they would anoint.

But the times have moved beyond what mortal man may cure,

I pray much more often now that our freedom will endure.

I remember an America where we didn’t all agree,

But we stuck together, worked it out, and thanked God for liberty.

And open letter to a president or two

The following was submitted to President Bill Clinton and President Barrack Obama.  It is doubtful that it will reach either man, so I offer it hear as an open letter to the president and to all elected government leaders.

Dear Mr. President,

When Barrack Obama was elected as our nation’s president, I signed up for the White House electronic newsletter.  I did not vote for Mr. Obama, but he was elected and therefore he became my president and received my prayers and respect.

I was surprised that because I signed up for this newsletter from the president I was also put on every electronic mailing list for the Democratic Party.  This in itself was not something that I would expect from the office of the president, but worse than the deluge of emails from various democratic sources was the vitriolic tone of them all.  I would not have been privy to such acrimonious attacks on fellow public servants if not for the presumption that all people who signed up for the president’s newsletter were Republican-hating-Democrats.

This mindset has killed the attitude that our elected officials are public servants.  The Republican Party and the Tea Party are equally as acrimonious in their communications, but when I sign up for a candidate’s newsletter, I know that I will receive a dose of partisan horsehockey.  The same should not be true when I sign up for something from my president.

At any time I could have opted to be deleted from the mailing list that I was unilaterally placed upon, but I followed the discourse promulgated to see if it might finally put the American people and their needs ahead of selfish political interests.  My optimism was quickly dismissed as the vitriolic diatribe increased its venomous barrage.

I send this to you as perhaps the only living President or national leader from the Democratic Party that might be able to speak to today’s leaders that are addicted to extreme rancor and disdain for any thinking other than their own.  Senator Dole has issued some similar remarks to the Republican Party.

It is time to move beyond divisiveness and into true statesmanship.  I request that you take an active part in this effort on a national scale.

Semper Fidelis,

Tom Spence