Providentially, a few days ago I came across reflective words I had written years ago, following a visit to Estonia, what was then East Germany, and the German Democratic Republic. I was there in a more or less official capacity, so in these three countries, I was able to experience more than I would have had I not been personally and intimately involved with some of the people.
We had been in the USSR for 10 days when we came to the German Democratic Republic, and when we moved from that republic into East Berlin and from East Berlin into West Berlin, we had a worship service and special prayer time in the Methodist church closest to the ominous Berlin wall. I had felt the needs of the people of Russia as I saw long lines waiting for a quarter of a pound of butter, and then moving on to another store to wait in long lines for another item of food goods. Winter was coming and I felt the needs of people who stood in long lines to purchase blankets.
By the time I crossed through checkpoint Charlie,. I was wound tight emotionally, my heart was hurting for the new friends I was leaving behind. We moved, in some fear, through the checkpoint, by the two sets of guards, down the corridors, through the fenced-in closure to the west side – the American sector of Berlin. And there it was…the American flag, waving in the wind.
My eyes filled with tears to the point that I could no longer see the flag. But in that providential time of God, all that I had been experiencing in the USSR and the German Democratic Republic, was set in dramatic contrast of what I believe that flag represents.
The tears were an overflowing expression of joy and appreciation for the way of life that we reflect too little upon, and that we treasure only superficially. We say it in our pledge, one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all. Sadly, we never really appreciate that at its depth unless we have the kind of experience that had been mine… the setting where the reality of liberty and justice for all is only a farce.
In this July 4 time of celebration, how crucial it is that we own and commit ourselves to what the American dream is all about. Let’s blow the bugle of thankfulness to God for what defines us as a nation under God.