I am a patriot. I’ve been a patriot for as long as I can remember. I love the land of my birth. I spent nearly half of my life in the U.S. Air Force, both as an enlisted and commissioned member. I am a patriot, however, who found abhorrent the January 6 insurrection. I am a patriot, however, who supported those who kneeled during the national anthem to call awareness to the inequality that exists in our society. I am a patriot, who is also a professed Christian.
Can I be both a patriot and a committed Christian? It has not been easy to be both. “Render the things of Caesar to Caesar…and the things of God to God” has been a troublesome thing for me. It still is.
There is a hymn that expresses my perception of Christian faith and patriotism: “This Is My Song” puts patriotism in its proper place and expresses what it means to be a “patriotic Christian.”
This is my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine,
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
But other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.
This is my prayer, O Lord of all earth’s kingdoms:
Thy kingdom come; on earth thy will be done.
Let Christ be lifted up till all shall serve him,
And hearts united learn to live as one.
O hear my prayer, thou God of all the nations;
Myself I give thee, let thy will be done.
