Loss of a Nation's Heart

Loss of a Nation’s Heart

10/27/13

Holidays are a special time of the year where we gather to celebrate certain ideas of our lives.  Holidays are important to nations because it represents certain details of a nation’s history that are deemed important.  Important enough that how people celebrate their nation’s holidays can give others around the globe an idea of how important their country actually is to their lives.  And since this importance in stature, holidays then can demonstrate how the country’s heart condition is and how long that country may survive.

I realize that holidays are not the only concept and condition that can represent the state of a country.  And to be honest, even though I have not researched much on this topic I do not know if there are many papers or even books written about how the country celebrates its holidays versus the condition of the country’s heart, but it is a concept that God showed me to write about and for the reader to think about and to search their own heart and see just what kind of an example they are showing to the world when our holidays roll around each year.

There is no question that God has richly blessed this country and for centuries now this country has stood out as a beacon of leadership for the rest of the world to notice.  Our history may be short in comparison to the rest of the world but it has been inundated with so many promises, blessings and growth that even the most skeptical person on the planet must contend that a higher power had something to do with our rise; but this skeptical person must also realize that the higher power person can take away everything that have been given and promised just as easily because of our own selfish designs and desires.

Each nation has at least a few national holidays that is celebrated on a recurring basis.  These holidays may be celebrated once a year, twice a year or every other year but they are celebrated in such a manner that represents the reason why the holidays were created for that nation in the first place.  These dates that are set aside are done so in a manner to which the people of that nation will take time out of their daily routines and remember the trials and heartaches that their nation went through in order to establish their nation as it is today.  Now, I understand that not every nation is in the same state of function as the USA is but no matter what condition a country is in or proclaims, the people of that country are patriotic and understand its nation’s history.

History is a subject that many of us, including myself, absolutely hated while we were attending school.  The preconceived concepts of a history class or course is that it will be filled with memorization about dates and past periods of time that have nothing to do with the relevance of today’s world.  How far from correct is that concept yet it is more prevalent today than probably ever before.  Plus, when we understand the importance of something we tend to more readily learn about those concepts instead of memorizing them because of the importance and love that we have for that particular subject.

I truly believe that it is ploy from our enemy that this concept about history is so well documented and accepted within the minds of students, simply because our history no matter on what level will always be used against us by others including our great accuser.  So one would naturally think that if our accuser uses history against us that maybe we should take our history seriously and what better way would that be completed if we remember the true reasons of why we celebrate our holidays.

I understand that our country celebrates many holidays and we use these days and weeks to take off work and supposedly spend time with our families but the deep question that needs to be asked is if we are doing this request from the bottom of our hearts and not just for show.  I believe that we can know this answer by the way we look at our holidays along with our actions when take the time off.  I am not going to touch on all of our holidays for there are numerous but the ones that I am going to address are major ones and the ones that I have been associated with my entire life.  I also have to admit that I have not always been so appreciative of these national holidays but I have changed my attitude towards them due to what my eyes have witnessed over the past few decades concerning these days.

The first national holiday I am going to talk about is Memorial Day.  Many of our children have not been taught the true meaning of this holiday and why it is important in our history.  When one asks others about Memorial Day for the most part you will receive a response that has something to do with barbecue, the end of school or the weekend that marks the beginning of summer.  While all of these responses are correct and they are not bad in nature many of the people questioned do not bring up the fact about the true meaning of the holiday.

Memorial Day is one of our more important holidays in that it was created after one of the darkest periods in our nation’s history. Decoration Day as it was first known after the completion of the American Civil War and was dedicated to the memory of all the soldiers who had perished on both sides of the civil war.  It was created as a time of not only remembrance but also as a time for reflection and bringing back together a nation torn.  Thousands of men died for their beliefs and no matter which side of the war a family hailed from, everyone within the nation was somehow affected by this tragic war.

It was not until the 20^th Century that Memorial Day was extended to every soldier from our country that had died during a war and it was proclaimed as a day when many family members of service men and women who have died in battle to place flags and flowers upon their headstones as a reminder that their sacrifice has not been forgotten.  A sad note to this holiday is that many people today do not understand, and some do not even care, about the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

The 4^th of July is a huge holiday within this country and is also a popular concept within almost every country around the world.  This holiday represents our independence from Britain and all of the men and women who gave their lives to ensure freedom for everyone who desired it.  Thousands of men died a gruesome death so that their children and grandchildren could know and appreciate the meaning of the word freedom. 

The 4^th is usually celebrated with food and fireworks both symbolizing the heart of American know-how and ingenuity to make things work for the better for everyone.  This holiday is probably one of the most important ones since if there were not people in our past that had the guts enough to stand up to those who they believed were subduing and harming the stability and vitality of the newly established nation, the country as we know it at present moment would not be recognizable.  I thank God every day for the men and women who worked painstakingly and agonized over a period of years to create the Constitution and everything that it represents so that tyranny cannot ever truly and legally flourish again.

Recently I was involved in a conversation about our country’s history and what life was like for our founding fathers.  And a young person who was also in on this conversation was giving her opinion about the founding fathers and how they should have done things differently.  I looked at this young lady and I asked her a question and that question was as follows:  “Can you name any of the founding fathers of this country?” Because of the way she was trying to explain her belief about the founding fathers it was not surprising to me that she could not name any of them.  Furthermore I asked her “if she could name the first three Presidents of the country” and she could not even do this either.  Another young person did not know who we won our independence from either.  With these questions not being able to be answered, one really has to wonder about the heart of nation and its condition of strength and stability.

This is what I fear about this last paragraph.  This young lady, who I love tremendously, was never taught this type of detailed information about her own country.  This is the excuse that she had and she had not pursued anything further because she did not deem it important enough to know about.  Many of us understand who Hitler was and everything that he did to the world while he was in power.  Many of us do not realize that Hitler was absolutely fascinated with the history of his country and all of the countries that influenced the culture and lifestyle of Germany.  He deeply loved his country and the German way of life.  Somewhere along the way his hatred of how other nations treated his country after a bloody defeat got into his head and took over and the rest is well known history, as they say.

My point is this, and I point out some other questions at the same time.  If a person who loves their country and understands their country’s history then becomes a head of that state, then turns on the world is it possible to forgive the misguiding of her / his actions on an overall basis?  Before you answer that question think about it for a moment and include all historical possibilities, ten give it an answer.  On the other hand, you take a person who has no belief in their nation’s history and do not even understand their country’s origins and allow them to become a head of state and then they do the exact same process as Hitler did to the world, is their forgiveness just as easy?  And will this path prove forth as the future of the leaders of that country as well?

The next holiday that I wish to talk about is Labor Day.  For most of the young people in this nation Labor Day means the end of summer and a return to school.  It is considered by many to be the last summer holiday and one that marks the beginning of harvest season.  Labor Day was established in the 1800s mainly for recognizing the ability, capability and dedication of the American worker and everything that he / she has done for the advancement of American industries.  Unions heavily celebrate this day and have a deep long running interest in its creation as a holiday.  Some of the people in the country do not agree with the policies of the unions but they have established some great working conditions for countless people over the decades, even though some of their means of accomplishing these conditions were not on the up and up.

Labor Day celebrates all those who have worked their buns off for this country and have gone to work every day and turned out the best product available.  These people come from every line of work and each one of them should be proud of the work that they have produced.  With the worker’s dedication to their employer this nation was built as one of the mightiest industrial producing nations and everyone associated with this status should be applauded.  So, even though the entire holiday meaning may not suit everyone’s fancy, it still is a great holiday and should be remembered as time passes on by.

Columbus Day was a huge hit when I was young but if you ask a young person today about this holiday you will probably end up in an argument.  The controversy of what Columbus did for this hemisphere is unquestionably extraordinary and we should keep that in mind as we continue to bash this man and his service to his country.  Christopher Columbus was not from this country and was not a founding father of this country per say.  Yes, he did employ some strange behaviors in this hemisphere and yes his followers brought slaves, disease and other foul issues to this side of the earth, but how would things have been different if CC did not explore this side when he did?  Ever wonder how things would be if he was denied the funds to make the voyage or had got lost and ended up dying at sea?

The questions I have for those of us who do not like CC and everything that he did for this part of the world is this.  Have you started out and made an adventure like he and his crew did and if you have then did you use the exact same equipment and means that CC and his crew used?  Did you have to fend off vicious tribes and ferocious animals while walking through dense and unexplored territories?  Did you spend months at a time at sea and endure the natural watery elements that it had to offer?  When did those boys have time to bathe???? 

I cannot argue that these men did some stupid, ridiculous and questionable acts while they were over here.  However, they also brought with them a new way of life for all of us today and began thousands of boys and girls dreaming of the new world and many of these kids grew hopes of living or exploring in the new world one day.  All of the optimism and desire to learn new things drove the inhabitants of Spain and other countries of Europe to advance their conditions on others, this too had its positives and negatives but it was the desire to learn that makes this holiday special and unique in its own way.  And if we continue to detail out the bad things about CC and his voyage, then our heart’s ambition to learn is also threatened.

Now for the “meaty” portion of this article. J  Thanksgiving has always been a time for thanks and for everything that the summer has produced for our families.  Harvest is almost over for most people and it is time for families to gather and celebrate all of the blessings that we have had over the past year.  Thanksgiving traditionally has marked the beginning of the official holiday season in this country and with this holiday being the first one on the calendar is usually heavily celebrated.

When I was a kid my parents taught me the basic concepts of Thanksgiving and how the pilgrims came over to the new world and after the harvest season was complete included all of their neighbors in this feast.  Everyone helped out during those days in order to make the harvest a success so everyone was invited for the feast afterwards.  It took a while for me to realize that the food that we have today was not the exact same type of food that they had back in the 1700s which when I learned about this, it came as a slight shock to my system. The word togetherness comes to mind when this holiday is mentioned because when the concepts of this time were created everyone had to rely on each other to get the job completed.  There were no family enemies and those that did not deserve to be included in the complete gathering.  Everyone, including their differences, understood that there was a job to do and that it had to be done in order to survive.

Football, football, football is usually the war cry when Thanksgiving comes around now-a-days.  Now, being a huge football fan I do not complain about this time of year because during the week of Thanksgiving there are usually games on almost every day of the week; many school rivalries take place during this time.  I am not going to condemn any sporting activity because I do support these types of activities however, if these activities do infiltrate and take over the true meaning of this holiday it should be well noted that the heart of this holiday has been violated.

How guilty do we feel about overeating on this holiday?  Most of us, myself included fall into this category.  But as soon as Thanksgiving week is over our guilt and gluten turns into another rush for Christmas is just as few weeks away.  But how should we feel about celebrating Thanksgiving when we do not believe in what the country stands for or where it has come from?  What about the one being that gave us the opportunity to celebrate this holiday?  We have become so hypocritical concerning this holiday in that we are still enjoying the fruits of our labor but are ignoring and pushing out the one person who has allowed us to have all of these things.  Where have we gone wrong and will we ever realize that if we do not change our hearts about this holiday, this holiday will soon be lost because of our current actions.

To include another angle concerning our current actions for many years now people in this country have been trying their best to group Thanksgiving and Christmas together as being just “the holidays”.  I believe that this idea is preposterous and should be immediately dismissed because it would totally destroy the individual histories of both holidays and further weaken the heart and spirit of our nation. Thanksgiving has became a target practice for those people who live in freedom and exercise their “right” to have their opinion but do not respect what the holiday represents nor do they respect those who do wish to truly celebrate this historic and Godly holiday.

Christmas continues to be the bull’s eye holiday for billions of people around the world.  My approach to this holiday is going to be two fold in that I will be directing my words to both sides of the stream including those who wish to ban this holiday and to the people who religiously celebrate it.  I probably should make this portion of this article a standalone article but I am going to include it here so I have to keep the information as condensed as possible.

For as long as I can accurately remember there has been a movement to rid the official name of Christmas and to replace it with a number of other names.  One of the more popular choices has been for the usage of the word Xmas.  I understand that not everyone in the world believes in God and what the life of Christ means to others.  God also understands this and accepts this view from these people but just for the record that does not mean that He has stopped loving you.  Anyway, it is a direct hit on this holiday for anyone to suggest that its name be changed and that it should reflect a more secular theme rather than a Holy theme.

One of the loudest arguments that some people take part in about Christmas is about the actual time of the birth of Christ and how that the 25^th of December is not the date of His birth.  I hope I am not bursting any bubbles here but that statement is actually true that the birth of Jesus probably did not occur on this date.  But it is not the date that matters; we could celebrate Christmas on June 15^th or May 17^th or any other date on the calendar, even February 29^th if we wish.  The date of the holiday is not what is in question but when someone brings up this point it should present a clear message to those around that, especially if the person really is annoyed about the holiday, about what is present within their heart.  God does not care which day of the year a person celebrates Christmas, in fact as Christians we should celebrate Christmas every day of the year, which would definitely represent the true spirit of Christmas.

The art of giving gifts from the heart of people has gone by the wayside.  Commercialization of everything about Christmas has overtaken the world with the blessings that we have been instilled with.  I can see the progression of this phenomenon on the day after Thanksgiving when most of the stores have a huge sale on the popular items that they believe will be given as Christmas gifts.  Now, I have participate in this event and have received some great gifts for others at this time so I cannot argue against its concept but year after year you hear about or witness many people fighting over these items, some even risking jail time in order to obtain a gift before someone else does.  Where is the heart of this action?  If this is the motivation and determination that is displayed for a specific gift, just think what attitude that child or friend is going to inherit after the gift is given to them.

Now for the “other hand” of the Christmas holiday.  We all know that Christmas time represents to hundreds of millions of people around the world the pinnacle of the Christian faith.  I have recently gained more knowledge of the Advent calendar and what each day symbolizes and represents.  I still have questions about these meanings but that is not the issue of this article.  In all reality the Church herself has embraced the concept of commercialization when it comes to Christmas.  Not so much in the monetary side of things but where it comes to the heart of what Christmas represents.

The heart is an individual organ which beats differently yet specifically for each person.  If a person leads and accepts with their heart they are more likely to not hide any feelings for their cause.  Christmas is a special time of the year and should be celebrated as one chooses, but if that person does not share the good news and the true meaning of Christmas to others, where is the individuality of the heart?  If we do not share this news then we have accepted the commercialization of Christmas just as others have and are now eligible for a defamation of the holiday due to our coldness towards the meaning of the holiday.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving gifts to people at Christmas, it is encouraged and is actually the heart of what Christmas means.  However, the holiday itself cannot be watered down by anyone, because it is just that important.  If we choose to continually mass give our effectiveness of true giving that comes from the heart, will be lost.  Take the time to get to know the people that you give gifts spend time with them and learn what they need instead of what they want.  This act of giving comes from the heart and not from the mind and is exactly what Jesus did when He came to this earth.

The Church should be ashamed of herself for the actions that it has portrayed towards the world concerning Christmas.  The Church should be shouting to the entire world the true meaning of Christmas and what the roots of the holiday represent.  There is nothing wrong with attending Christmas choir concerts, communion services, choral groups or even walking down the street singing Christmas carols with the youth group but if we do not complete these activities with a sincere heart and a giving heart our fruits are dead and cannot be used for their intended inhabitants.  Say no to the commercialization of Christmas and to the renaming of this holiday for when we allow this to continue, we will look back one day and notice that our heart is not welcome in this holiday either, which means our heart no longer beats for God.

The last holiday that I am going to talk about is New Years.  It’s party time!!!!  New Years Eve is a festive time and almost every culture in the world stops for a few moments on December 31^st and parties a little bit hoping that the next year will bring better fortunes than the last did.  For most of us in the modern world this wish has been granted for many centuries now but there are still some areas of the world who choose to live in the past or with simple measures as their means of survival, more power to them for they are more likely to understand the true concepts about this holiday than we fast paced societal people would. 

This holiday represents many things to the world and if known it has its roots from an old heritage.  Now I do not know if the ones who created this holiday understood what it represents and to be honest neither did I until a few years ago.  But a new year is just that a new year.  Which means that everything in your personal world should start anew or start over, right?  Well the Jewish New Year which has been around for far longer than our concepts of a new year celebration has been actually has a very deep rooted meaning about the New Year and what is expected from those who celebrate it.  I am not saying that we all should become Jewish or accept the ways of Jewish law but their New Year celebrations are quite intriguing.

The Jewish New Year goes deeper than the normal party like atmosphere that we in the modern or western world adhere to.  I know for a fact that people in Israel do celebrate the New Year, on 31^st of December as well however, the traditional Jewish New Year goes into forgiveness and how one cannot really be “accepted” into the next year until he / she forgives others for the wrongs that have been done to them.  This is a true and correct meaning concerning the holiday of New Years.  What a blessing it would be, a real reason to dance and celebrate if one knows that your debts have all been cancelled.  You know, I have heard that phrase somewhere before….

Maybe we should take another look at this holiday as well and take it to heart that there is more of a meaning about this day than just food, dancing, partying and football.  I know that New Years Day is very popular in my family and our tradition on this day goes back to my elementary school years.  I would not trade these memories for anything, even when some of those years were not so happy for me. Celebrate your freedom in God while you are dancing the night away or watching the football game on TV.  Choose life and speak life into the coming year and I guarantee that the next year will be better than the one before.  For when you speak life, the heart is involved and it demonstrates to those around you that you have hope in the coming year and that you trust in God for that hope to come to pass.

I know that I have skipped many other national, state and local holidays and festivities but I believe I have made my point with the ones that I have chosen to talk about.  I am not against all of the things that the families do on holidays for I participate in as many of them as possible.  My intentions here in this article is one of the heart and how that while we are playing around on these holidays we need to make sure that our heart is still involved in the center of things.  God has allowed all of us to have a celebratory time in our lives, in fact the Bible states that God commands us to be happy; yes, a Jewish holiday.  But God also wishes that we keep Him in the center of our lives and to give thanks to Him for life itself and to do our duty and to remember why these holidays exist and to hide them within our hearts, providing we still have a beating heart.  For if we choose to ignore the ways that we have become a nation then as one of the old popular songs says, we will fall for anything that comes our way.

DLB