Israel

Israel is near and dear to my heart for two reasons: first off I am a Christian. Whether you believe that the Church has taken Israel's place as God's chosen people, or that Israel remains the chosen ones to this day, Israel's place in the Bible is one of significant weight. They are the one's God originally chose as his people. They are the ones we make our Christian movies about, they are the source of our bumper stickers and our car Ichthys', and they are the reason felt graphs even exist. They are the same people today that lived, ate, drank, and slept in the Promise Land, and they are the same ones who helped crucify, and stand by, Jesus Christ. They've gone through near extinction, living without a nation to call home, and then the one-day-birth of that nation in 1948. Whether you like it or not, Israel has always been a big deal.

The second reason I have a special place in my heart for Israel is because I've been there- twice. I've walked the streets of Jerusalem, woke up to the beautiful sight of the Sea of Galilee, and floated in the buoyant waters of the Dead Sea. I've talked with, haggled with, sat with, and even ate with Jews and Muslims alike (my favorite dish is a falafel with unleavened bread and humus). I've been to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, The Garden Tomb, The Church of the Holy Nativity, and the location where the Last Supper is believed to have been held. I say all these things not to brag, but merely to establish context of where I'm coming from.


As of late Israel has been shed in different light. Depending on your political and social views, you probably hold a different opinion from the guy sitting next to you. Simply watching twitter and facebook during Netanyahu's recent speech showed me how varying opinions are. Some are calling it an act of "peace" and others that of "defiance." I'm of the former opinion, because I believe Netanyahu's terms are decent, and his heart is in the right place. Israel has fought long and hard to not have constant pressure from enemies. Imagine if Canada and Mexico were both sworn enemies of the US, and wanted to invade and take over our land, kill our civilians, and destroy our way of life. That's scratching the surface of what Israel has had to go through since it was birthed as a nation. It's no wonder the IDF is one of the greatest fighting forces in the world.


But what about you? What do you believe? And not just what, but why?

Colin

Proud to be an American...?

In case you didn't know, I'm a boy scout. I'm a part of Troop 61, and we meet every Mon. night at Westside Bible church in Meridian. I enjoy scouts, even if I get mocked by some of my friends at school about it ;)

Last Monday we had a guest speaker- a lady who had recently gotten her American citizenship after immigrating from Ireland when she was 16 with her family. Basically she just told us all the things she had to do to become an American citizen, what that means, etc. She even asked us a couple questions from the test.
(One of them was "Who is the head of the Supreme Court? What's his name?" I said Chief Justice Roberts when no one else could figure it out. Apparently not everyone heard about the blunder that made him famous.)

The thing that struck me most about this woman wasn't the process she had to go through to get her citizenship (although that was impressive.) Rather, I found her level of patriotism to the United States incredible! She spoke about our country as if it were heaven. In fact, before she was an American citizen she wouldn't touch an American flag out of respect, and because she felt that if she were to let it touch the ground, or defy it in any way, she would be disrespecting the entire country more so because she wasn't yet a citizen.

What hit me the most about this wasn't a sense of guilt, such as "I have so much to be thankful for, and am taking advantage of so much!" I know the freedoms this country gives me, and I am grateful for them. I do participate in being a citizen by staying informed politically, by following the laws even when I don't agree with them 100%, and by praying for America's leaders frequently. I don't, however, have a large degree of respect for the country itself. I see America as extremely corrupt, and getting worse everyday.
Like I said, this isn't to say I'm not glad I live in America, because I am. I'm no terrorist, I simply don't exactly know what it means to be patriotic. Is patriotism being thankful? Is it waving a flag around on the fourth of July? Is it saying the pledge of allegiance?

On that note, what about the pledge of allegiance? When I say it am I pledging to the ever-degrading American society? Or am I pledging to the ideals that America was founded upon? I'm honestly not sure. If the latter, I'll say it everyday, any day. If the former, I don't see much of a point.

What do you think?
Colin