Have any of these highly paid athletes who kneel during the
National Anthem ever considered the words that Francis Scott Key penned a
little more than two centuries ago? For
that matter, have you who might take offense at their protest considered the
song that brings us to our feet and puts our hands over our hearts.
The first verse begins with a question and ends with another
question. They are essential to
understanding what we as a nation are all about.
We fought and paid dearly to gain independence from the
British Empire. We won and took a decade
to come up with a Constitution that has no equal geographically or
chronologically. We began this grand
experiment in a democratic republic with noble concepts, imperfect for sure,
but there have been none better—ever.
The British wanted their colonies back and thus began the
War of 1812. By then we had a flag. We had many in the formative years, but now
we had one with stars and stripes. It
stood for this grand experiment for which so many had bled and died.
The song asks if anyone can see if the symbol of this young
country had survived the night’s battle.
In the lights of explosions that continued through the night, glimpses
of our flag remained, but dawn had come.
Did we survive the night?
We had and so too would our republic.
The question at the end of this verse is not to generations
past but to us. Does that flag still
wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave. Are we still willing to sacrifice today to
keep this grand experiment alive? Are we
willing to set aside selfishness to preserve the blessings of liberty for
ourselves and our posterity?
This country has problems.
Guess what? They all do, but we
are one of the few where we get to be a part of the solution. I have been to many countries around this
world, not staying in the finest hotels and meeting with celebrities, but
living and serving among the working end of this equation called humanity. I say with no qualification at all, ours is
the best of the best.
We have problems but we are blessed to be a part of the
solutions. We are the government unless
we get lazy or apathetic.
It is easy to point out problems or to assign blame. It takes courage to jump into the arena and
be a part of the solution. Are there
still racial problems in this great country?
Yes.
I will again say with some definition, they pale in
comparison to most of the world. We are
spoiled. We have abandoned self-discipline
and respect for authority, and we—all of us—have authored the problems of this
century. The good news is that we may also
be a part of their solutions, at least for now.
If the American way is so bad that you must protest against
it, what is better? Bring a working
model and put it before the people.
Small minds protest, blame, and object without sticking their necks out
to produce something better. Brave and
creative ones offer viable alternatives.
The American way is to produce something better than we had
before. Do we want to preserve the
blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity or do we just want to get
some attention that we don’t like the way things are but will not get in the
middle of the solution?
Does that star-spangled banner still waver over the land of
the free and the home of the brave? Are we still willing to be a part of the solution or just complain
about how bad we have it in the very country where we have the best chance of
all to fix things?
I love the words of President Theodore Roosevelt. He spoke them overseas but they are surely
meant for our generation in this country that has become so critical and divisive
of everything.
It is not the critic
who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where
the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man
who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there
is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do
the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself
in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high
achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring
greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who
neither know victory nor defeat.
If you think that we have a
problem with our police forces, set aside your Sunday uniform and dawn the blue
or khaki of our nation’s most troubled police forces. Go into the arena where there are no yellow
flags to protect you.
If you don’t like the president,
support another candidate in the next election but understand that he is where he
is because of the process of very wise founders.
If you don’t like the law, elect
different legislators.
If you think racism is a problem,
then work to improve relations between people.
If you think that protesting is
the only thing you can do, then grow a backbone and address the problems at
their source. Grandstanding never solved
anything.
If you must kneel, do so before
almighty God and thank him that you still live in the land of the free and the
home of the brave.
The apostle Paul wrote with
regard to Christian freedom—and it applies to freedom in our land as well—that for
me everything is permissible; but not everything is profitable. Not everything is beneficial.
Not every exercise of our freedom is beneficial!
Do we have the wisdom to draw
attention to the problems that need fixed in this nation without furthering the
divisions that exist in this nation?
For the millionaire athletes that
won’t honor the symbol for the very nation that gives them the right to do just that, here is a suggestion. If it is
attention that you want, buy advertising on television and present your
solutions. You are blessed to be paid
great amounts of money for playing a sport.
Are you willing to put your money
to work to present solutions or do you just want to stay in the safety of
protest without proffered solutions?
Will you live in the arena or on
the sidelines for the things that you say matter?
I challenge you to stand for our
National Anthem and use the liberty that it symbolizes to help make things
better. At present, you are moving this
nation to more and deeper division. Do
you have the courage to help heal and reconcile and preserve liberty?
Do you have the courage to help
realize what our founders hoped for, that we would be the land of the free and
the home of the brave?
If you are handed the football or
receive a pass in a game, will you take a knee because you might get hit? I hope not.
So why take a knee when the
anthem of our best hope at living as a free people is played? Blame is the cowards game. Fixing the problem instead of fixing the
blame is only for the brave.
Are you numbered among the brave?
