On faith: ‘America, America’ united for a day in celebrating freedom

Alfred Gunn

On Faith

Two years ago, because I had been away from family, the Fourth of July did not promise to be my best. I was returning home from a month in a country where democracy hangs in the balance and an egomaniacal and despotic leader publicly declared America his enemy.

The final leg of my flights left Dallas-Fort Worth at dusk and rose into the clear skies as fireworks began to burst on the landscape below.

I am not a fireworks guy. I have never bought a firecracker, and I worry that the ones going off in my neighborhood might start a fire or that kids might poke their eye out with a sparkler.

But for the five hours of my flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Seattle, my forehead was pressed to the window as I watched the fascinating shows below.

Time and again, I would see highway lights leading in and out of some little anonymous town, and from the middle of the place, 30,000 feet below, symmetrical bursts of yet another grand fireworks display.

America! Celebrating freedom!

On this one night, to my view, we were a people united in celebration of this great country and that great cause. The flight attendants reported that the pilots, obviously experienced in July Fourths from the air, had said, “Wait until you see Idaho!”

For me, it became an emotional evening as I appreciated again the country where I blessed to reside, and the free people who are my fellow citizens.

And as the plane came in over Pierce County at about 10 p.m. and turned north toward SeaTac, the sight was spectacular with thousands of bursts on the horizon from Tacoma, to Vashon Island, to Bremerton, then Burien.

For me, it was the most glorious fireworks display in a lifetime.

I’ve been around long enough to know that, politically, we have never been more polarized than in recent years. Certainly not in my six decades of Julys and Novembers. And the flag-flying unity I had felt with my countrymen in the months following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 seemed to have soon dissipated in disharmony and distrust.

But flying over America, I could see that — for one night — we were united in celebration, and it felt good.

I like unity. I am a disciple of the Son of God who declared, “He that hath the spirit of contention is not of me.”

The church which bears His name enjoys a marvelous unity of doctrine and faith, where presidents and bishops have been called by revelation and sustained by the unanimous vote of the members. This is a sweet politic, without campaigns or contentions — and a miracle of sorts. It is the Lord’s way of running His church and perhaps a preview of a heavenly society.

But, for now, we don’t live in a heavenly society. We live in one where bumper stickers declare that dissent is the greatest form of patriotism and the deciding issue of a national election seems to be whether there are more people who like the president than those who despise him.

I’m not naïve, but I share the dream of a country where people may “be judged” — as the Rev. Martin Luther King said — “not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” And where we unite behind our president, no matter what color his party — red or blue.

I pray for America, her leaders and her soldiers, and for nothing less than victory over terrorism and every other tyranny and unrighteous enemy of freedom.

I trust that the Lord desires to bless us individually and as a people if we learn and keep His commandments, and I want to do my part.

“America! America! God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.” (“America the Beautiful” words by Katharine Lee Bates).

On Faith columnist Alfred Gunn, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Gig Harbor, can be reached by e-mail at alf.gunn@juno.com. For more information, visit www.mormon.org.