An American Epiphany

Last week I took my family for an enjoyable time at the ballpark. We went to see the Dodgers face off against the Florida Marlins. Though the Dodgers were dreadful...a common occurance for them recently, we did have a good time. My girls have been programmed to enjoy baseball on television, but especially at the ballpark.

Our church is taking a trip to Dodger Stadium for a game June 5. So I decided to get the tickets at the game and save us the service fee. While I was in line for the tickets, inside the park, I had an epiphany.

People by the dozens are passing by me every minute searching for seats or snacks or souvenirs. Everyone on their own little mission. That is until the National Anthem began. And in what I would describe as somewhat miraculous fashion, everything stopped. The lady at the ticket counter stopped taking tickets. The people scurrying through the halls stopped in their tracks and faced out towards the flag. Those who were wearing caps removed them. It seemed as if the whole world stopped for those few moments. And they did.

While America is far from perfect in our politics, morality or social causes, I have to say that I am proud to be an American. With all of our problems and ills, we are still drawn together to stand and affirm our common beliefs. I am certain there are things that happen regularly both domestically and internationally that become embarrassing for us Americans, but we land on the side of freedom and good more often than not.

As a follower of Jesus I would love to see us (Christians) stand together in the same way. It's not that we can't have disagreements over areas of doctrine and practice. But let's stand on the things that are worth standing on...truth, justice and God's good ways!