Brother To Brother

Hello all and welcome. I heard the other day about the terrible floods going on in Iowa. They as well as others in need at this time should be in our prayers with out ceasing. The one item that caught my attention quickly was the fact that the people got together and sand bagged 27 miles of levee. That was no small feat. When Americans roll up their sleeves and work shoulder to shoulder they can accomplish just about anything.

I have always felt that we in America are different than the rest of the world. I don't mean this to sound like we are better than anyone else, that's not my point. But we are different and I think we are called to be different. I think that we are to stand in the gap when trouble comes to those in need, just like in Iowa and other states that have been flooded or have been hit with some natural calamity. And in some instances that are not natural.

We are a strange bunch here in America with our thirst for freedom and self reliance. One of our founding fathers made this statement(I can't remember his name, someone might), "I do not always agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it." We may be strange because we love freedom and are willing to march half way around the world to defend it for some down trodden people.

In America in the not so distant past, when someone lost their home to a storm or by fire or what ever. It would not take long for the community to rally to their needs. In the old days it would be the local preacher leading a caravan of supplies, tools, food, and neighbors to the spot of need. He would put his arm around the folks and say we are here now, rest easy. In those days you didn't need to have insurance, you had neighbors. People would give their best to help not their throw aways.

True Americans don't have to be born here, they just have to be sold out to this country and it's ideals. Our founding fathers set the pattern for us with statements like "we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." We care for one another and love our country deeply. Have you ever thought about this, If you bring someone from China to live in America he will become an American. If some one comes from France and become a citizen he will be known as a American. If some one comes from Ethiopia and takes up residence here, he will be known as an American. But the reverse is not true. If you put an American in China, France, or Ethiopia they will never be know as Chinese, French, or Ethiopian. They will simply be known as an American living in China, an American living in France, or an American living in Ethiopia and generally looking over their shoulder towards home.

I don't know what the future holds for our country and it's people. But I do know this, if we hold to the principles that we were founded on and embrace virtue and grasp the moral high ground and rekindle our national faith in God almighty, we can stand against absolutely anything that is thrown at us by any one, group or thing that decides to mess with us. But if we continue to abandon God He will continue to abandon us, if we continue our moral down slide, if we continue to spit on our Constitution, if we continue to play screw thy neighbor, then any would be tough guy will march through us like corn through a goose. That old saying, "together we stand, divided we fall" is more relevant today than it as ever been. We need to guard against those that would divide us, and we need to be careful as to who is really dividing and who is not. Not all things are what they appear to be at times.

Friend we live in the greatest country in the world. We are a part of the greatest brotherhood that ever was. The spirit in America is a real thing. Grasp it, hold it, nurture it, and love it till you become as strong as those who came before us. There was a line from a movie that went, "Brother to Brother". That is what America is, we are all brothers, homogenized into one people called America. May God bless America and every American.

Sleep tight, sleep safe my brother.

For all is well down on the farm.

The Old Farmer