This Is Not The America I Grew Up In

This is not the America I grew up in. This is not the country that made my heart swell with pride when I heard the national anthem and saw the stars and stripes raised as a child. This is not the country where I could roam my neighborhood on my steel steed with two wheels and pedals. I played all over Englewood Terrace as early as a second grader. My mother never knew where I was or what I doing as long as I stayed in the neighborhood.

We played in the woods and built forts. We took old broom and hoe handles and tied a string around them to make stick horses. We played simple games like King Of The Mountain as we defended our position on a pile of dirt. We played cops and robbers on our bicycles. We played football in the yard and baseball on an old baseball field near our homes. We lamented more than one baseball game when someone hit a homer and we lost our ball and therefore had to go home.

We played until dark. We wanted to be outside. Dark meant when the streetlight came on. I stayed outside every second I could as a child skating, skateboarding, bicycling, playing football and baseball until dark forced me to come inside. Even then sometimes I hesitated even after the street light came on until I heard my mother calling my name.

I walked or rode a bike to school. I angered more than one crossing guard by cutting across busy roads without their help so I could get to school or get home earlier. It gave me a sense of independence. Once I lived so far from school I had to ride a bus. The bus rider let me be the one to open and shut the door for other students. A job I took special pride in.

I recall special teachers like Mrs. Brumble, Mrs. McKinney, Mrs Pierre and Mrs. Anderson who all invested into my young impressible life. I credit Mrs. Pierre and Mrs. McKinney for nurturing my love for writing at an early age. A passion I still carry to this day.

This is a far different world than I grew up in. Cartoons that once were bright with color have now become dark and sadistic. Once honorable professions like doctors, lawyers, pastors and politicians have been tainted with greed, immorality, corruption and deceit. Children are no longer safe to roam the neighborhoods on bicycles because pedophiles look for opportunities to abduct unsuspecting little innocent lives. This is not the America I grew up in.

I grew up in an era where blacks, browns and whites got along. My best friend in fourth grade was black and I spent time in his home. Black football teammates spent time in my home. We did not see color of skin. We just saw our fiends. We never considered black lives mattered. All lives mattered to us. We all knew that children's song, "Red, yellow, black and white they are all precious in His sight. Yes Jesus loves the little children of the world." This is not the America I grew up in.

I grew up with heroes. Roger Stauback. Earl Campbell. Randy White. Robert Newhouse. Tony Dorsett. Julius Irving. Catfish Hunter. Reggie Jackson. O.J. Simpson. As an adult I stayed mesmerized to the television when news broke that O.J. Simpson got charged with murder. Even as an adult I wanted to defend my hero. Disillusioned I learned sordid details about his life that no longer looked heroic. I have seen that same thing repeated over and over again in others. Sex. Drugs. Illegal financial schemes. Many have fallen including pastors. This is not the America I grew up in.

I remember the absolute thrill when my grandmother took me to the Kurth Memorial library to get my first library card. I fell in love with reading at an early age and tried to instill that in my boys. To this day I have a library card for our local library. Sometimes I go there to read, study and write in a quiet place. Now in some cities transvestites are given access to children through reading programs in public libraries to introduce the homosexual lifestyle. Parents willingly bring their children to such programs so their kids will grow up with an open mind. Coming out the closet is celebrated as brave. This is not the America I grew up in.

Even in the pagan house I grew up in we had multiple copies of the Bible laying around. Several times I picked one up and began reading in Genesis. Nobody told me the Bible was a special book inspired by God inerrant and infallible as a child. I just knew and believed the Bible was special. I still do. Not a view held by the majority. Not a view held by many church people even. This is not the America I grew up in.

I grew up in a family of patriots. We were taught as children to stand for the Pledge Of Allegiance and National Anthem. We took our hats off and put our hands over our hearts. Now people kneel and sit in protest. They draw attention to themselves while totally disrespecting all those who gave their lives to fight for the freedom that even gives people that right to protest. This is not the America I grew up in.

One of the thrills I enjoyed as a child was getting to go to the picture show. We loved movies, popcorn and a soda. As a father I found I had to be more selective about what movies to take my young children to view that did not go against everything we valued as followers of Jesus. Even to this day I have walked out of more than one movie because of foul language. We check before we go now even though my boys are grown. This is not the America I grew up in.

I remember trusting our government as a child. I DO NOT TRUST POLITICIANS NOW. Neither do I trust the news media. They do not have our best interests at heart. Both lie and manipulate. Both deceive and hide the truth. Both spin stories with their own agenda. This is not the America I grew up in.

I am saddened as a middle aged adult. I am saddened when I see preschoolers heads buried in a handheld video game or cell phone. I am bothered that little boys and girls cannot play sports around the neighborhood for the love of the game. Now we have specialized select leagues where even the youngest children have all the accessories of big leaguers. We used to play in our sneakers and ride our bikes with our glove wedged through the handle of our bats. Kids are growing up more spoiled and entitled than my generation did. We were more spoiled and entitled than the generation before us. This is not the America I grew up in.

If we wanted something we worked to save for it. We raked leaves, mowed yards and ran paper routes. Today parents give kids all they want. Many students know nothing of a work ethic. Nor do many students have any respect for authority. This is not the America I grew up in.

Is it too late? Is it all over for America? Has the United States passed the tipping point of God's judgment? I pray not. God is the only hope for this country and the world.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)
14  if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.