Patriots

When I saw this cartoon today, I felt it needed to be shared.

Then my mind started turning around the question “who is a Patriot?” This question took me to scripture and Jesus telling the story of the Good Samaritan. The Lawyer asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asks the lawyer what the law says. The lawyer answers “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus congratulates him on being correct.

Then comes the next question, who is my neighbor? Jesus answers his question with the tale of the Good Samaritan. He asks the lawyer who the neighbor is in that tale. The Lawyer answers “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus tells the man he is correct saying “Go and do likewise.”

So who is a neighbor? The one who acts like a neighbor is your neighbor. It's not necessarily the one who is adorned in the robes and glory of the community. Their agendas may be filled with other needs or wants or desires beyond the one who is injured. The neighbor acts like a neighbor.

Who is a Patriot? A Patriot is someone who acts like a Patriot. Patriots definitely include the men and women who serve in the Armed Forces. Especially those who make the final sacrifice. The American military is all volunteer. Not one member of our armed forces has been conscripted, forced to serve. They all want to serve this country and its people. They are Patriots. Their's is the blood that is the seed of Freedom's Tree.

When a young friend was commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the Marine Corps, I told her that I prayed that the civilians whose policies would become her orders were worthy of her patriotism. For worse, I believe there are many whose motivations are not truly patriotic, but in service to other goals.

The story of the Good Samaritan included a priest and a Levite, men of status and power who should have acted like neighbors. They weren't bad men. For the sake of the parable if they had come in contact with the man's blood they would have been unclean. Since by the story they were on their ways to Jerusalem, they were probably on their way to serve in the temple. They were on their way to work, doing their job, but they weren't being good neighbors.

There are many who put on the cloak of the patriot who serve other masters; some seek power, others money, others fame. Patriots fall everyday because of these priests and Levites.

So God bless the true Patriots. Those who serve this nation. God bless those who serve it in uniform and yes, those who serve it out of uniform. And may God convict those who drape themselves in patriotism to serve another master.