"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." (Proverbs 14:34)
Whether you believe in God or not, the fact that you have the freedom to believe or the freedom to doubt is integral to the fabric of this nation. Ten years ago that fabric hung, tattered and knotted as we struggled in disbelief at the attacks on the East Coast. I watched from my TV, having just come back home from delivering a missed customer on my paper route. It took a long time to process what I saw and still some of the details are hazy. Like the New York skyline for weeks following.
Did God cause it to happen? Absolutely not. But I believe He was powerless to prevent it.
As it says in Proverbs (16:7), "if our ways please the Lord, He'll cause our enemies to be at peace with us". The pundits, preachers, poets, priests and politicians (thank you, Sting) pointed at this sin and that "sin" and blamed each other. Conspiracy theories littered the landscape like detritus from the war of ideologies. And yet, following this tack, it was indeed an inside job. Inside our hearts and minds we shut God out. All of the apathy and hate and ingratitude rising to heaven, we sacrificed compassion and conscience for hate and hedonism and as such the door was left open for the enemy. We paid the price. And as Ed Roland (of Collective Soul, in an unrelated song;10 Years Later) sings: "it's 10 years later and still I haven't a clue". I see today, the same apathetic attitude we were infected with a decade ago.
God's forgiveness is still extant and extravagant. Love, as Peter says (1 Peter 4:8), covers a multitude of sins. Any outward, behavioral sin, "a reproach to any people" (again, Proverbs 14:34), begins—towards God (Psalms 51:4)—in the heart and mind. So, too, do the virtues. A lukewarm heart, veneered over with rudimentary morality isn't going to last. Let us turn to God again and let Him heal our nation (2 Chronicles 7:14). We need to "put aside the alienation" as Rush sang in Limelight. Only when we renew our minds (Romans 12:1-2) to the truths in God's word will we experience real healing and prosperity. And freedom. From sin, violence and apathy. His love, mercy and grace will help us if we ask.
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)