I Still Believe In You, a Letter To America

I still believe in you. No, I'm not saying that I always believe in the people that make up America. In all of life's experiences with people, there are the good, the bad, and the ugly. No, America, if people were the source of my belief, I would have to write YOU off. I still believe in you. I think it's the ideas and the ideals; it's the core principles that I believe in. I see them in The Mayflower Compact, The Declaration of Independence; I see them in The Constitution and in President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. I still believe in you. I have seen those principles down through history as YOU struggle to make right YOUR wrongs. No, it's not about the people who human, like me, are at times frail, fearful, feeble, and fickle. No, it's not about the people who human, like me, have compromises and contradictions. I still believe in you. I think it's because of what I read in The Pledge Of Allegiance to the flag of The United States. Like the above-mentioned documents, it gives pause to the power of principles and beliefs. The contents of those documents are linked, not to the hypocrisies and transitory notions of people, but rather to the eternal non-altering principles of The Word of The Living God. O America, I still believe in you. For a thousand reasons and more, I still believe In YOU, America. Let it suffice to say in closing, that I believe because I have learned from YOU something that YOU appear to have always known. Namely, that we all must aspire to something far beyond and so much greater than ourselves. Namely, if the things we confront are willing to be a friend, embrace it, but if not, dare to stare the seemingly impossible foe in the face and in the name of God, defeat it. O America, I still believe in you. I cry and pray that YOU will be able to withstand the many assaults against YOUR core beliefs. I have every reason to believe that, God helping us, we shall succeed just as in prior challenges. However, as YOU ponder YOUR present pain, Your present lack of justice for all, You must not hesitate or stall. YOU must admit that many things have to change if this republic is to long remain. Perhaps our way forward points to a past blessed with men and women having hearts of bravery. Our pathway forward must be a highway paved with courageous people, not hypocrites and cowards. Yes, America, I still believe in you. 062620PSCtest, Strain New Poetry(1), Brain Strand 2nd contest entry, 7/1/20, NA Rerun 9, John Hamilton