The strength and greatness of the USA lies in its open and welcoming nature. Throughout her history, she has always been a haven and a refuge for people who are persecuted, rejected and ostracized by their own people and society. She has provided opportunities to those deprived, the needy and the wanting from other shores. And these dregs and refuse of other societies, instead of being burdens, have contributed greatly to making this nation the greatest one on earth.
The quotation at the foot of the Statue of Liberty in New York aptly captures this welcoming and open spirit:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
This welcoming spirit is a sure sign for me of the deep Christian roots of American society and the national psyche that nurtures it. When Christ came he chose for his apostles and disciples those who were poor, ordinary folks from the masses and not some powerful princes and nobles to do his work on earth. He served and ministered not to those who could afford to pay for his service and ministrations but instead he healed the wretched wracked with disease whom nobody else would touch; he welcomed the homeless whom nobody else would welcome; he fed thousands who could never pay him back; he gave hope to the hopeless, sight to the blind, love to the forlorn and abandoned.
There are those in the US today who would blot out God from public discourse and banish his Christ from all government offices. But one only has to look at all the good things that this country has accomplished, all the good that is being shared not only within this country but with other nations as well to realize the movings of the Spirit among the American people. Despite the many things people complain about the US, it still by far is the most successful nation the world has ever seen, This has been made possible by the vision on which the Founding Fathers built this nation. And one reading the documents they have left behind, one cannot miss the deep faith they had in the Almighty.
But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
Matthew 9:9-13