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$\"America\"$ <\/a>It\u2019s been a hard year to be an American. There\u2019s been no end to the confusion and division. Many days I\u2019ll confess I don\u2019t recognize my country any more. Lady liberty seems to sing a different song to the tired, poor and huddled masses. Government seems less and less by and for the people and more a game of power and control.However, I am an American and even though it\u2019s been hard; I believe hard things are worth doing. So I wave the flag proudly. I\u2019m not backing down. I refuse to let others define patriotism.\n

I have been so deeply blessed to have the advantage of being an American. I love this land. I love this culture. I love our diversity. I love our generosity. I love baseball and jazz and Asian fusion tacos. \u00a0At its best this community sees it\u2019s blessings as a gift to be stewarded and shared with generosity and openness and does not back away from doing what is good even if it is difficult or different. So here\u2019s to these United States; Happy birthday! I\u2019m sticking with you. Let\u2019s lift you up. Let\u2019s try it again. Let\u2019s try to take a step together to live in love.<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a hard year to be an American. There\u2019s been no end to the confusion and division. Many days I\u2019ll confess I don\u2019t recognize my country any more. Lady liberty seems to sing a different song to the tired, poor and huddled masses. Government seems less and less by and for the people and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1678,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGod Bless America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It's been a hard year to be an American. There's been no end to the confusion and division. 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