"And she called the boy Ichabod, saying, 'The glory has departed from Israel,' because the ark of God was taken...."
1 Samuel 4:21
As this dismal political season grinds on ad nauseam, I can't help but wonder if our once great country has the word "Ichabod" painted across its portals in large neon lettering.
I am an American and a patriot. Two watershed experiences shaped me in this way. First, at the impressionable age of 18, when most young women go off to college and experience more freedom than they have ever known, I flew to a Muslim country to live with a local family for a year as an exchange student. My rights and freedoms were voluntarily curtailed, and I gained a new appreciation for the freedom that was mine as an American woman.
Second, when I returned home from my year abroad, I was not quite ready to go to college. Instead, I joined the United States Air Force as a linguist, planning to take advantage of the GI Bill for my university tuition at a later date. I learned in four years of wearing the uniform how much the men and women in our armed forces sacrifice their own freedom to guarantee ours.
I was stationed in South Korea during the first Gulf War. Most service men and women are sent on a couple "unaccompanied" overseas tours of duty—without their families and for no noble purpose other than it is time to do their rotation. Nowadays we point to Iraq and Afghanistan and shake our heads over the separations and dangers that these families face for our sakes. Such separations have happened for years, though, albeit on a more limited basis. In my mind, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the assignment for many of these men and women. Mothers were shipped off from their families, fathers sent from theirs, for an entire year. One family I know took years to recover from those twelve months without Dad because of what was happening in their family at the time he was sent. They needed him at home, and he couldn't be both places at once.
What struck me in these situations was that, for the men and women who served, orders were orders. They voluntarily signed up for the military, and they were fully prepared to do what was asked of them, despite hardship on all sides. They did and do have my full support.
Given these two shaping factors of my life, I suppose it's not unusual for me to be a bit more sensitive about what I see are the eroding foundations of American life as I know and love it. Last year the kids and I studied early American history with some intensity. I was deeply impressed by the commitment our forefathers had to freedom, particularly freedom of religion. We are English speaking Americans (as opposed to German or French or Spanish) because a handful of people wanted freedom so badly they were ready to risk everything for it. It could be argued that some had nothing left to risk.
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
—Jim Elliot (American missionary killed in the jungles of South America)
Jim Elliot was writing about giving up his life for an eternal reward, but we might apply it to the first freedom-loving Americans in that they gave up the known to embrace an unknown for which they turned out to be horrifyingly under-prepared. Nevertheless, they persevered to win freedom for future generations. We see echos of this a century or so later, when we began to fight the Revolutionary War. Death was preferable to bondage, and the cry went forth from Patrick Henry's lips defining it for all,
"Give me liberty or give me death!"
This reverberated through the years, and by the time of the great westward expansion, men and women went in droves to establish new lives for themselves with not much besides hard work and time. In book after book, we read how our land was built on drops of sweat and perseverance (and, unfortunately, upon the lands of noble people who didn't understand private ownership—but that's a post for another day).
It's interesting to note that underneath the hard work, there was faith. It was faith that drove the Pilgrims to the Mayflower and the New World. It was faith that motivated the patriots in the Revolutionary War. It was faith that accompanied many of the first pioneers, like
Aunt Clara Brown—whose faith won her freedom from slavery and whose sweat turned her into the wealthiest woman in the West.
- Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
- Romans 5:1-5
The men and women who built this nation lived the above passage. I just don't see it happening today. A man from Brazil once commented to me that a full belly has done more to hinder the Gospel than any other thing. I am inclined to agree with him. Prosperity and ease have lured us away from faith and hard work. Events including and following September 11, 2001—for example the tragic loss of our space shuttle over Texas, the mortgage debacle and the resulting financial earthquake—lead me to wonder if ICHABOD is not emblazoned over our beloved country.
The land of the free seems to have become the land of the addicted, as people sit upon their couches channel surfing, or at their computers gawking. The home of the brave looks like a nation with its head in the sand or a group of children with their fingers in their ears singing "LA LA LA LA I can't hear you!"
Like the Pilgrims, we are ill-prepared for the winter we now face. I am no prophet, but I see only two options out of our current mess. Either we sign on for hard work and personal sacrifice, or we beg our leaders to be our saviors as we slide down the bank of eroded freedom. Collectively, we don't want to do the hard thing. Practically, we're already crying on the bank.
The glory has departed.
and we shared a chuckle over it as we sang.
