America, Sweet America -- God Bless The United States Of America

Years ago, I had a neighbor who was a member of a religious sect that believed in reincarnation. And in their way of thinking, if someone is good and godly throughout this life, that person will have a successful and wonderful existence in his/her next life.

Well, when my neighbor told me that, I responded by saying, Damn! If that’s true, I must have been a saint in my previous life because in this life, I was born in, and I am citizen and resident of, the United States of America. Life cannot get any better than that.

You see, I love America with all of my heart and soul. In fact, I have always loved this country even more than I do the people who are closest to me, including my parents and other relatives. The only things I love more than I do the U.S.A. are God and His Only Begotten Son, Jesus.

Because this nation is as glorious as it is, it deserves every bit of the love that I and millions of others hold for it. It is a magnificent place in which anyone and everyone -- regardless of their race, creed, color, national origin or other characteristics -- are free to take measures to reach their potential. When it comes to achieving success in life, there are no limitations placed on anyone. Such things as devotion, perseverance, industriousness and hard work are always rewarded with all the “good things” in life.

The foregoing is my attitude because presently, I have all the “good things” in life, even though I started out with hardly anything. Because of the opportunities afforded to me by this great nation, and because I was allowed to take advantage of those opportunities, I progressed from poverty and being a troubled youth to being financially secure and a person who lives quite comfortably.

I firmly believe that God works through America and because that is the case, a very large and ever-growing number of the residents of this country, and I, are continually succeeding in life. And in addition to that, we have nearly every “creature comfort” there is, we get enough to eat every day, we live in lovely communities and comfortable homes, we have highly-satisfying lives filled with love, support and constant encouragement, we are almost always safe and secure, and I could go on … and on.

Of course, there is no such thing as heaven on earth but as far as I am concerned, the United States of America is quite close to being exactly that. This great nation consists of numerous grand and bustling cities, many expansive and beautiful wilderness areas, miles and miles and miles of “amber waves of grain,” millions-upon-millions of lovely and loving people, thousands of state-of-the-art medical facilities, a great many businesses -- large and small -- that are providing us with a wide range of high-quality goods and services, hundreds of educational institutions which, in many cases, are the finest in the world, and high-tech communi-cations systems that are unsurpassed.

Also, America is so great that the majority of its poorest and most disadvantaged residents live better than most of the inhabitants of the remainder of the world. Opposite of what is taking place in many, if not most, of the other regions of this planet, only a relatively small number of Americans are living in primitive and unhealthy conditions, suffering starvation and malnutrition, and afflicted with and crippled by serious but highly-treatable diseases. Addition-ally, there are no emaciated human beings lying around dying in the streets and in rural areas. Plus, very, very few of the poor and disadvantaged in this country are without such items as radios, televisions and telephones. And a considerable number even have automobiles and late-model computers, and own their own homes.

Yes, America, Sweet America -- God Bless The United States Of America