Return to What?

Next time I hear another church folk complaining about prayer being taken out of school, I'll just kindly remove myself. I don't get it. We are told to obey our authority and pray for them. Okay. I can do that. Will I obey at all cost? No, honestly. Yet, when people descend upon the government to be all doom and gloom because there is no prayer in schools, I just shake my head. Usually when prayer happened in school, it was the class saying grace before lunch. That's for the most part. If you're so upset that a teacher does not make your child pray in school, then you as a parent have relinquished your rights to set an example for your own kids. Instead, you rely on big government to dictate. Wrong answer! Whatever happened to the phrase-It all starts at home? The phrase may have vanished but the responsibility has not. Pray with your kids before school- you're the parent, right? "My kids can't read the Bible in school!" Actually, they can. I used to read to myself all the time when my work was done before class was over. Instead, you teach them how to read, study, and pray. People get crazy like school was their last resort for faith.
This doesn't mean that you lay down and take whatever the law says. Challenging and questioning are great. But knowing that you're in the world but not of it keeps you in check as well. No matter what, you keep going on with what you believe is right. Don't be afraid to give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's.
Sometimes I wonder why people are praying that this country return to God. Were we ever with Him in the first place- I mean, truly with Him. I know people will tell me to look at the Christian heritage of our nation, and see why people left England for America- religious freedom. But looking at our hearty attempts to create this perfect City on a Hill caused lots of bloodshed and condemnation. All of that in the name of trying to be a perfect community. The only problem is that the community of Christian chastity and perfection was made up of human beings, which we all know are imperfect and fallible. At least I know I am. Our past was not perfect, so why pray for the return to such a place? I don't think it's neccesarily to God to whom they pray we return. I think most folks long for the days of religious regulation that enslaved many to a bunch of rules. Things do seem to be getting out of hand, but do you think rules have ever saved us? Laws have only purposed to condemn us. Where is the freedom in that?
I understand there must be rules and codes of conduct for protection and safety, but not for trying to control. People will do whatever people want to do. It's the blessing and curse of free will.  Parents would know better than anyone else about that.  You can love your child to pieces and raise them in the strictest of homes, but that does not take away their ability to choose. You pray they make the right choices- whatever right means- and keep being a parent. Will they fall short as a child- yes. But did you fall short as a parent- sure. We are not perfect. Ya'll okay with that? Free will is crazy beautiful.
Speaking of returning to the old ways, I am finding myself at a more enlightened stance on this whole abortion thing. As we humans love to do, we categorize. Pro-choice and pro-life. Nothing in between. I've spoken against abortion, and to this day believe that it is not the right choice for me. Have I given up and thrown my hands up in the air in surrender? Depends on which way you see the act of surrender. Cowardly or sweet. Meanwhile, I realized, like any law put into place, people will continue to break it. Forever. That doesn't mean I've stopped fighting. It means that I realize that free will can never be controlled. God almighty may command us, but He doesn't make us do anything. He wants us to make the choice, and no matter how heartbreaking it may be to Him, He does not take away our free will. Does that mean I retreat in silence and watch people potentially destroy themselves and others? No. I speak up. I speak up with a fierce and merciful love that is both willing and ready to celebrate or cover a multitude of sins. God gave us 10 commandments and we couldn't keep those. So Jesus broke it down and told us to love God and love people. Think about it. If you love people, you won't steal from them, covet what they own, kill them, so on and so forth. It's plain and simple. People will always do what they want, but can you love them anyway? I don't pray for a return to the days of old. Instead, I pray for the emergence of wild mercy and unbridled love.
I continue to be a recipient of mercy. Let me extend the same. That is freedom in it's finest form.