Patriotism was on display at FBC Jackson last Sunday. Red, white and blue were the fashionable colors in the choir and audience. All branches of the military were recognized and honored. Even widows of military men were asked to receive honorary recognition on behalf of their spouses.

Then the words of the familiar patriotic songs filled the giant sanctuary accompanied by an orchestra of artists, complete with herald trumpeters in the balcony. The music reflected great glory to its Creator, and the words caused me deep reflection.

“O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain” — the words were familiar, memorized from childhood, but the words became more penetrating. “America!  America! God shed his grace on thee.”

Torrents of grace! In America’s short history of only two centuries, amazing and inconceivable achievements have been made. Pilgrims sailed across the ocean in primitive ships and traveled the new land on horses and in wagons.

Today, 200 years later, air buses with a capacity of 853 passengers fly customers to world-wide destinations. Cell phones allow for instant communication on the opposite side of the globe and access to any information known to man. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, and Paul Winchell invented the artificial heart.

Every area of progress in our nation has advanced with mindboggling speed while many countries still exist in what we describe the “dark ages.” War, slavery, imprisonment, starvation, superstitions, diseases and deplorable sanitation conditions are the norm for much of the world’s population — except for America, the recipient of God’s grace. The reason can be linked to God as its founding Father, and the early settlers acknowledged that. Any boasting about America’s greatness has to point to God’s shedding His grace on our nation.

Yet, the words to “God Bless America” hung in my throat. He HAS blessed America and in return, its legal system has removed prayer in schools, banned Bibles and the name of Jesus. The angry and intolerant are rewriting history, and the Bible’s standards are revoked and replaced with humanistic goals.

Our two popular political parties are warring parties, finding few solutions to mounting catastrophes. They perceive victory only when one party’s vote defeats the other. Protestors rally for rights to keep abortion legal and to legalize drugs while the violent burn Ole Glory and assemble to loot and disregard civil authority. College campuses rise up and in blindness silence any voices that are not in league with their own beliefs.

As my Sunday emotions mounted, I felt more like weeping for our nation’s direction than celebrating.  Then “The Anchor Holds” began, and the talented soloist sang, “The anchor holds though the ship is battered. The anchor holds though the sails are torn. I have fallen on my knees as I face the raging seas; the anchor holds in spite of the storm.

America’s storm is real, but our Anchor, Jesus, is secure!

Letters to Camille Anding can be sent to P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, MS, 39602, or e-mailed to camille@datalane.net.