A reminder from a quarter

I found a quarter today.  And it was heads up. Heads up, good luck  as the saying goes.  Sweeeet.  It was an old quarter from 1982.  The year my oldest son was born.  It made me nostalgic for the good old days.  Back to 1982, big pouffy hair, big glasses, shoulder pads, parachute pants.  Well, ok, maybe not that good!  But it was a time that seemed quieter, a more  innocent time, a time when news media wasn't in our face 24/7.  A time when  social  media  and all our personal devices didn't rule our days.  No cell phones, ipods, ipads or even personal computers.  In fact in 1982, Time Magazine named 'The Computer', as it's man of the year! (It was that new!) What did we do with our time back then?

I looked again at the old dingy quarter that had been hidden away in a drawer.  I actually cleaned it up.  And as I was doing that, the phrase, 'In God we trust' , caught my attention.  I knew it was printed on every coin and paper currency of the United States, but just to be sure, I checked.

Yup, on every coin or bill I had, I found that phrase.   I guess I had forgotten that.  It was an act of Congress in 1864, that established the phrase,  ‘In God we Trust’,  be put on all monies minted by the United States Treasury.

I had forgotten that 'In God we trust' has been this county’s motto since 1956, mandated by an act of Congress and signed into law by President Eisenhower.

I had forgotten that when we say the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, we say, “one nation under God.”

I had forgotten that the 4th stanza of our National Anthem includes the line, ' And this be our motto, 'In God is our trust'.  (Wait, what…there’s a 4th stanza!  Apparently so, we just never get to it, or the 3rd for that matter.  Gotta get those ball games started on time!)

I think I had forgotten all of this, because I don’t see a nation under God, or trusting God, or even acting like they need God.  Although in 2006, the Senate reaffirmed 'In God we trust', as the official national motto.  I wonder how much time and money that took…to reaffirm something?  And why did they feel the need to do that?  Was it because they too, didn’t see a nation under God, and thought we the people needed a reminder?

Not to be outdone, in 2011, the House of Representatives passed a resolution making ‘In God we trust’  the official  motto of our nation.

I don’t know about you, but I am confused.  This just seems so hypocritical.  I mean we have a law that says, ‘In God we trust’ is our national motto, yet what I see from the Supreme Court of our land, is anything but trusting God and His word. It seems like we want it both ways.  We will trust Him to protect us and bless us as the greatest nation on earth, but we will not trust Him when His word says something we are uncomfortable with, or don’t agree with.  

As a Christian I am saddened by the direction our country is going, because from my view, we are not trusting God at all.  

So what can I do?  What can you do?   I will do what my quarter says.  In God, I will trust.

And I will do what Philippians 2: 14-16 says,

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may prove yourselves to be blameless, innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the WORD of life…  emphasis mine


Author's note:

I write this on the eve of the day we celebrate our nations beginning.   So Happy Birthday America!   I am just one person, one of your citizens who wants to believe that we can still be one nation under God, one nation whose people can say and mean 'In God we trust'.