We’ve all been wronged

To the Editor:

There is good and bad in all of us; we need God’s help to be the good.

Judy Frankamp of Blue Earth recently wrote a letter to the editor. She is a good and faithful servant. I cannot top her words, but I feel prompted by the Holy Spirit to add this:

There are bad white people, bad black people, bad doctors, bad politicians, bad policemen, and the list goes on and on. There are so-called good white people, good black people, good doctors, good politicians (wanting to serve the American people), good policemen (putting their lives on the line), and this list goes on and on. But only God is truly good, and no one else. Matthew 18:19.

Right now in this country there are so-called Americans bashing American freedoms, and slapping in the face the men and women who fought to win them for us. I am ashamed of us. Americans willing to die to protect us and those freedoms are being disgraced.

When did America become a country where people on one side think they know what’s best for all the rest of us, and that any other opinion is unacceptable to them? God made man and woman in his image. Only he knows what’s best for us. He has written the best-selling book of all time. It’s really a long love letter to us all, full of examples and guidance

There is not one of us who can change our mistakes or others’ mistakes made in the past. That’s why God asks us to forgive one another.

I’m a white, Norwegian, German woman who has made my share of mistakes. I’ve also had many people hurt me. Unfortunately, we all have.

This violent movement happening in this country, making us all pay for the wrongs done to some and their ancestors, is not what forgiveness looks like. They don’t have the market on bad being done to them. The good and the bad we endure are what makes us the people we are. I, like most people, don’t like the bad done to me, so why would I pass that on? Do unto others as you would have done unto you. God says don’t return evil with evil. Let’s do what Jesus taught: Forgiveness. Let’s live in the fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23.

Jesus loves us all and will always be with us through the good and the bad, always helping when we ask him. We don’t have to take anything by force. If we trust his plan for our lives, he will be our supply. I promise if you read his love letter to you, it will change you. The fear driven by viruses, depression, your out-of-control circumstances, climate changes, people’s opinions, etc., will fade as our Lord and Savior confirms in your life. Trust him and the fruit of the Spirit will be yours. It happened for me. There is truth. It’s all in the Bible, and it does set people free.

Linda Schultze

Fairmont

Anthem should unify

To the Editor:

The American Legion Department of Minnesota recognizes the nation’s divisions are laid bare during a difficult year for all Americans, and we hope to explain why the national anthem should not be the time and place for kneeling or other forms of protest.

The playing of the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” is intended as a time for unity. It is a time when we can be one United States of America. After all, despite divisions over race, criminal justice, employment, health care, economy, elections and, of course, contentious partisan rhetoric, we, as Americans, all want the same thing — a more perfect union.

The song’s history at sporting contests dates back to the seventh-inning stretch of Game 1 of the 1918 World Series in Chicago. The World War I death count was at 100,000, and a day before a bomb had exploded in the Windy City, killing four and injuring dozens. Like now, America was in turmoil. The Chicago Cubs decided to play “The Star-Spangled Banner” during their contest with the Boston Red Sox at Weeghman Park, now Wrigley Field. The song became the national anthem in 1931, and playing it before sporting events grew and especially proliferated during World War II.

This tradition of a moment of oneness and national pride continued after the war. Like the word “United” in our country’s name, this solemn time allowed us to reflect and put away our differences.

It pains us, as veterans, to see time for honoring the flag become politicized because so many of us have risked our lives or died for this country, so that we may secure the blessings of liberty — such as free speech and the constant back-and-forth dialogue on important issues of the day. We aren’t opposed to improving the lives of America’s people, no matter race, ethnicity, gender or politics. Veterans served with people of all backgrounds and were willing to die for them. Wear whatever message you wish to convey. Support whichever cause you desire. Push for change. That’s America.

But, for brief moments in our lives, let’s recognize that there are brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, mothers and fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers, sons and daughters, who have given their lives for this nation. Respecting the flag respects them.

Mark Dvorak

Department of Minnesota

commander for

The American Legion

New Prague