Today is Canada Day. Generally that means Canadians take a little bit of time on this holiday to be thankful for the country they live in. In reality, of course, most Canadians head to their cottages and drink themselves silly (a long-standing Canadian tradition) and think only of their country when they see a maple leaf on their bottle of beer. And of course fireworks light the skies once the sun finally sets around 9:30 or 10:00.
I am having some difficulty celebrating Canada this year. It was just a few days ago that Canadians proved themselves to be irreversibly corrupt by electing a party known more for their scandal and mismanagement than for their fiscal policies and care for our nation. While at one point it seemed that a party dedicated to restoring a Biblical view of family and to providing governmental accountability had a chance of winning the election, this party fell out of favor when the opponents showed how they might remove laws allowing homosexual marriage and change Canada’s current stance on abortion. Of course Canada has no law on abortion so changing the current stance might just mean instituting a law, but I digress. Canada chose to prove its absolute hatred for God and for all things righteous. What lost the election for the Conservative Party was their belief in Biblical definitions of family and in a hatred for the murder of unborn children.
So this year, as I reflect on my country, I feel a bit like a man who has caught his wife kissing the mailman the day before they were to celebrate their anniversary. I feel no real desire to celebrate my nation today and am both disappointed and disillusioned.
So I will take the opportunity to thank God for providing me a nation where, for the time being, I am able to raise my family to know and love the Lord. I thank God for freedom and safety. Perhaps in a week or two I will take some time to celebrate my nation, but not for now. The pain is still too fresh in my mind.