Gratitude and Patriotism
This was written by Marilynne, one of our new writers. Welcome, Marilynne!
The Book of Jarom in The Book of Mormon teaches about economic cycles wherein the righteous prosper, pride grows, sin abounds, and afflictions such as war, natural disasters, and/or famine come. Then prophets preach, hearts mellow, repentance follows, and peace and prosperity return. The pattern repeats itself over and over, with succeeding generations often failing to learn the foremost lesson of history: violate the laws of God and negative consequences are inevitable.
This scriptural cycle also includes the degree of fealty citizens feel towards their country. Patriotism ebbs and flows with prosperity and crisis. We see this in our own time. When there is no wolf at America’s door, democracy and freedom are assumed, taken for granted. In times of prosperity, how hard it is for parents to raise children who are patriotic!
A family took their children to New York City on Memorial Day, 2001. They took the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. They went to Ground Zero and wrote messages of love for America on the signing wall. A few days later they went to Washington D.C. and saw many presidential and war memorials. They also saw a small display of photos and debris from September 11, 2001. The eleven-year-old daughter made an astute observation. She saw casual visitors at all the memorials, but at Ground Zero and at the small display about the day terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center, she saw open weeping. “People feel more emotion about historic events they experienced than they do about things that happened in the past,” she said. How can parents help their children feel patriotic about historic events of the past?
A woman recalled her first awareness of political parties during a presidential election when she was ten. Her father, a retired Army colonel, voiced his fears for the future of the United States if the candidate from the other party won, which is what happened. Next morning when she heard the news, she went to her father in tears, fully expecting that life would change dramatically overnight for the worse. “Whatever are we going to do?” she cried. “Well,” her father answered, “we are going to pray for our new president every day. And if he doesn’t do a very good job, when his term is about up, we are going to work to get someone else elected who we feel will do a better job. But as long as he is our president, we will support him.” How can parents help their children feel patriotic about historic and current events?
Here are some suggestions:
- Fly the flag and learn to fold it, care for it, and display it properly.
- Celebrate patriotic holidays—Martin Luther King Day, Presidents’ Day, Flag Day, the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day—by participating in parades, performances, parties, and patriotic events.
- Say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing the national anthem with gusto.
- Pay respect to the flag by putting your right hand over the heart and by men also removing their hats when the colors are posted or pass by.
- Read together true stories of patriots and the founding of America. Read 1 Nephi 13:12-19, which refers to Columbus and the Revolutionary War.
- Study documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. Memorize the Gettysburg Address.
- Obey the law. Pay your taxes.
- Be active in the election process. Show gratitude for the freedom to vote. Take your children with you when you vote.
- Learn about the first person in your family to come to America. Study about what immigrants have to do and know to become a citizens.
- Study the story of Captain Moroni. Learn and teach the principles in Alma 43-44, 46.
- Visit historic sites, museums, and national parks.
- Teach that liberty is worth fighting for. Review the statistics found at www.militaryfactory.com with family members.
- Discuss how freedom has a price, that freedom isn’t free.
What do you do in your family to foster patriotism and to show gratitude for your country?
Marilynne has lived in New York, Arizona, California, England, and Utah. She relishes her roles as a wife, mother and grandmother. She loves reading, writing (with several books and articles to her credit), playing the piano, and playing games. She considers each day a blessing and an adventure, and especially loves to see how plentiful tender mercies are if we look for them.
July 3rd, 2007 10:42
Thank you for these thoughts, I think Gratitude and Patriotism should be thought about throughout the year. I have several family members who have been and are in the military, so in my life there have always been small little reminders the cost for freedom and the pride felt towards America. I remember a couple of years when we were younger as a family we went to a cemetery near by for Memorial Day and placed a little flag by the headstone of someone who fought in one of the wars, it was easy to find someone because usually on the headstone it would say what war and what branch of service they were involved in. We would then stay and watch the program. My Dad has a flag pole and so most of the year his flag is out on that pole. I have a flag, and while we haven’t yet mounted the mount to hold the flag to our house we will find some way to display our flag, just in time for tomorrow!
July 12th, 2007 17:30
Well written. Up here in Canada I think we see lots of national pride, that we sometines take for granted. We had an excellent display of patriotism up here the other day when 6 came home from Afghanistan, as their draped coffins came into the city, people lined the higways to pay final respects, for me it sure made me proud to be Canadian.
July 22nd, 2007 13:47
Marilynne, thanks for your post. Also, thanks for the suggestions of ways to develop and show our patriotism. Appreciation for our country and the many good things it does is an important aspect of our lives, and it also helps us take an interest in voting and other aspects of contributing to our country.