“Kiss the blue passport” we used to jokingly say while living in Southeast Asia. The reality was going through immigration was a tedious process in Vietnam and other countries when I first moved there in 2003 (my dad’s job at Nike took us overseas for almost five years in Ho Chi Minh City). My parents had stories of being in Europe just after the Cold War ended and wall came down – one look at the American blue passport and no issues from the railway inspectors. Even as recent as 2009 in traveling to Sri Lanka with my dad for a consulting gig we talked to others from other Asian countries in the group he was training that slipped small “dues” (aka bribes) in their passports to smooth out the immigration process, something our blue passports did not require. I am thankful for my blue passport and the country it represents. 

There’s no “perfect” country or as one of my favorite movies (in which Liam Neeson dies, like all his movies), there’s no “Kingdom of Heaven” in which all people are truly treated equally. I’m not going to write a blog post that sugar coats the reality that America’s history is a storied one from the beginning with grave issues, or ignore taking stock of the issues that have surfaced or continue to fester now. But my blog is not about these things. My blog is a gratitude post. So even with the problems and blemishes I can say I am proud to be an American. 

Today no matter the results of the presidential election or the many state and local elections, I am going to be disappointed. I have family members and close friends who stack up radically differently on what their hopes and dreams for the results to be. So I will mourn this week with those who mourn the loss. I am not indifferent to the results, but I have become good friends with left and right advocates, conservatives and liberals, Democrats and Republicans. And this is another reason I am proud to be an American. Because having lived in places where people are killed on Election Day, (like the Philippines) or Communist countries like Vietnam where the “People’s Party” is not at all representative of the people who get no choice in the matters and everything is owned by the government…reminds me that the ability to disagree passionately is part of the great gift of being an American. 

We kiss the proverbial blue passport not because we’re a country of all like minded people but because we are “a great experiment” — experiments often go wrong and fail but if we want to continue learning and getting better we must continue to do new experiments, to try new things. Our experiments have landed many harmful and devastating consequences, some unintended and some pretty flagrant. Some will say a socialist agenda will wreck the country and others will say capitalism has already done that. Our gift as Christians who inhabit America and carry blue passports is one of peace and stillness. Might we be people who can remain calm in the midst of passionate debate, have a stillness as we trust in God, and bring peace into volatile spaces. 

I read psalm 44 this morning and the Sons of Korah share a beautiful poem recalling what God has done in the past. Recalling stories of how God showed up for the people of Israel told to them by their ancestors. What if 2020 is a time to share stories with our children and younger generations of when God has shown up? What if this is an invitation to say “yes we see the hurt and pandemic going on, the suffering and injustice, but let me tell you about times when God did intervene in my life”? What if in 2020 Christians were instruments of peace so much so that 2020 wasn’t remembered for the pandemic but for the way God showed up through the Christians in America who modeled the way of peace? What if generations to come told our story of how we lived in the midst of a tumultuous time? 

Psalm 44 turns though to the present and cries out to God. “Why” is the question on the Sons of Korah’s heart, “why have you abandoned us?” This year has certainly been one I have struggled to feel the face of God shining upon me. I’ve wondered what God’s will was for my life, I’ve struggled to stay engaged in Christian community, and I’ve had deep doubts. The political debate about character and justice has splintered my trust in the church. I’ve had arguments with close family and been saddened by the judgement so quickly dolled out towards those we disagree with. I’ve not felt close to God. It feels like being a Christian in 2020 is like:

“we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

Most often we are slaughtered on social media or in news reports or flippant comments like “I can’t believe anyone can be a Christian and support X.” 

I read the Beatitudes this morning as well, from Matthew 5. I really appreciated this translation from the Common English Bible. 

Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs…

Happy are the people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children… 

No matter how you voted or didn’t vote. No matter what your convictions are regarding polices, economics, morality, government, or religion — I offer you peace. In the old testament Moses gives the sons of Aaron the priest an important job. They are to “bless” the people of Israel. But the blessing is not about special words or hand motions, in fact God says what is important in Numbers 6:

“you will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” 

Today I am thankful for my country, I am thankful for the freedoms I have to own my own home, play golf, choose my representatives in government, worship and practice my spirituality without fear, and speak my own opinion passionately. I am thankful for the blue passport and access and availability offered by being a citizen of the United States. 

But today I am also thankful that my trust and allegiance belong to Jesus and the Kingdom of God, certainly a political reality and one that shapes our world and the world to come. So today I am happy not because my party or president of choice will win but because I bear the name of my God, Yahweh, The LORD, Jesus Christ — and I know no matter who resides in the White House, the courthouse, the capitol building, or the neighborhood council my happiness is not connected to their polices or choices but connected to the God I love and serve. 

The only real passport that matters is the one with the seal of Jesus “the Lord saves” on it. It’s that passport I put my trust in.