Glorious and Free

I know that these videos are watched around the world but each year on July 1 I still feel it’s important to speak about Canada, my homeland and where these videos originate.

A line in our national anthem prays this:  God keep our land, glorious and free.

No other country can do that.  We can’t even do that on our own.  We live in a world where traditional alliances are challenged as new leaders come to power and make bold, and sometimes threatening moves, to try to improve their own national interest.

In the same way that God has a plan for each of our individual lives, God also has a plan for our lives collectively in communities and countries. As Canadians who live surrounded by 3 oceans and the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes to the south, these words from Psalm 72 have been particularly meaningful for decades, so meaningful that they are inscribed on our national Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.

May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth! Psalm 72:8

It is my prayer today, and I hope it’s yours as well that in whatever land we call home that God will have dominion from coast to coast to coast.

So many governments enact laws that actually go against what God has taught makes for a true and just society, and Canada is right there at the front of the line.  For example, the statistics for medically assisted death in our country have surged way to the top globally. This is not God’s way.  Our times are in God’s hands, even when we suffer.

And so today we pray, Loving God, that the hearts and minds of all of us, particularly our leaders, would be turned towards Your ways so laws are put into place that are just and true and that people are protected and prosper in Your love and grace. 

Defend the poor among us.  Give deliverance to the needy and crush any that seek to oppress and harm others. May righteousness and peace flourish among us today, we pray.  Amen

God keep our land glorious and free.  Happy Canada Day!