Nathan Birr

"America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” - Alexis de Tocqueville There is much to love about America. I’ve tried—and I feel as if I’ve been trying to paint the Sistine Chapel with crayons—to articulate the sentiment that has grabbed me, the stirring in my soul regarding this great nation. I don’t love everything about her. I don’t condone everything she’s done. I don’t agree with everything legislated by Congress [...]

“Americans never quit.” – General Douglas MacArthur You know it, you’ve seen it, you’ve felt it—the American spirit. As I write this, I’m envisioning a truck commercial, set late in the afternoon with golden sunlight shining on a heavy-duty pickup as it splashes through the mud. John Mellencamp is singing. Or maybe it’s a beer ad with young, good-looking people flirting, dancing with sparklers, celebrating life. These are poor representations, but they do sort of get it right. Because you don’t see [...]

“O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain!” - Katherine Lee Bates America is the land of freedom, the land of opportunity, the land of accomplishment. They build off each other, they exist because of each other, but they are not in a vacuum. Intrinsically linked to this triumvirate is an abundant supply of resources, from the dirt and rock that make up the physical United States of America to its host [...]

Publishers Note: This series was originally written in 2015 and is being reposted in 2020 for its pertinence to current issues. “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” – Neil Armstrong We walked on the moon. Think about that for just a moment. We, who of our own power can only expel ourselves a few feet into the air, traveled 250,000 miles into space. Having correctly calculated the gravitational pulls of the sun, the earth, and the moon, [...]

Publishers Note: This series was originally written in 2015 and is being reposted in 2020 for its pertinence to current issues. “The constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness, you have to catch it yourself." - Benjamin Franklin According to Webster’s Dictionary, opportunity is defined thusly: “Fit or convenient time or situation; a time or place permitting or favorable for the execution of a purpose; a suitable combination of conditions; suitable occasion; chance.”(1) It is that last word I want to latch [...]

Publishers Note: This series was originally written in 2015 and is being reposted in 2020 for its pertinence to current issues. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." Galatians 5:1 These words were written by the Apostle Paul to the Christian believers at Galatia. I suggest that a similar statement could be made to the people of the United States of America: “It is for freedom that [...]

Publishers Note: This series was originally written in 2015 and is being reposted in 2020 for its pertinence to current issues. “Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave?” – John Wayne One of my summer traditions is going to a baseball game with my dad. I have vivid recollections of homeruns, strikeouts, and comebacks, of eating hot dogs and peanuts, of conversations about anything and everything between a father and son. That tradition is, for [...]