There is nothing like scrounging through the trash in search of something you lost.  I’ve had that encounter many times.  Once I lost a check and assumed I’d tossed it out with the insignificant mail. I had to wade through coffee grounds, leftover food, smelly stuff and I never found it.  After searching for hours, I finally discovered the check right where I put it – in my purse.

Sometimes it’s necessary to go through some junk before we find what we’re looking for.  Often it involves things we don’t like to dive into.  There may be memories of past sins – the brokenness of a relationship – the sickness that turns into death – the muck of every day garbage we see and hear on a daily basis.

I’m an old woman.  I hate what has happened to my country.  I’m disgusted with all the trash we and the young people of America have been exposed to over the last few decades.  We’ve seen a decline in respect towards one another – which has trickled down to our children.  Ask any teacher today what they’re up against as they enter the classroom. So much emphasis is placed on ecology and the environment.  Let’s clean up the ugliness  that pervades every moment of our day.

We’ve loosened the reins on the “anything goes” mentality and don’t follow common sense in relationships.  Leadership is lacking in families.  Children are often ignored.  These same youngsters have also been faced with seeing classmates shot and killed.  They’ve seen their friends ravaged by drugs.  They turn to their phones instead of actually communicating with each other.  They’ve been victims of bullying.  They’re often left to fend for themselves and make choices that no child should have to make.

When these same kids are exposed to all the sins of the world on the evening news, that’s just the tip the iceberg.  By the time they reach 8-10 years old they’ve seen it all and think they know it all.  Why are we surprised when they take their own lives or suffer mental illness?

I fear that America is on a fast train to hell, but I also believe that God has something to say about that.  The devil is living on borrowed time.  He’s already been defeated.  Soon Jesus will return and the final judgment will be made.  All the garbage will be thrown into hell and those who have placed their trust in God, will join Him in paradise.

There’s still time.  We don’t know how much.  We should make the most of what we have left.  We can start by making changes in our political system.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just fire all of them and start over?  We can teach our young people what God has to say about sin.  We can prepare them for life with the hope of salvation.  We can’t shield them from the ugliness of the news today, but we can explain how to protect themselves from the indecency they read, see or hear about.  There has to be a restoration of Christian values in our society. It all starts in the home.

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”  Abraham Lincoln