God does not love America
God does not love America.
If that offends you, you have a problem.
God does not love Israel.
Israel as a nation is a construct of the Truman Administration and some legal wrangling within the United Nations.
I know we have been taught — truly indoctrinated — to think otherwise. I get it. It’s a hard truth to realize that as a nation God is no more devoted to us than he is to Afghanistan or Iraq, Iran or North Korea. It’s like learning that your mama loves your brother as much as she loves you. It’s disappointing to not be the favorite.
But when it comes to nation-building, God does not play favorites.
I understand how we got to this place — the place where we believe that we are God’s BFF.
We packed up our wooden trunks, left Granny and the chickens behind, because it was obvious to us, if not to our neighbors, that Europe was morally and religiously corrupt. We were going to be a better people than they were. We were going to go all out for God. We were going to worship him in a way that was denied us in Europe. We were going to create the pure society. We’d teach the world what being sold out to God really looked like. Oh. Yeah, we’d teach the world to sing, too.
So across the seas we came, puking and dying along the way. That’s how we roll. Us Americans. We’ll die for anything. It’s the living for something we struggle with.
We came with the intent of establishing the first true faith-based community of like-minded believers. No matter that in our pursuit of being God’s BFF, we had to slaughter folks and steal territory. For you, God, anything.
But, shocking as it may seem now, establishing a pure society is hard to do when you’re working with people. Especially people who aren’t all that like-minded. It was an awful choice to make but in our blinded pursuit of being God’s BFF, we were willing to hang our own, unless they conformed.
That’s the toll exacted of a nation-building people. We have to be willing to turn on our own if we ever want to prove our worthiness as God’s BFF.
But the thing we keep missing, over and over and over again, is that God never asked us to prove our worthiness to him.
He sent Jesus for that purpose.
God is not into nation-building.
God does not love America.
In fact, scriptures are replete with story after story of man being asked repeatedly to pledge allegiance to someone other than God and those who were considered God’s BFF were the ones who resolutely refused to.
God is a jealous God. We know that.
If our allegiance to a personality or to the message of another flawed human being is such that we take offense at any criticism of that personality or that message , then, Huston, we got a problem.
God said: You shall not have any gods before me. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.
God does not love America.
He loves the people of America. The people of Iraq, Iran, North Korea, South Korea, China, all of Europe and South America. Every unknown tribe of every unknown nation. God loves them all. “For God so loved the WORLD, that he gave his only begotten son, so that whosoever believes in him will not perish but will have everlasting life.”
It’s not about us.
We are not God’s BFF, folks.
God does not love America.
Well, now you’re talking. ; )
[...] is a political body, worse than some, better than others. As my friend Karen has eloquently said, God does not love America. God does, however, love Americans. Just like God loves Iraqis and Afghans and Osama Bin Ladin and [...]
Well, you might be right. I figure if God loves any nation, it’s Canada.
Thanks for sharing the quotes, Tom. My husband, the history teacher, was delighted.
Good points, Peggy, and from TBN, which proves your point here.
Vacuous talk, exactly right.
good article
http://www.russellmoore.com/2010/08/29/god-the-gospel-and-glenn-beck/
“It’s taken us a long time to get here, in this plummet from Francis Schaeffer to Glenn Beck. In order to be this gullible, American Christians have had to endure years of vacuous talk about undefined “revival” and “turning America back to God” that was less about anything uniquely Christian than about, at best, a generically theistic civil religion and, at worst, some partisan political movement.” ~ excerpt
…wow, I didn’t mean “breached” … but “preached” … although maybe breached is okay, because he really took those folks to the shed! ;^)
You know, I am almost daily being reminded of a powerful word I heard breached on TBN — to the folks at TBM — from a man whose name I can’t remember … but it was in late summer 1997. I will never forget it.
He said: do not confuse the apparent blessing of God with his stamp of approval on your methods.
God is always at work ensuring that his will is accomplished. He uses everything to bring his Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven. But just because he uses something doesn’t mean that he’s tickled pink about it!
We can be grateful to have been born in America (or immigrated here), but that does not give us license … it gives us more opportunities to trust Jesus and obey: love God and love others … all the “others” there are.
[...] Does Not Love…. Posted on Saturday, September 4, 2010 by Tom| Leave a comment Here is a blog post that you must read. Her thoughts are clear, thoughtful, [...]
“…it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge.
In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage.”
George Washington, who believed God and His providence is a reality, or modern skepticism and Barney the Dinosaur Christianity? Let the reader decide.
AMEN and a good reminder.
Well, this is the second post I’ve read of yours, and I must say, I’m chuckling to myself and thinking: “better her than me.” I cannot believe you said that out loud! Ha! But more power to you. I’m tired of celebrities telling each other, “You’re so BRAVE to be so honest,” so I won’t say that you’re brave. We’ll save that word for the heroes out there getting KILLED and stuff. But if there was another word that meant almost the same but not quite, I’d use it.
A phrase comes to mind: “I love mankind. It’s people I can’t stand.” (who said that? besides Lucy from Peanuts, I mean?) This is how it must have felt to build this City on a Hill, only to have people keep messing it up.
Did you know that there is a book out called (something like) “The New Mayflower?” I have some friends who think maybe that’s a good idea. I am not “brave” enough to say to them what you said here so well, but it seems rather apparent to me that 200 years wasn’t that long ago, really, and the proof is in the pudding:
“You take yourself with you wherever you go,”
and
“Wherever you are, there you are.”
It seems overly-optimistic to me to think “yes, but… things would be DIFFERENT this time!” That’s a big risk you’d be taking, considering there’s PEOPLE involved.
Sin is not something outside of us that we can leave behind, unfortunately. It’s inside of us. Jesus said it best: “The Kingdom of God does not come with observation.” It is inside of us, and our Shepherd-King was the Brave One indeed, who died to save our stupid-sheep souls. If we could truly grasp this, we might be finally able to do as He asked and “love one another.”
Our church recently built a new sanctuary — and guess what’s conspicuously missing, what never quite made it in the move? The flag…
I’m down with that. God may not be BFF’s with America, but it’s so very good to know that He loves His people jealously, and He is no respecter of persons. Even though I love being an American, there is more security in that than my legal citizenship here, for sure.
Rich Mullins sang, “There’s a loyalty that’s deeper than mere sentiment…” There are foundational truths that, for Christians, affect all of life as know it. This is one of them.
That last line says all that needs to be said.
Debbie: Everyone knows God is an Aussie at heart.
Beautifully rendered Karen … prophetic, humorous, and courageous. Indeed, I could not agree more, Jesus does not love America nor Israel nor Palestine nor Russia. In fact, as Paul explicitly states, in the Body of Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female. In the Body, there is one God and we are called to have no other Gods. In the Body, we are called to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. In the Body, we are called to love this unseeable and unknowable God through loving the Samaritan, the other, and the neighbor as self.
It would seem that the only borders that matter are the ones we allow to separate ourselves from one another and from God.
And so that we aren’t confused over this, Jesus himself refuses the claim of Caesar over his life, especially as a point of worship. Remember, he asks the followers of the Pharisees and Herod to hold up a coin with a graven image, an image of Caesar – the divine one, an image explicitly forbidden by God-given law, and then he says, “give to this image, this false God, what it is due.” And what are false God’s due???? … absolutely nothing.
Jesus refuses equate nationalism to Kingdom, not in that day nor in this, not with regard to Rome, not with regard to Israel, not with regard to other nations, and not even with regard to the United States of America.
The danger of such an understanding — that Jesus loves America and does not love nation X or Y or Z – was clearly demonstrated in the Pew research poll last year … and I was appalled to see this, I hope so too are you … which concluded that White Evangelical Christians who frequently went to church were the most likely group to believe it was appropriate to torture.
How can this be?! How can this be???!!! Such belief is utterly incongruent with life in Jesus. “You cannot serve two masters,” Jesus says. Whom will we worship? Whom will we serve? Will we torture in the name of Jesus?
This Jesus always has an alternative vision of his culture. “We have found this man subverting this message,” the religious authorities charge. He was a danger for the status quo back then, and he continues to be a danger for the status quo right now. He thought and did things which were not acceptable by the folks who were running the show.
And then, in living out his message of peace, when he enters Jerusalem, he takes a donkey instead of the steed of the warrior that the returning messiah was supposed to mount, and he utterly refused to react with violence when the oppressors come to claim him. This is the Jesus in whom our allegiance is to be planted.
His radical acts of love were truly dangerous. Aligning one’s self with people, fully, wholly, especially those on the bottom. “Woe to you Pharisees and hypocrites.” His life was a direct affront to their authority. And so, he sent a social shockwave across his cultural and national reality.
Finally, in the spot where he is most aligned with the vulnerability of the human condition, where he is most helpless, seemingly even rejected by God, there with spikes in his hands, struggling for breath, suffering in agony, being tortured to death by the State, he cries for the forgiveness of those who kill him. He rejects the sword as the point of power and instead claims that only through grace is life possible. “Father forgive them, for they have no idea, no clue, of what they are doing.”
This is the Jesus that gives us the base for how we are to live in the world.
No nation-state will ever fly this as their national standard. Only the Church.
Government can never embrace such love, will never live out such reality, can never love the enemy without regard to self, will never embrace the street person rather than the CEO, won’t ever hold up to be emulated the one who is most despised by society, and is not ever going to reject power for meekness, vengeance for grace, and violent action for forgiveness.
Government, other nations, and indeed our collective American society itself, will always look at such claims as either nonsense, sheer naivety or both. And yet, Jesus does exactly these things, over and over and over, and calls his followers to do the same. Franciscan priest, Father Richard Rohr, asks the question, “I wonder how much different this Christianity would have been if we had viewed Jesus as a life that is to be emulated rather than simply as a ticket to heaven.”
I wonder indeed.
Nevertheless, those who of us who lay claim to this radical story of love indeed should seek to transform our society and our government. And in a democratic republic we should do it by electing officials who work to align their lives with this call of Christ in reality and not simply in words. We do it by voting for those who ally their lives and their policies with the little ones, who consider reconciliation rather than violence, who seek redemption for the enemy rather than destruction of the enemy, and who care for the poor, not as an afterthought, but as a first thought.
We need to hold our leaders to a pragmatic faith of love that claims that systems that exclude those on the bottom while embracing those on the top, that provide housing for the wealthy while shutting out the poor, systems that give political voice to the powerful while minimizing the voice of the weak, systems that generate health care for those that can afford it while dismissing those who cannot, systems that embrace power, prestige, and possession, while neglecting or negating the weak, the humble, the meek, are utterly opposed to this gospel of love.
Perhaps if we do this, if we truly name our reality and repent, if we truly seek to live as a nation that loves when it would rather hate, cries when it would rather kill, and forgives when it would rather strike out with vengeance, then maybe, we might finally become a nation that is worthy of such love.
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chr 7:14.
Not because God loves America over and against any other point of God’s cosmos, but because it is the nature of Christ.
What an interesting article and discussion – I thought everybody knew that Australia is God’s ‘favourite’ country
. I am just pulling ya chain! I have been pondering the fate of the nation that God did choose/create to be a blessing to the entire world – as I ponder over that relationship I start to get scared to death to be a part of God’s ‘favoured’ – what prevents that fear in me from overtaking me is understanding that one seed was coming out of that nation that would be the true blessing for the entire world…’For God so loved the world…’
I agree with Karen that the mindset of believing one’s nation to be ‘the one’ God loves most is illusory yet the only way to change those kinds of minds is to live what you believe rather than arguing the point with such mindsets. To me Jesus has His greatest impact because He loves the world – His love changes it – not hatred. No-one who hates the world around them can change it – ya got to love it – love is the power needed to bring light and service to our ‘neighbour’. It must begin with love, a love that stands in the centre of our tender hearted Father God and reflects it to the world – just like Jesus did and does and will continue to do. A love emblazoned with compassion for one another. So in one sense maybe God does love America – just in a way few understand.
No apology necessary, James. This place is for wrangling. I don’t always agree with me either.
Karen, I want to apologize for starting this thing out with “I disagree with you.” the more I read over these comments, the more I realize I agree with 90% of what you are saying. I don’t mind so much if you or anyone disagrees with me on the other 10%, but I got my feathers ruffled a bit when I perceived that some who disagreed with me were saying something that wasn’t true: specifically, that people who love the USA are somehow ignorant or unable to shed the indoctrination they grew up with or unable to think for themselves. It seems I see a lot of people these days accuse those who disagree with them on anything of being nothing more than sheep. (The Frank Rich piece you linked to today on Twitter being one of many examples).
The fact is, some people are patriotic, or love the USA, or think that God loves and blesses nations, and they have come to these conclusions because they can, in fact, think for themselves, and they thought it through, and this is the conclusion they came to. Good, thinking people can come to opposite viewpoints. Yes, those views are fed somewhat by inherent biases, but nobody, and I mean nobody, is immune to them. Our “old thoughts” (presuppositions) serve as lumber and sheetrock as we build our new thoughts. It’s not a bad thing, and I got a little emotional reading some comments, here and on your FB post, minimizing the thoughts of those who have put a lot of thought into this very topic, as if they were “sheep thoughts”.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I pondered this long and hard as long as 25 years ago, as a young soldier in a tower in the middle of a forest in Germany–excuse me, West Germany–wondering if I was doing the right thing, guarding against the Red Menace. I wrote long letters about this subject to my mother back home. I’ve thought about it ever since. I have come to some conclusions, while some things are still up in the air. Like or don’t like my thoughts, but please don’t minimize them as if it takes the IQ of a rock to decide God loves the USA.
Not that you did this, Karen. But IMO, some of the comments did, and that’s why I wasn’t able to let this go. Not so much defending my position, but defending the process I have gone through in order to come to my viewpoint.
I have, stirring in my head right now, the beginnings of a long post about how much it pains me to see people on the Left and Right tearing each other up, casting insults, reducing Palin and Pelosi and Beck and Obama to evil people with evil agendas. How I long for people so simply say “I disagree with you about taxes/immigration/war, and here’s why…”.
For the record, I have to commend Larry. As in his comments here, he has always been good about simply presenting his point, not disrespecting those who disagree. Karen, you’ve mostly done the same (could lose a little less “puhleeze”, but otherwise not too bad). If we had more people like Larry and you and Jordan Green and Emily Trombol, who passionately argue a point without demonizing who they’re arguing with, the world would be a much better place.
I’m done now. Peace. I’ll let you know when I have my thoughts organized and posted somewhere. It’s a big big deal, and someone needs to say it.
Sister Schubert. And with that I agree. Whew!
Karen, I was thinking of Double-Wide when I wrote that, actually. Your chapter on the woman who sold her baked goods company for $40 million is exactly what I am talking about. God does bless individuals so that they will bless others. Sometimes, as in the case of her (sorry, your book’s not handy and I forgot her name), the blessing is financial. Sometimes, he gives us other blessings such as, in your case, the gift of storytelling, and your job is to bless others with what God has blessed you with. This is a very provable point biblically when it comes to individuals (Luke 14:13 comes to mind). I am perhaps stretching it when I apply it to nations.
Thanks for dropping by, Paul, and sharing your thoughts.
I like that you get choked up, Peg. I get choked up too but I think if you want extra credit you might mosey over to the Salvation Army and volunteer. That’s going to get you more credit than your goose-bumps will.
Beautiful, Karen. Like a cool, fresh breeze. Please keep pursuing this line of thought. It’s a rich vein of ore to be mined, methinks.
You mean I don’t get extra credit for getting all choked up when I hear the National Anthem or God Bless America? You mean it’s more real than my feelings? Hmmm … That would imply the need for accountability on my part.
James: This notion that God has “blessed America” so that we can “bless others” is covered pretty well in Double-Wide. It smacks to me of God gives me wealth so that I can dole out 10 percent of it to my favorite charities. God build me a Dome in Huston worth $16 million so that I can brag about giving out a $1 millon to various charities. Pleezzeee.
I think the nation of Haiti is blessed.I think the nation of Sudan is blessed. I think the nation of Afghanistan is blessed. Shoot, I think North Korea is blessed.
Because each of those nations are made up of people uniquely purposed by God, who is wholly devoted to them.
When we go about suggesting that God has “positioned” us so that we can be Defenders of all things Good in the Universe, is the moment we go completely off course. There is, anyway you look at it, an inherent self-rigteousness and arrogance in that.
Paul: Oh. Brother.
Andy: Appreciate the humilty with which you introduced yourself here. RE; establishing credibility, you might want to spend sometime checking out the blog and my bio before exposing your thoughts to the world here. But you make a valid point — we should be about helping others instead of touting God’s “special” relationship with America.
I don;t deny that many have adopted “my country right or wrong” and it is indeed, dangerous. I don’t deny that, as Karen says, any idolatry is dangerous. I think where I disagree here is that Karen and those who agree here seem to be lumping any sort of appreciation of our nation’s blessings as prideful or idolatrous. It’s possible to see that God has chosen to bless us, realize where we’ve screwed up those blessings, and still avoid the dangerous side effects you and others have mentioned.
BTW< I said he has a unique purpose for this nation, but that's not the be confused with being singularly privileged. The singular view places the US above all other nations. My view still places all nations as equally valued in God's eyes, but with a different place in history that He has ordained for them. Just like my kids.
Hi Karen, While I agree, “God Does Not Love America”, I also know that God does deal with nations as with people: in accordance of their sins!
Psalm 9:17 “The wicked shall be turned into hell,And all the nations that forget God.”
You see, to God a nation is a group of people. Not a government. And that particular group of people are “blessed” or “cursed” based on their relationship to Him and His will.
But to say this, does not mean that God is unconcerned about “nations” (some scriptural refs):
http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/index.php?search=nation&searchtype=all&version1=50&bookset=2
I deplore the current hype among USA Christians about patriotism! We as Christians, are a nation against the USA and every other nation as they are “owned and operated” by Satan. He won ownership of them (“prince of this world”) when he deceived Eve and she sinned… leading to Adam’s sin to share in her judgement.
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light
So, in conclusion, I agree with you on the main point. But as for the pilgrims coming to the new land for religious freedom to do God’s work, unrestrained by religion, God loved them. He loved them as a nation of His followers, sanctified and led by His Spirit to this new world to bless others. Your point is valid in that many of the others who came at the same time, came for greed and not God. But they were just the tares that always follow the wheat!
God Bless! =)
Paul Paradise
ATimeToChoose.com
James,
No one is saying that God hasn’t used America. The argument is that America doesn’t not enjoy a singularly privileged status in God’s eyes.
There are some– not you apparently– who go as far as to state that the blessings and curses in Deut. apply to America.
Bush simplified our conflict in the Middle East as a battle between good and evil. As such, we were given a clean bill of health morally. That’s simply dangerous.
Larry, there are dangers in adopting any mindset. I’m aware of that. But there are also dangers in getting into your car every day.
My statements about what I think God has chosen to do uniquely through different nations is not biblically provable, I admit, but I don’t think it’s scripturally unprovable, either.
I think it’s possible to thank God for choosing to use the US to do some great things, and not be blinded to other atrocities. The fact that I’m not blind to the things my kids do wrong doesn’t mean that I love them any less.
[...] http://karenzach.com/2010/god-does-not-love-america/ [...]
We can at least agree that this is awful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIaeAtus5jU
James,
There are several dangers in the doctrine of “American Exceptionalism”:
1) There’s no revelation from God that says America has a unique relationship with God. We’re in danger of placing words in God’s mouth.
2) We tend to turn a blind eye to governments we see as doing God’s will. We excuse Israel’s human rights violations against the Palestinian governments and rationalize away the documented prison abuses in the Iraq War. Historically the church seems to lose its prophetic voice when it comes to nations it mistakes as being God’s.
3) And historically, nations– Christians or not- who have strong military power and claims of a deity’s favor– tend those tools for unbridled empire building.
…
I agree that God has used America for good. But God also uses all nations.
Way to fish for blog reads with an over the top title. Decent point poorly delivered. Also using terms like “BFF” are a great way to show credibility. Maybe spend some more time “unpacking” these thoughts before exposing the world to these. This post still propagates the fact that we should care if God loves America. Let’s help people and let God worry about what he doesn’t love.
I don’t mean to be difficult or argumentative. And I certainly don’t mind if you disagree with me. I just think there’s a difference between chest-thumping “USA is Number One!”-style nationalism, and humbly thanking God for allowing this nation to be used for good.
Sigh.
I agree that the idea that He uses us is a matter of grace, nothing we’ve earned. That’s why I’m against nationalism. But I don’t think that the fact that we haven’t earned our role doesn’t mean that our role doesn’t exist and isn’t God-ordained. That’s why I said earlier that it should be a humbling truth, not something to be proud of.
I never said He has allegiance or “needs” any nation. He doesn’t need us as individuals, either. But He values us and uses us to carry out His plans. It is my observation that He uses nations to carry out His plans in ways that nations cannot.
When we look at how our nation is blessed in many ways, including but not limited to material blessings, it seems to me that He intends for us (as a nation) to bless other nations. We’ve got a semi-successful track record on that one.
Bill: You honor me with your thoughts, with your service and with your heart. Thank you for all the ways in which you’ve served and continue to do so. I’m glad you survived that war. Thankful for the opportunity to call you friend.
Absolutely disagree that God has any allegiance to any “nation.” He’s devoted to people, not to policy. He could use a jackass if he wanted. He does not need us. That he wants us, that he seeks us, is nothing short of grace.
I disagree, Karen. But not for the reasons you might think. That is, I’m not particularly nationalistic. I do, however, think that God loves the USA, as well as Iraq, Israel, Japan, Russia, and Ghana, among other nations.
The more I read how Scripture describes for us how God has equipped individuals (using their gifts, talents, and experiences) for specific purposes, the more I am convinced that God uses particular nations for particular purposes. God has chosen to use the USA to bless other nations in a variety of ways, but that’s not a pride point; it’s actually very humbling.
Karen
You are spot on. I have had similar thoughts over the years, even when I was in Nam. Despite what the big O says about the necessity of collective salvation, God loves us as individuals. I have always done my best to live the most moral life I could and take care of those around me. How I live does not depend on the collective. It depends on me and my relationship with the guy upstairs who brought me through when I lay dying in Nam. If you don’t remember that story, I’ll send e-mail.
Thanks for sharing George.
Perfect put Jason
Thanks, Ted.
Was it the Granny and chickens line?
Faye: You gotta come up with a better name than “Butter.” Can’t afford the fat jokes that are sure to folo.
Thanks, girl. Glad u liked it.
Great post!
Rachel: Thanks, girlfriend. Having grown up in the society that never honored our military families, I understand why we overcorrect & end up veering off the path. But it’s dangerous. There is an inherent arrogance in believing that God favors America.
“Girl, you have been on a serious roll lately.”
We should just call her Butter? She has definitely been calling us out.
Some of that story (coming from Europe) reminds me of the Old Testament.
Amen!
This is such a crucial message to deliver right now. I find myself pleading with my fellow evangelicals to resist getting swept up in all this religious nationalism. The Kingdom of God knows no borders – and our first allegiance lies there.
Girl, you have been on a serious roll lately.
I definitel agree. no favorites. thanks for sharing. it reminds me of this one: after the death of america — http://theloverevolution.org.uk/2010/08/the-death-of-america/
But… but… this message confuses me.
It does not tell me to whom I should feel superior.
It does not tell me how I too can become rich and prosperous.
It does not tell me who I should blame for my failures.
It even seems to suggest that I should be humble and thankful for what I have.
Wow.
Imagine a message like that in this time, in this place.
Thank you for all that you do.
Thank you, Karen. Good point poignantly put. I’ve never thought of it that way.