One can't help but remember just how difficult that time was.Thousands died and millions suffered.

But while it was one of our nation’s darkest hours, out of this great tragedy emerged the great goodness of the American people.

In the days that followed, millions of families gathered around their kitchen tables to talk and to pray; reconnecting and recommitting to all that they held dear. Millions volunteered both their time and money.

Churches were filled to overflowing, and a spirit of faith was reborn in our country that had not been seen in a very long time. But where is that faith now?

In many schools in our country, they don’t start their day with the Pledge of Allegiance for fear of “offending” someone with the use of the phrase, “One Nation Under God.”

Pornography and strip clubs have somehow become “freedom of speech” issues, and yet pastors who dare to speak on the moral issues of our time are often threatened with legal action.

Where is the freedom of speech for those who serve the Lord? Consumed with worry over issues such as the economy, we have sometimes allowed ourselves to forget that it is not the treasures of this world we must worry about — but of the next.

Without a doubt, our country has seen some very tough times. But what has always brought Americans together, what has given us the courage and strength to face the tough times and the terrible tragedies that sometimes occur, is faith: faith in God, faith in each other, and faith in the values and traditions that have so well stood the test of time.

For it is these three — faith, family and freedom — that have made us what we have always been: “The land of the free and home of the brave.”

Key Words: Freedom

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