"A prophet is not without honor," said Jesus "save in his own country." No wonder! Prophets speak to a people on the part of God. What nation on earth has ever lived up to God's standards? Not us. Not Israel. Not any nation that has ever existed on earth. We need to remember that as we prepare to celebrate our grand national holiday.

Our nation has been wonderfully blessed. It seems somewhat impertinent for me to say, "I'm proud to be an American." It was an accident of birth. I had nothing to do with it.Deep in my heart, however, I can say that I am grateful to be a resident of this land.

There was a story in Quote magazine many years ago that tells it all. It seems that in Vienna, Austria American, French, British and Russian soldiers share jeeps for military police duty. One group of them…