In 1954, when my parents concluded their first term of
missionary service in the Belgian Congo, we returned to the U.S. for a
furlough. Approaching New York Harbor on the Queen Elizabeth, we were moved by
the sight of the Statue of Liberty. And when a customs official greeted us with
a hearty “Welcome home!”, tears rolled down my mother's cheeks.
Settling into our Manhattan hotel room, we had one more
thing to do to complete our arrival --
find the nearest drug store, sit down at a soda fountain, and order
chocolate malts and hamburgers. We did, and when Dad finished eating, he said
in a loud voice, “That's the best meal I've had in four years!”
It was a proclamation that, no doubt, drew stares from
nearby customers. It didn't matter, though.
All that mattered was that we were
home.
On July the 4th, we celebrate the birth of our
nation. And chief among the blessings of U.S. citizenship is its (don't worry
-- I'm not going to say “chocolate malts and hamburgers”) freedoms. I say that
from the heart, having been to parts of the world where tyranny prevails. Visit
a country where the government tramples
on the fundamental rights of its people, and you're stirred by the fact that
yours is a nation founded upon human rights.
Warner Davis