On Independence Day, 2021, many of us might have looked back on the turmoil we Americans experienced in 2020 on many fronts and questioned what it means to love America. Pastor John took note of the extremes: either idolizing everything about America (nothing needs to change, we are the best) or criticizing everything about it (everything about our history and our social structure is wrong and needs to change.) But extremes usually indicate a blindness to the other side. With God as our Center and our Lord, we have a better chance of putting things in a perspective that allows us to both love things about our country and criticize the wrongs at the same time. It’s not an “either/or” situation but a “both/and” one.