God judges a nation,
    not by its wealth or GDP,
but on its treatment of its poor,
    its disfranchised,
        its marginalized.

God judges a nation,
    not on its military strength,
but on the sacrifices it makes
    for the world and for creation.

God judges a nation,
    not on per-capita gun ownership,
but its willingness to drop its weapons
    and be the first to die for peace.

God judges a nation
    on its willingness to say,
"We are sorry," 
    and to right the sins of the past.

God cares not a whit
    for pride and patriotism
but a whopping lot
    for humility.

Or, perhaps,
    God doesn't judge at all
and simply weeps
    at our failure to repent and return,
repent and return.

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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