What We’re Reading: If You Can Keep It

This review was submitted for The Christian Chronicle’s series ‘What we’re reading.’ This series features reviews of books our readers have enjoyed and shared with us.

It’s a feeling I know well, that tingle up and down your spine when you stand, holding your hand over your heart, singing along with the national anthem. It’s the same feeling I get when watching Old Glory being raised or listening to that single trumpet playing Taps in a final tribute to a man or woman who served this country.It’s a feeling some believe is fading in our country.

In the early days of America, patriotism flourished like a blazing fire in a hearth. So has that flame burned out?

Eric Metaxas “If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty”In the book “If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty,” Eric Metaxas — a #1 New York Times bestselling author — rejects that assumption, but acknowledges that something needs to be done to light a fire in the hearts of younger generations in order to secure our nation’s future.

His book is like a watchman sounding the alarm that the enemy has breached our lines of defense, infiltrating our country. He goes through the historical account of the meeting in 1787 — in Independence Hall in Philadelphia — when 55 men met, struggled and compromised for nearly four months, penning the U.S. Constitution.

It’s a refresher for some and a primer for those who don’t know much about the basic ideas of how our system of government functions.

In the past, Metaxas writes, England and France set out to determine what made America so exceptional. They concluded America’s success was the result of camaraderie among the citizens and what Metaxas describes as a Golden Triangle — freedom requires virtue, virtue requires faith and faith requires freedom.

Bill Wilson | What We’re ReadingThis book, though, is about more than history. I believe it’s a call to action, especially in this election year, for Americans to understand and be a part of what will move this country forward.

It’s our job to keep what our founding fathers established. Metaxas helps readers to understand their role.

His book is for everyone. It explains that what we have in this country is special. Our way of life is special, it’s unique, and if we don’t take care of it then it can go away completely.

That tingle I mentioned earlier, it turns to a shudder when I imagine what our country would be like without the liberties we have known for more than 200 years.

Bill Wilson is a member of the Memorial Road Church of Christ in Edmond, Okla.

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