“Time to get back to basics.”  Have you ever heard that phrase? I have several times. The meaning is always the same; somehow over time we have drifted from the actual path that we started on and we need to go back to the fundamentals. The phrase can be applied to entities such as corporations, churches, or civic organizations; but it also applies to us individually.

In my fifty years on this earth I have seen churches lose their way and start following their denominations rather than their God, I have seen businesses lose their way and start chasing profit margin over customer service, I have seen civic organizations lose their way when they sought numerical growth over service to others, and I have seen people lose their way when they chose to satisfy their own desires rather than serve the one who created them in the first place.

At some point in time they all need to hit the reset button and “get back to basics.”  When these drifts occur, churches seeking to get back to basics find themselves in the book of Acts. There they find a biblical model of how church should be done. When businesses lose their way they go back to a fundamental rule of taking care of the customer first, and when civic organizations lose their way they must return to their original mission statement and remember why they came together in the first place.

The Preamble of the American Legion Constitution states, “FOR GOD AND COUNTRY WE ASSOCIATE OURSELVES TOGETHER FOR THE FOLLOWING PURPOSES”. Across this great nation of ours Legion Posts meet monthly and recite these words but for some, not all, but for some, they have lost their meaning and power. Some of our Posts have forgotten why they even assemble and that is sad.

National American Legion Headquarters explains it like this: “FOR GOD AND COUNTRY, WE ASSOCIATE OURSELVES TOGETHER…This is the introduction. It declares that The American Legion recognizes the influence of Almighty God in all worthwhile endeavors-and declares the allegiance of Legionnaires to both God and Nation. First things have been put first. All that follows is in conformity.”

In getting back to basics it is important to keep our priorities right. It is important we recognize the blessings and favor the Almighty has shown us; and as we gather together we do so first for His glory and then for the glory of this great country to which we swear our allegiance.

Getting back to basics and keeping our priorities straight will keep us Legion Strong!