Any tall building begins with a big, muddy hole. If possible, it’s dug down to bedrock. If not, it’s built on reinforced concrete. On the beach, they drive pilings deep into the ground.

But it doesn’t look like much. There is no sweeping architecture. No arches or beams or character. There are no clean lines or bright spaces. None of the pretty stuff can even begin to happen until you dig a giant hole in the ground.

And you never see the hole after the beautiful building is built. It’s easy to forget about. So icky and damp. No one ever looks at it and says, ”What a beautiful mud pit!”

But if you don’t take care of it first and cracks develop and walls split, people are quick to point out the problem. “Foundation problems,” they will say and shake their heads and pity the owner. Because it’s hard to fix a foundation once the building is built.

The Building Must Fit The Foundation

But America doesn’t have a foundation problem. It’s as solid as it’s always been. It is the blessing of our nation and the bane of our enemies. Our core values are strong.

Liberty and justice for all. Only a great nation would even aspire to such lofty goals.

Our problem is that the current designers want a different building. And it doesn’t fit the foundation that was laid. They are trying to build a sprawling mansion on an intentionally limited foundation. And it will never fit.

The arrogance and overreach of bureaucrats and political pontiffs are tacking on floor after floor with unwieldy rooms hanging off the sides. It is overbalanced and creaking. The whole thing is tottering before our eyes.

And it’s going to fall.

It has no choice but to fall. As much as they want to deny reality, gravity will slowly, steadily bring it down. Because reality always wins over mental fantasies.

Rotten Is Rotten

No matter how strong the foundation, the building has to have a strong structure and balance. The beams and headers must also hold. The frame must be true and the walls plumb.

What they are building on our solid foundation is rotten to the core. Our government has become an obscene corruption one warped plank at a time. The shoddy materials are collapsing. The wiring is built for a different voltage. The plumbing won’t support a personal hot tub in every office. It was never meant to.

Our government was never intended to be an impregnable fortress of solitude where the people are suspect and kept at bay. The foundation of our nation was built for a house of the people, by the people, and for the people.

What they are building is a pyramid where pharaohs rule and slaves build. But on this purposefully limited foundation, they are building an upside-down pyramid, big at the top and tiny at the foundation. It is destined to fall and it will be a crash that shakes the world.

Can It Be Saved?

The question is, can this property be saved? The location is still great and the views are still glorious. The foundation is as strong as ever. It looks like a great place to build.

But first, we have to get rid of the tacky additions and orange carpet. The 60’s paint job and that 70’s paneling has to go. The woodblock Formica needs to come off the counters and the granite beneath needs to be cleaned. The torn linoleum needs to be stripped back to the bare floors.

These dividing walls need to be knocked down. The kitchen needs to be opened back up. And the graffiti needs to be scrubbed off the walls. And who sprayed that popcorn ceiling on the dome?

It’s A Big Remodel

The big problem is, this remodel needs to be done while we’re still living in the house. We have to keep things operational and the doors must stay open. It’s going to be one giant mess.

We will have to return to the original vision and see how we can continue to improve it. We cannot allow two opposing designers to fight while we build. We need to make it big enough and no bigger.

We will have to control the greed and pride and the budget. We will have to build with good materials to last. And our vision must be passed down intact so that others may continue to benefit from our hard work.

Can It Be Done?

It’s hard to see through the decay and chaos to imagine how it will look. But people with a clear creative vision, a passion for excellence, and a penchant for hard work can accomplish more than most can imagine. After it’s done, the amazing transformation is obvious.

Until then, it’s going to be a mess.

The optimist in me must point out that, in the entire history of the earth, no such country has ever existed or even been tried before this. It is not the Greek or Roman Empire. Those were built without the faith and strength of Christianity and Western values. If such a great nation can arise from nothing, then anything is possible.

But it wasn’t easy. And it will not be.

The Alternative

The pessimist in me wants to point to mankind’s many failures and predict more of the same. It’s the easy bet.

In that case, I must remember that God is building an eternal kingdom that is not of this world. Whatever good we have built in the past is always just a foreshadowing of the great glory that God, in his great mercy, has in store.

No building of man will ever survive time.

The question we have before us is not whether we will do the impossible again. It’s whether we will trust once more in the God that made it possible in the first place.