The State of the Union is one of the most famous addresses in America each year. On Tuesday, January 30, 2018,  President Trump delivered the State of the Union address to a very divided crowd of American Representatives, Senators, and special guests. The State of the Union address was full of hope, speaking to the many economic and political accomplishments of America within the past year. Trump honored veterans and had many special guests whose stories deserved honor and the greatest applause and sympathy one can offer. After the speech, Joe Kennedy III delivered the Democratic rebuttal.

While the State of the Union 2018 honored hope, veterans, victims, and America, one negative takeaway was the dividedness of the crowd in attendance.

Mark 3:25 states, “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”

This is also used in a famous speech by Abraham Lincoln entitled “House Divided”, where he directly quotes this verse. Honoring veterans, as well as men and women who serve in law enforcement, should supersede any sort of political affiliation someone may have. These selfless people sacrifice so much in order to give us the freedoms that we have; the least that they deserve is our gratitude. To see people not stand when honoring these heroes was greatly disheartening during the speech. I hope that someday, parties will begin to compromise and not see each other as the opposite side; the competition which must be defeated. I hope that on issues that outplace party lines, we will begin to see that honor is more important than pride.

President Trump touched on many hot topics that are circulating through American politics today. He spoke about new policies regarding immigration, strengthening the military, and the economic boom. Most importantly, however, Trump called for bipartisanship and national unity. America is more divided right now than many people can remember, and it was excruciatingly evident during the speech. The Bible spoke about unity long before there was any American government or political parties. Maybe within the next few years, or Presidential campaigns, Americans will realize the unity that Jesus spoke about in Mark 3:25. Hopefully someday, there can be more compromise across party lines in order to keep America moving forward.