The following is an oldie from 2009 and a column in Mississippi Christian Living. Watching just a little of the Democratic Presidential debates this week ignited every patriotic fiber of my old school American heart. I decided to do a “re-run” with The Enterprise-Tocsin! I hope you enjoy. Happy Independence Day and God bless America!
I have been sitting at my laptop this afternoon googling just about everything I can find on the Declaration of Independence and our celebration of July 4.
I have just begun reading the biography of John Adams, the second president of the United States, former ambassador to France and also one of the signers of the Declaration.
His letters are filled with words of sheer passion and love for God, family and country.
I had hoped to have some great timeless anecdote to share with you. But I am in Denver and the book is in Mississippi - and deadlines loom large.
I have been filling my “Mae Mae” shoes for about 10 days.
It’s hard to reflect on 1776 in the middle of a “normal” day around here.
A 4-year-old, a 1-year-old, and a 6-week-old - it’s bliss and a three ring circus under one roof.
I think if I were a movie star I would go to the spa to recover next week. But since I am not, and since Metro Christian Living goes to print in two days, I am laboring amid alternating episodes of Dora the Explorer and personal panic.
I am trying, too, to find a few quiet moments to consider my thoughts on what it means to be an American.
For the past three days, I have sent up fervent prayers that all under the age of five will take long naps so I can collect my thoughts and write. As of today, my prayers are still sticking like glue on the ceiling. Naps among all three never run concurrently. However, I do have a few quick sound bytes for you.
You know, I am really tired of the current trend of America bashing. I have discovered several “enlightened” (lol) articles on the Web this afternoon discounting everything I ever learned in school about the early American patriots who risked charges of treason and certain death for the sake of establishing a new nation.
I am tired of seeing history rewritten or distorted or maligned or whatever it is that seems to be going on among the intelligentsia who are so open minded that their gray matter must be falling out.
I am tired of an anti-patriotic agenda, and I am tired of those who claim “separation of church and state” means that any reference or symbol that smacks of God must be shrouded in Visqueen or removed completely.
The fact is that the rag tag band of patriots, though flawed like the rest of us, aspired to virtue, honor, courage, and freedom in its purest form.
Against all odds, they established a government based on Judeo-Christian principles (yes, I know many disagree with that statement) and individual freedom, and though it has never been perfect, it has indeed been a beacon and a standard for the rest of the world.
The brand of freedom that was the dream of our founding fathers carried with it a concept that seems to be sliding into oblivion in the present day—personal responsibility.
When I watched the recent riots in the streets of Tehran and observed the graphic bloodshed flashing across my television screen, I heard commentators tell us about their recent presidential election which was really no election.
Freedom is, as stated in our Declaration of Independence, an inalienable right endowed by our Creator, and since the beginning of time, throughout world history, many have given their lives to protect it or to obtain it.
This afternoon as I became more and more intrigued by multiple perspectives on American history, I ran across a few recorded prayers of various U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate Chaplains. It would be worth your time to look them up as well. Following is one of my favorites among numerous heartfelt petitions that have rung through the halls of Congress.
House Chaplain, Rev. Bernard Braskamp, D.D., offered the following prayer on July 5, 1962.
O Thou Eternal God, may our minds and hearts be stirred with a deepening sense of patriotism and gratitude as we continue to think of that day of high and holy memory in our national history when a company of God-fearing men were guided by Thy divine wisdom to sign the Declaration of Independence.
Grant that the blessings of freedom, which were purchased at a tremendous cost and which we prize so highly and are privileged to enjoy in such an abundant measure, may always be coordinated with the spirit of self-discipline.
Help us to cling with increasing tenacity of faith and fortitude to the great truth proclaimed by George Washington in his Farewell Address that religion and morality are indispensable and our national greatness [will be] obliterated if we allow them to be subverted by secularism.
Hear us in the name of our blessed Lord. Amen.
(Congressional Record—House, 87th Congress, second session, 108/9, Thursday, July 5, 1962)
