July 4th and the Late Great Andy Griffith

Andy Griffith is one of Cornflower's all-time famous shows. I think she'd like to move to Mayberry. (Wouldn't we all?) In this five-minute video, Andy inspires Opie and his friends to study history with a captivating retelling of the Shot Heard Round the World. Thank you, Andy. You were a great man.

 Have a great July 4th, ya'll. We will be cooking out with friends from church, singing patriotic songs, and watching fireworks. I'm thankful we can do these things and hope I will always have the courage to stand up and defend our inalienable rights.

Memorial Day

This morning I read about the week of 9/11 in President G.W. Bush's book, Decision Points. Reading how the events unfolded for the President and his staff brings back the horror and uncertainty of that time.

Many, many people (both in and out of uniform) gave their lives or had their lives taken from them that day. I have never experienced personal tragic loss of that magnitude, so I cannot quite comprehend the pride and grief that must fight in their loved one's hearts. But I can remember them and others who died serving their fellow man.

(I do not mean to imply that Memorial Day is for honoring any and all dead. A FB friend respectfully reminded me this day is for people who died in the service of our country.)

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

--Moina Michael

We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident...

Happy 4th of July, Independence Day!

Our family is starting out the day listening to John Philip Sousa radio on Pandora.com, and reading the Declaration of Independence. Then we are going to a church meeting to hear some great singing and preaching, and then on to our church for a Bible study, and finally ending the day watching fireworks. God bless the USA!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

D-Day Anniversary

Over at PBS' American Experience, there are some pretty amazing letters written by GIs in France after D-Day. Here is an excerpt from one of them, notable for its contrast between activities in France and at home:

The Long Low Dark Coast of Europe Looms Ahead

At dusk on July 29th my convoy of ships, largest of the war since D-Day, reaches broad sandy Utah Beach on the Normandy Coast. Like Omaha Beach a few miles o the north and clearly visible below its bluffs, Utah was the scene of D-Day landings by our troops nearly two months ago. But here there are no bluffs and resistance was weak rather than strong as at Omaha. Gentle meadows spread inland. The beach swarms with men and machines. It is the chief port of entry for U.S. forces invading France. In the distance anti-aircraft shells explode n the evening sky and a dull roar of heavy artillery marks the front line. Dozens of barrage balloons, like big sausages tethered to earth by cables, float close overhead to protect the landing area from low-level air attack.

[snip]

Meanwhile Jane is gently influencing her mother toward selling their home at 317 Burlingame Avenue and moving to Santa Barbara, as a decisive step in coping with the sorrow of her father's death. The children continue to be a source of life and hope for them both, as they crave yet dread each day's mail, newspaper, radio broadcast.

To the men who served in the armed forces and took the war to the Nazis on D-Day, thank you. May God bless you.

Mustn't Forget the Everlasting Stand

"The prerogative of princes may easily and daily grow, while the privileges of the subject are for the most part at an everlasting stand."

--from The New World by Winston Churchill (He excerpted it from an Apology the House of Commons drew up to remind their new king, James I, that they were a free people and that the Divine Right of Kings was less a given in England than he had reckoned on.)

We mustn't forget that the privileges of the subject, or the citizen, are at an everlasting stand-- we must consistently stand for liberty, as it is something that gets eaten away if we take it for granted.

Are you standing?

Thoughts for My Children on Government

Civil government exists to protect us, its citizens, from our enemies-- whether at home or abroad-- so that we can get down to the business of making something of ourselves.

It is also important to remember that, in its very nature, government is extremely vulnerable to corruption-- whether that government is red, blue, yellow, orange, or purple with pink polka dots. This is true at any level.

As Lord Acton (1834-1902) put it:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

Almost always, okay? Not always. But very, very often. A great, good man is quite rare. (And I use the term 'man' in the universal sense.)

William Pitt talked about unlimited power in 1770:

"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it"

This is why the founding fathers of the United States designed a limited government. They understood that power is terribly vulnerable to corruption by sinful men.

Why do we have civil government, then? Because not enough of us have personal government; we do not govern our own selves well. This is the reason for crime and war.

It has been my experience (and is my understanding from studying history) that the bigger civil government gets, the less individuals are spurred toward personal government. This is why I do not agree with big government.

We do not have a king, nor do we want one, because of the corrupting influence of power. The "Divine Right of Kings" was a myth. There is only one King who has a Divine Right. This is why a representative democracy, or a democratic republic (we can parse those terms later), is the best government model put forth thus far. None of us are trustworthy when given too much power (not even a mob of "ordinary" people). Therefore, we have a government that by its very nature discourages government action and encourages an individual's dependence on himself.

Memorial

Greater love hath no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13

A list of men our family knew who were killed in service to their country during the Vietnam War:

Steve Rodrigues
Ernie Garcia
Bob DeMello
Paul Thurkil
Mark Seedintof

My uncle, Jim Collier, also served in Vietnam. He died from cancer several years ago, the result of his contact with the chemicals of war.

Soldier, rest! Thy warfare o'er,
Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,
Dream of battled fields no more.
Days of danger, nights of waking.

-Sir Walter Scott

How to Observe Memorial Day

Admiration

A photo of Mariel taken by a good friend.

The portrait is Davy Crockett, who died defending the Alamo here in Texas.

So Let Freedom Ring

We found this photo essay at Time.com today. It combines pictures of Dr. King with his own words.

"...And when this happens, when we let it ring, we will speed that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last, free at last/Thank God Almighty, we're free at last." --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.