Posted by
peripheral on Saturday, July 04, 2009 6:49:48 AM
From My Perspective - - -
The Patriot Post shares with us: Independence Day 2009: We still hold
these truths...and begins with a Prayer by Patrick Henry: "Is life so
dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and
slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may
take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" With that
foundation, core value, inspiration, courage and commitment, our nation
was born!
The Patriot Post includes Background History: On July 4th, 1776, our
Founders, assembled as representatives to the Second Continental
Congress, issued a declaration stating most notably: "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
whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it
is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
new Government…" In other words, our Founders affirmed that our rights,
which are inherent by Natural Law as provided by our Creator, can't be
arbitrarily alienated by men like England's King George III, who
believed that the rights of men are the gifts of government. Our
Founders publicly declared their intentions to defend these rights by
attaching their signatures between July 4th and August 2nd of 1776 to
the Declaration. They and their fellow Patriots pledged their lives,
their fortunes, and their sacred honor as they set about to defend the
Natural Rights of man. At the conclusion of the American War for
Independence in 1783, our Founders determined the new nation needed a
more suitable alliance among the states than the Articles of
Confederation. After much deliberation, they proposed the U.S.
Constitution, adopted in 1787, ratified in 1788 and implemented in 1789
as subordinate guidance to our Declaration of Independence. Since that
time, generations of American Patriots have laid down their lives "to
support and defend" our Constitution…
Some lessons are difficult to remember, and many benefits of freedom
suffer from neglect or disregard. The Founding Fathers knew this all
too well and anticipated such behavior, movement and acceptance of loss
of freedom. Our Declaration's author, Thomas Jefferson, understood the
odds. He wrote, "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield
and government to gain ground," and he concluded, "The tree of liberty
must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and
tyrants." Accordingly, George Washington advised, "We should never
despair, our Situation before has been unpromising and has changed for
the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we
must only put forth new Exertions and proportion our Efforts to the
exigency of the times." A focus and prayer on this Independence Day
might well be from two of the stanzas in America, The Beautiful:
O beautiful for pilgrim feet Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness And every gain divine!
An outstanding King of Israel prayed – I Chronicles 29:10-12, “David
praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, Praise
be to you, O Lord, God of our fathers, from everlasting to everlasting.
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the
majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth
and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands
are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all." We would do
well to remember these truths. Consider these things with me!