By Catherine Ulrich Brakefield
The
4th of July is but a passing recollection on your 2025 calendar now. The parades,
parties, and picnics left behind are a pleasing afterthought.
Mementos of yesteryear might flood some veteran’s thoughts of past 4th of Julys, soaring like an eagle in flight with the glow of the fireworks, and those fireworks, but a candle to that war, that recollection of a distant memory.
That
first 4th of July was when a band of farmers, clerks, and minutemen
risked their lives for a cause they reasoned bigger than themselves.
Facing
the fierce roar of mighty Great Britain with a handful of patriots was not a
task for the fainthearted. Farmers, some armed with pitchforks, fought against
the mightiest nation in the world.
The
well-trained British army marched with arrogant confidence, certain of victory
and scores of hangings for these brave Americans.
These
patriots, with a prayer upon their lips and determination in their strides, found
humor in their most-harrowing predicaments creating lyrics to the comical tune
of Yankee Doodle Dandy. They faced with
grit and determination the teeth-shuttering roar of Great Britain, with good
old Yankee common sense.
It
was a new dawn, and a new nation was born that first fourth in 1776.
On the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D. C. is inscribed: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
Are
the schoolchildren of our generation taught this truth? Our founding fathers
recognized this. So did every patriot who fought in the Revolutionary War, and
every veteran of every war, that was fought.
Our
“liberties are the gift of God.” Plain and simple. It is the complete reason
the United States of America decided to establish a country Under God and
establish God as our king.
The
Declaration of Independence was the promise, and the Constitution was that
fulfillment.
“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… And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortune, and our sacred Honor.”
A
nation under God Indivisible—Life and Liberty Walk hand in hand. The next generation will someday need to carry
this torch of God and liberty. For if we do not— “I tremble for my country when
I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.” Thomas
Jefferson.
How
long will America survive if the next generation are unaware of their roots?
George Washington did not hesitate to bend a knee amidst the frigid winds and cold, wet snow to humbly pray and ask God for his guidance and blessings.
Many
of our presidents have shown through their words and deeds this truth. Without
God, it is impossible to have a strong country. It is impossible to keep our liberties
and our country safe.
“And let us with caution
indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.
Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of
peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that
national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”— George Washington's Farewell Address, 1796
“Our Constitution was made
only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government
of any other.” — George Washington in a Letter to the Massachusetts Militia, October 11, 1798
John Quincy Adams never hesitated
in placing pen to parchment to display his convictions about God and his Savior,
Christ Jesus:
“Why is it that, next to
the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and venerated
festival returns on this day? … Is it not that in the chain of human events,
the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior.
That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it
not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on
the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That it laid the comer
stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to
the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfilment of the prophecies,
announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the
greatest of the Hebrew prophets 600 years before?” — This was said in “An oration delivered before the inhabitants of the town of Newburyport," July 4,
1837
Americans thrived beneath
the free speech, and freedom of religion, designated in our Bill of Rights. Every
time in our nation’s history, God give us the glue to keep this nation
together. God, through His Word, gave American families the heart to face the
most horrendous disasters.
“In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it. To you I return my most sincere thanks for the very elegant copy of the great Book of God which you present.” — Abraham Lincoln in his speech labeled “Reply to Loyal Colored People of Baltimore upon Presentation of a Bible," dated September 7, 1864
During many presidents’
inauguration addresses the utmost thought was on the Almighty God, praying for
His direction and blessings’!
“I assume the arduous and
responsible duties of President of the United States, relying upon the support
of my countrymen and invoking the guidance of Almighty God. Our faith teaches
that there is no safer reliance than upon the God of our fathers, who has so
singularly favored the American people in every national trial, and who will
not forsake us so long as we obey His commandments and walk humbly in His
footsteps.” — William McKinley, in his First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1897
Teddy Roosevelt was born into a well-to-do family, however, had many physical handicaps. With asthma, farsightedness, and considered a weakling by his father, Teddy was told to learn how to box in order to defend himself from the bullies.
He overcame his father’s
displeasure and went out west to prove himself. He established a fighting cavalry
division called the Rough Riders and a period of history America needed it most,
as I write about in Destiny’s Whirlwind. He eventually became the
twenty-sixth president of the United States fulfilling God’s purpose. Without
hesitation, Roosevelt boldly endorsed the reading of God’s Holy Word and told it
how it was if we did not:
“The teachings of the
Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that
it would be literally — I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally —
impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these
teachings were removed. We would lose almost all the standards by which we now
judge both public and private morals; all the standards toward which we, with
more or less of resolution, strive to raise ourselves.” Theodore
Roosevelt — “On Reading the Bible: Delivered before the Members of the Bible Society," 1901
Throughout
our nation’s history, schoolchildren have been taught these truths. I grew up
seeing pictures of Teddy Roosevelt with his Rough Riders riding across the
pages of my history books.
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.” Thomas Jefferson
Watch for next month’s blog
to find out how you can help keep this important message alive for future
generations to enjoy.
“Now the Lord is the
Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2Corinthians
3:17 NKJV)
DESTINY’S WHIRLWIND (book 2 of the Destiny Series)
A death-bed
promise, a dashing Rough Rider, the parable of the Sower take on unimaginable
consequences.
A disgruntled
in-law and a vindictive lawyer place the McConnell clan in the clutches of
life’s tangled web of deception and greed. As Collina fights to keep her
promise, the words of Esther 8:6 ring in her thoughts. “How can I endure to see
the evil that will come to my people?”
“Destiny’s Whirlwind by Catherine Brakefield is a beautiful inspirational love story that will reel you in and win your heart…The story is beautifully written and filled with triumph and heartbreak. I couldn’t put it down…” LS
Catherine is the award-winning author of Wilted Dandelions, Swept into Destiny, Destiny’s Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart, Waltz with Destiny and Love's Final Sunrise. She has written two pictorial history books, The Lapeer Area and Eastern Lapeer, and short stories for Guideposts Books, CrossRiver Media Group, Revell Books, and Bethany House Publishers. Catherine and her husband of fifty-two years live on a ranch in Michigan and have two adult children, five grandchildren, four Arabian horses, three dogs, four cats, six chickens, and three bunnies. See CatherineUlrichBrakefield.com for more information.
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
Thank you for posting these inspiring thoughts.
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