In doing research for a book I hope to have out before year’s end,  I have been struck by the way two world leaders recognized the awesome power of Almighty God as they,  in the Fall of 1941, prepared for the escalated  WWII battle that was to soon come. I have found myself longing for the leadership of our country and others over the globe to do likewise.

FALL 1941.……Roosevelt had been elected for an unprecedented third term less than a  year earlier.  Churchill had been Prime Minister of Great Britain since May 10 of that year.  In the ensuing three months, Hitler’s forces of the Third  Reich had over-run the whole of Western Europe  and mercilessly battered the island of Britain with nightly bombing raids.

In early August, 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill had a top secret meeting off the coast of Newfoundland aboard HMS The Prince of Wales.    The U.S. had not yet entered the war but had provided assistance to the British. In addition to discussions of how and if the U.S. might ally with England, they agreed on the eight tenets of what they wanted the post war world to look like.  The agreement reached would later be deemed “The Atlantic Charter” by Churchill in his address to Parliament on August 24, 1941.

The Sunday service aboard the British ship on August 10, was a regal one, packed with both emotion and resolve and deeply spiritual.  Both men knew full well the state of the free world on that day but neither knew, nor could they imagine, exactly what the years to follow would bring.  Emanating from their heritage and faith, Roosevelt an Episcopalian and Churchill, as he referred to himself, a “buttress” rather than a “pillar” of The Church of England each felt the necessity of calling for Divine help in this time of global need.  Churchill prayed the following prayer penned years earlier by George Wallace Briggs, Canon of Worcester and former chaplain of the Royal Navy.

“Stablish our hearts. O God, and strengthen our resolve, that we fight not in enmity  against men, but against the powers of darkness enslaving the souls of men; till all enmity and oppression be done away, and the peoples of the world be set free from fear, to serve one another; as children of one Father, who is above all and through all, and in all”

Three Christian hymns were sung on that day.  Roosevelt selected the Naval hymn “Eternal Father Strong To Save.”  Churchill also felt the importance of the meeting and agreement between him and Roosevelt and wanted something special to punctuate the service.  He determined that the Christian anthems “O God Our Help In Ages Past” and “Onward Christian Soldiers” would be sung on board the Prince of Wales on that day because, as he later said on a BBC radio broadcast;

“We sang “Onward, Christian Soldiers” indeed, and I felt that this was no vain presumption, but that we had the right to feel that we serving a cause for the sake of which a trumpet has sounded from on high. When I looked upon that densely packed congregation of fighting men of the same language, of the same faith, of the same fundamental laws, of the same ideals … it swept across me that here was the only hope, but also the sure hope, of saving the world from measureless degradation.’

The deep melodious sound of servicemen and world leaders singing in unison the words of these heart rending hymns as a prayer for protection in the battle that was raging and the many that would come, wafted over the eerily still waters and chill of that historic Fall day.

Years later, as he thought of the events of that day Churchill said;……..“Every word seemed to stir the heart. It was a great hour to live.”

We can and must learn from history.  Men and nations that do not are doomed to repeat the errors and avoid profit from the successes of our forefathers.  WWII was a pivotal time in World history.  God saw fit to sustain us through very perilous times…..but not without significant sacrifice.  I hope and pray that both the words uttered and that actions taken in today’s critical  twenty first century will soon be focused on the “Author and Finisher of our Faith” as were those on that day in August of 1941.

PLEASE PASS THIS ON and LET US HEAR FROM YOU!

As Independence Day, more commonly known as the Fourth of July, approaches,  patriotic and thinking American’s thoughts are focused on the valor of our founding fathers who, under intense pressure and at significant personal risk, signed the document that declared independence from Great Britain. Granted, fireworks, picnics, parades, laughter and relaxation occupy much of the time on this day of yearly respite, but that too was encouraged by one of our most famous and courageous founding fathers.  After signing the Declaration of Independence 234 years ago on July 4, 1776, Samuel Adams wrote the following to his wife Abigail.

“The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America.  I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.  It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.  It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

The Declaration of Independence was followed by the U. S. Constitution and later the dynamic Bill of Rights.  Today these documents are under siege.  We have a President who seems to disregard and even attack the very documents that formed this great country of freedom and opportunity.  This attack has, thankfully,  served to heighten  many American’s awareness and understanding of the wisdom of the drafters and signers of these great documents and the foundation on which this country was built.  Further, many have seen these attacks as a call to action and have responded.

Unless we return to the foundational principles and faith in Almighty God I am afraid our country is gathering speed on an irreversible downhill slide.  With such a return, our best years may be in front of us.  It’s not too late!  The devastation, designed and implemented over the last few years can be reversed…..but not if we continue on the current course.  Second Chronicles 7:14 says; “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.“  God is sovereign and, therefore, this is truth.

Adams punctuated his belief in the power and sovereignty of our Creator when upon signing the document for which this day is named he uttered these words; “We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient.  He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come.“  In another punctuation of this document’s impact on the world,  Adams and Declaration author,  Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence who later served our Nation as its President, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, ironically the 50th anniversary of the Declaration’s signing.

I was reminded today of these quotations by Bob A., a close friend and a God fearing patriot.  I am now reminding all who read this of the same.

IF YOU READ AND AGREE WITH THESE WORDS, PLEASE DO TWO THINGS…they will only take a minute and they will have a great impact.

First, PLEASE COMMENT BELOW AS AN ENCOURAGEMENT to us and others.

Secondly, SEND A LINK TO THIS BLOG to friends and your e-mail list as a further encouragement to others to join in prayer and to make a commitment to help return our Nation to its former glory and the glory of ALMIGHTY GOD.

My Dad was a well educated extremely wise man…….with little formal schooling.  He did graduate from high school but not without difficulty resulting from a serious illness that kept him out of class a lot and almost cost him his life.   His primary learning was from life experiences.   As an acute observer of people and their character, his learning was not limited to his own experiences but took  full advantage of the experiences of others.  As the youngest of four widely diverse children, reared by a strict and devout Christian mother and a  kind, quiet, hard working but somewhat detached father, he had an interesting classroom in his own home.

Dad was also the consummate pragmatist,  learning from his mother and father….and out of extreme necessity resulting from an economic condition bordering on poverty.  He said that he only had enough clothes to attend high school because as an R.O.T.C. participant he was allowed to wear his military uniform three days a week.  He also wore underwear made by his mother from flour sacks.  This was made worse because the sacks were from a common brand of the day… “Tube Rose Flour” .  Imagine a boy dressing out for gym class and revealing undershorts adorned with red roses.

The depression hit just as he was attempting to enter the workforce so the practical education in frugality learned from his “hard scrabble” childhood continued into his teens and later. Married in the waning years of the Great Depression his life strategy, developed through a quarter century of struggles, was pretty well formed……protect and love your family, work hard, be honest, give to others, save for tomorrow and be wise.

Men in the 20′s and 30′s seemed to almost universally develop the bad habit of smoking cigarettes.  My Dad was no exception.  Later in life my Mother told me a story about Dad.  As a 3 pack a day Camel smoker, he was pretty well hooked on this nasty habit.  He walked in from work one day and saw me, barely old enough to walk, with a small pencil stub in my mouth, pretending to smoke a cigarette.  Mom said it hit him so hard that he walked straight to the garbage and threw away a newly opened pack and a freshly opened carton.  He told her, “I can’t raise my son and smoke these things too.”   He never smoked another cigarette as long as he lived…..44 and a half years.  He taught us by EXAMPLE.  He patterned the life he taught with words.

As a young 11 year old boy I was tempted by Jimmy, a 13 year old influential friend, to go up to the “Woodbine Woods” on the periphery of my neighborhood where he was going to teach me to smoke.  He had stolen cigarettes from his father who, coincidentally, worked with my father.  The two men had talked, so Dad figured out what was going on….how I don’t know…but he did.  On the back porch one hot July day Dad said he would like to make a deal with me.  He said “if you will wait until you are 21 years old before you smoke your first cigarette, I’ll buy you all the cigarettes you can smoke for the rest of your life.”  I weighed the options…..being a big boy and going along with Jimmy or running the risk of ridicule with a big monetary carrot only 10 years away.  I took his offer and we shook on it.  I would have never lied to Dad at all cost, so I lived up to the bargain.  As the days went by it was easier not to succumb to the smoking temptation.  I made it to 21 and never did smoke.  As a matter of fact, I still haven’t, over 5 decades later.  Dad was pretty smart.  He taught us through his WISDOM to utilize appropriate challenges to encourage proper behavior in his children.

I could relate numerous other examples of Dad’s consistent and wise example through a life well lived.  I have found his lessons to have wide and deep application much beyond the singular application in which he used them.   He and Mom established a great legacy for my brother, sister and me.  I hope and pray that I am able to pass it along to my children and grand children and beyond.

Happy Father’s Day Dad……you done good!

On D-Day 2007, I watched a 2-hour Military Channel documentary on the June 6, 1944 invasion of France that began Operation Overlord.  This bloody but successful battle on the beaches at Normandy initiated the effort that resulted in the re-capturing of France and an ultimate end to the War in Europe 11 months later on May 8, 1945.

Thoughts of the brave invading troops coupled with; film, candid photographs, quotes and in some cases actual voices of the young men,  were combined to make a riveting documentary.   About 40 minutes into the film I was startled to see the face and hear the voice of a young man with the same name as my 6th grade grammar school teacher in Knoxville, Tennessee.  My heart raced as I realized that it was not just a man with the same name…….it was him…..Mr. Raulston, a man I admired and who had influenced me greatly.  As a young, impressionable boy, I was always struck by his: optimism, friendly smile, command of the classroom and broadly administered kindness to his students.  Woops…I almost forgot….and his ever present bow tie.

I could hardly wait for the program to finish so I could try to find him after all these years.  I remembered his home town, South Pittsburgh, Tennessee, because it had an odd name and Mr. Raulston spoke of it often.  I was so afraid that I would not be able to find him.  As I began to Google him, thoughts raced through my mind.  Did he move, how old would he be today and is he still alive, will he remember me…..so many students…..so many years.   I can’t believe it……his name came up.  I clicked a link and found a book that talks about his parachuting onto Omaha Beach that fateful day.  I’ll get to that later, I thought…..I want to find HIM!   A few more clicks on a people search site and his name came up.   WOW!  He is still in his home town!  My heart was really racing now.  This was not just a grammar school teacher he was a builder of young men and women….and he had really influenced me.

I picked up the phone and punched in the numbers.  In my nervousness I hit two keys at once.  Realizing this error I started over….how hard can it be to get 7 numbers right…..right?  Ring….ring…..”hello” came a sweet energetic voice on the other end of the phone….I choked.   “Is this the home of Mr. Raulston who taught grammar school in Knoxville?”   “Yes it is” she said.  Bingo!!  I gave her my name and she responded excitedly by asking if I was……and she related my full name.  I was shocked.  She said he had talked of me often over the years that had ensued.  Her use of the word “had” was an ominous indication of the reality that she then related…….”he died in 2000.”  I was crestfallen…..because he was gone….because she was without him….and because I would not be able to tell him how much he had meant to me.  We had a great and uplifting conversation and I hung up.   After searching through photographs sequestered away for years, I finally found the photo of that class.  I showed this photo to my wife and children as I related this story to them.

Three years passed and this year again I watched the D-Day documentary.  Knowing the approximate time his story would be told, I waited expectantly to see his picture…there it is…I listened and watched and smiled.  My mind then floated back to the conversation with Mrs. Raulston years earlier and I decided to call her again.  That same sweet, strong voice greeted me again.  We enjoyed a warm time of fellowship discussing a man we both loved and by whom we were both influenced.  I told her I had a photo of the 6th grade class and wondered if she had it also.  She did not……but she does now.  I sent it to her along with a photo of my family.  I learned more about their family and purposed to go see her in the next few months.

If this were only a story about me and my 6th grade teacher it would be nice for a few people, but that would be about it.  I think, however, that it has much more significance.

First, I think it is indicative of the incredible power words can have on impressionable young men and women…….that would include EVERY YOUNG PERSON YOU KNOW!  Loosely quoted but  very accurate he told me; “….I’m going to watch you in the years ahead.  You can amount to something and you will if you don’t get distracted or lazy.”  He had seen me get distracted…..but he had also seen something in me he wanted to make sure I developed.   He also cared about me….a snotty nosed kid on a collision course with puberty, hurdles, opportunity, worldview challenges and…well just life.  I told Mrs. Raulston that I could to this day take her to within one foot of the place I was standing when he told me this.  I can’t  remember specifics of what he taught me during the 6th grade, but I remember how he treated me and what he told me.

Secondly, I am embarrassed and chagrined that I didn’t find him early enough to tell him in person how he had influenced me.  Have I amounted to anything?  I’m not the judge.  God is.  If the standards by which I am judged are my faith in Christ,  the quality of; the wife God blessed me with, the three children from that marriage and the eight grand-children that are still young enough to think I’m pretty special,  I believe I have successfully met his challenge.

The broader message for us all is to take both care and time to encourage impressionable people who we engage daily, especially young people.  We can make a difference.  And when those who have influenced us come to mind….TELL ‘EM, it’ll bless us and them.

Thanks Mr. Raulston.   I know he can hear me somehow….and is smiling.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day 2010. In the normal American way of today we will have picnics, laugh and talk with friends and family, play golf, go fishing, play softball and in general have a happy and SAFE day……yes SAFE day. There will be the occasional parade to be sure, but the majority of our time will be spent enjoying the freedom that so many gave so much to provide us with. We don’t worry about being attacked on our shores by another country’s military might. We are increasingly worried about terrorists clandestinely invading us, as in 9/11, and doing us harm, and many of us have a rapidly growing concern over an out of control government  eroding our freedom from within….but in general we feel safe.

I think it would do us good to consider some statistics about the human cost of the freedoms we enjoy today and should humbly celebrate tomorrow….if not everyday.  There were 1,736,867,763 US Service men  and women killed and wounded in WWI, WWII, The Korean War and Vietnam combined….1,396,763 or 80% of these were in WWI and WWII combined.  There were 521,915 killed in WWI and WWII combined, 405,399 or 77.6% of these in WWII.  I’m sure you will agree that these are staggering and sobering statistics.

Another 37,865 have been killed or wounded in the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan combined.  This segmentation is in no way intended to diminish the lower figure for recent wars but is intended to illustrate the magnitude of especially WWI and WWII.  Without our country’s sacrifices there it is possible that the entire continent of Europe and the British Isles would now speak German.  I’m not sure what we would speak in the US but we would speak it with less freedom and possibly in a more totalitarian atmosphere than we live in today.

So I encourage you to join me today in the following:

Remember those who fought in 45 degree below zero blizzards when we slather SPF 45 on our bodies before basking in the sun….

Think of powdered meals eaten on the run and washed down with questionable water as we hear our children complain that the hamburger is not done well and the ketchup is hard to get out of the bottle……

Before we complain about the gnats or the humidity, put ourselves in the place of the bombardier who sees a German fighter coming directly at him, flak is exploding around him and his hands are in danger of freezing to the controls of his bombsite because at 30,000 feet the temperature in his unpressurized B-17 is 60 degrees below zero…

You get the picture.  All of us have become somewhat soft and only occasionally give thanks for the freedom we enjoy by God’s grace and the valor of millions of young men and women who invested so much for us.

THANKS YANKS and THANK YOU LORD!

THAT’S what all the furor was about? A warm fuzzy with a little humor thrown in to spice it up? Were they serious about protesting so loudly to CBS to drop the ad? I’d like for the NOW (National Organization for Women) ladies, as well as the Planned Parenthood folks to point out the evil intentions of the Focus On The Family Super Bowl ad. It just isn’t there in plain sight. None of us were able to fully understand the mean spiritedness of it…We need help from our left leaning organizations to ‘see’ the harmful nature of it since we are lowly, stupid, blind, Bible thumping, gun toting followers of the under-educated right wing…

Perhaps if Joy Behar had been calling the game for us, she could have taken a second to point out the hate speech contained in the Tebow ad…..Oy VEY!

Amidst all this chaos…God loves me…

No Big Orange fan, of which am one,  felt comfortable when Lane Kiffin was announced as Head Coach of the Tennessee Volunteers in December of 2008.  Many, including me, were very happy to see Phil Fulmer go.  He had let the program slide into virtual oblivion and few singers of Rocky Top were excited about what the ensuing years would be under his continued tutelage.  Fulmer exited with his head held high and exuding tremendous class.  His replacement entered completely devoid of same.

Kiffin spent much of the press conference, called to announce his hiring, talking about what a bad guy Al Davis was.  Davis is the owner of the Oakland Raiders who had fired him after a brief tenure.  The reasons seemed to be that Kiffin was an arrogant, narcissistic flake.  Davis should know, he’s not much different…..but he signs the paychecks.  Tennessee should have talked with Davis before hiring this “narrow Lane”…..they might, as a result, have continued their search beyond Kiffin. Tennessee fans cringed, saying “this guy may know a lot of X’s and O’s, but he seems to be terribly deficient in the class category.”  Our worst fears were soon realized.

Over the next weeks and months Kiffin proceeded to offend most coaches in the S.E.C., the hierarchy at the NCAA and skiddish Vol fans alike with his out of control mouth.  He also came under fire for potential recruiting violations.  This issue might still be an open one…..only time will tell.  I must admit that as the 2009 season went on I never lost my concern that orange blood, I mean the beautiful Tennessee Orange, was not coursing through his veins.  I was, however, smitten by the revitalization that he seemed to bring to the Vol football program and despite the good ole “yard dog whippin’” that Virginia Tech put on us in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, I thought that Tennessee might be up-ticking in the football market.  It was not to be…..at least for about 80 hours.

When Pete Carroll left as head coach of U.S.C. for the NFL, Kiffin bolted Knoxville for the vacated position.  Some of his assistants who also departed in lockstep with him, proceeded to back track and try to talk recruits they had rushed so strongly for the previous weeks into changing their minds and follow them to Trojan country.  It may have worked…we will see.

All of this was a severe body blow to Tennessee, the football program, fans and players.  But after 3 days of whirlwind activity by the U.T Athletic Department, tons of cyber ink and wasted work time by Tennessee faithful, and speculation by the college football world, Tennessee announced on Friday that Derek Dooley had been named as Tennessee’s 22nd football Coach.  WHO????  Derek Dooley….son of the extremely successful Georgia Bulldog Coach and A.D..   The initial fears of the Tennessee faithful were and for many may still be that U.T. made a panic move and picked quickly so as to not lose the recruiting battle that will rage over the next 2-3 weeks.   I must admit to have been one of the skeptics.

Well my brother called me this morning and said, “do you remember how we said we felt when Ronald Reagan spoke the day after he was elected…..proud to be an American and excited about the future.”   He urged me to listen the Dooley’s news conference and see if I had a similar feeling with this hiring.  I did and am sold……and I’m not an easy sell.  Only time will tell whether Dooley will return Tennessee to top 5 -10 status in NCAA division one football.  I think he has all the ingredients to be successful….7 years as an assistant with Nick Saban, a fabulous football heritage, great recruiting skills, a brilliant mind, the consummate work ethic and is a fiercely independent thinker.  But the real thing that makes me a convert and makes me feel that I will not be embarrassed by an off the rails coach is that this is a man of conviction and class.

I also watched Kiffin’s introductory news conference at U.S.C……..what a difference between Dooley’s obvious character and Kiffin’s lack of same.  Kiffin still doesn’t get it in terms of his self centered worldview.  As I watched I wondered what he is teaching his children and what kind of reflection it is on his father and his upbringing.  Stupid me….his father went with him to U.S.C..  Commitment and honor be damned….take the best deal you can get, shake the dust from your feet and leave the broken promises and carnage behind.

Tennessee may have taken a severe body blow, but we have dodged a major bullet.  If you have to deal with a cancer, do so early before it grows.  Thanks Lane and good riddance!  Let’s go Dooley!!!!

Breaking news……newspaper headlines read as follows:  “Boston Fans Pull For Yankees“……”IBM Buys Apple Computers For All Employees“………”Southerners Forget War Of Northern Aggression“………”Dr. Oz Eats A Cheeseburger“……..”Democrats Scream For Tax Reductions“…….”Bill O’Reilly Asks Question And Allows Respondent To Answer“……..”Hell Freezes Over“.  Are you kidding me….these things would NEVER come true.   Well, they are equally as likely to occur as is the title of this post.

I was raised in the hills of East Tennessee.  The University of Tennessee was known as “the Hallowed Hill” and its football team was, and still is despite its mediocrity in recent years, a revered institution.  When I was a kid we didn’t have the quantity of orange paraphernalia that is available today……shortage of orange dye I suppose.  I didn’t have enough money to buy any even if it was available.  My how I love that Tennessee orange!  My wife may be the only “Big Orange” (aka Tennessee) football fan who hates it.  Along with the fight song,  ‘”Rocky Top”, non Tennessee fans unilaterally hate Tennessee Orange but Tennessee fans, by and large, love it.

In addition to loving the color Tennessee orange, I was taught to pull for Tennessee and against Georgia Tech.   Said differently, Tennessee supporters were “for Tennessee and whoever played Georgia Tech”.  Those were the days when Tech was in the S.E.C. and a formidable opponent of my Vols.  Bobby Dodd, an ex Tennessee All American and native of Kingsport , Tennessee, was the Tech head coach….a traitor….what’s not to be against!  Tech, in an idiotic executive decision, moved from the S.E.C. to the Atlantic Coast Conference and Tennessee fans turned their ire toward another arch rival, Alabama.  “We don’t give a d____ ’bout the whole State of Al-a-bam”…..well you know how that goes.  Georgia then raised its level of play and became Tennessee’s arch rival on the field and in the recruiting wars.  And then came the Florida Gators!   UUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!  For almost two decades the Gators have been the nemesis of the Volunteers….tough to beat and even tougher to take…..you know what I mean.

With that as a 6 decade backdrop one can see how hard it is for me to say that I am going to pull for Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators in the S.E.C. Championship in Atlanta on Saturday.  There, I have said it.  It hurt a little but having said it I feel better.  How could anyone pull against Tim Tebow.  OK, I have done it for the 4 times he played against my beloved Vols.  But I couldn’t pull against family could I?

Amid the current plethora of swaggering, street dancin’,  struttin’ players that fill the rosters of college and pro teams alike, and the ones who find it necessary to stick up a Seven Eleven, Tim Tebow wafts as a true breath of fresh air.  No one can challenge his tremendous ability as a football player. ….but there are many with tremendous athletic ability.  What truly makes him stand out is his outspoken stand for Christ and his Christian worldview.  Last year’s three finalists for the Heisman trophy, Colt McCoy of Texas, Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and Tebow said that the thing they had in common for which they were most grateful was their faith.  Very little was made of that.  The A.P.  didn’t carry it.  ESPN didn’t play it up.  But I guess we would be asking too much to expect the Christian worldview to be heralded by the  “mainstream” press….what ever that means.

Well, Saturday night I’m going against my Tennessee tradition and pull for Tim Tebow……and the Gators too.  I neither like nor dislike the Tide in this situation….they are a good team with a smart coach.  I’m just pulling for the good guy!  Don’t “go Tiger” on us…Tiger Wood that is…..and let us down Tim.  Chomp-Chomp…..Go Timmy!

It’s the time of year again when we reflect on the things we are truly thankful for~family, friends,  living in this great country of ours.  The 9/12_Project  website pretty much sums up how we at JTIU feel about life here in these United States.  Visit the website, join the ‘movement’, we’ll get this country back on track.

In the meantime, as you meditate on the things big and small that you are thankful for, think on these things as well:
 

The 9 Principles

1. America Is Good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.

God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson

The 12 Values

* Honesty

* Reverence

* Hope

* Thrift

* Humility

* Charity

* Sincerity

* Moderation

* Hard Work

* Courage

* Personal Responsibility

* Gratitude

From all of us here at JTIU, Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Growing up watching Dad fly-fish while I used a ‘cane-pole’ got old pretty quick on those family vacations. It seems every time Dad would take the time to ‘teach’ me to “be patient”,  and to “let the rod do the work”, “remember ten o’clock-two o’clock” etc, I’d tangle it all up, quickly throw something, whine and complain, then BOOM.  There I’d be, back to standing there with a ‘cane-pole’ watching his effortless casting that looked like Tinkerbelle waving that wand. It made absolutely NO sense for this skilled sportsman to say those things to me, “he must be daffy” I’d think, or “he’s telling me the opposite because he doesn’t want me to learn” and then I’d try it my own way. What I would give to go back in time, abandon that ridiculous, youthful notion that I really knew better. He was so wise about EVERYTHING at a time when I believed he was completely clueless. He was the same way in teaching me about horses~that a tiny movement with my little finger was enough to send the right signal to my horses mouth . . .in my stupidity, I ‘knew better’ . . . that jerking the reins hard enough to get his attention was the way to go. I was about as flexible at learning as a brick. I wonder how much of Dads fishing gear I ruined and horses I soured?

At 14 or so, I was scared enough of him to at least look like I was trying it his way, and so finally it clicked. What do you know? That beautiful, soul rhythm portrayed in “A River Runs Through It” really can be had by the average Joe . . .or Jane as in this case. And it’s not about catching fish, though that’s a fun part of the sport. It’s about living in rhythm. We love Fly-fishing even now, and it seems like every time we go, I can hear Dad’s voice in my mind~”Not yet, wait, let the rod do the work. Don’t lose your load.” That was the one thing he’d say over, and over, and over, “Don’t lose your load.” That took me about 6 years to understand what it even meant. Fly line floats. When it’s floating out in front of you, and it’s time to cast it out again, logic says to jerk it with force and sling it hard backward, then with mighty force fling it forward again. That’s what I tried for all those brick-headed years. That’s why every time, the fly line landed in a heap either in front of me or right behind. (I can hear his voice in my head here) When you lift the line up to cast again, the friction of the floating line against the water loads your rod ( that’s why the tip of your rod bends. That energy has to go somewhere.). When you stop your ‘cast’ at the ten o’clock’ mark, that’s when your rod does the work. The energy stored in the rod tip is what forces the line straight back behind you. The hardest part is to STOP at ten o’clock, and let that rod do the work! Then, when you move your arm forward, STOP at two o’clock~again, hard to do~and let the rod move that line straight out in front of you. It defies logic. If you’ve ever tried it and given up, please try again. It can be done, and it’s a lot less work than you think.

What does all that have to do with politics? Not much. Just like fly-fishing has little to do with catching fish. It’s about living, in rhythm. In the last few years, we’ve seen an unprecedented amount of spending . . . of money that doesn’t exist. Obama has just brought it to everyones attention because he wants to spend more of this imaginary money. We’ve got very serious problems in the health care system, and major changes need to happen. So why is the public so against the Pelosi bill? Because we don’t know what it is, and it may bankrupt us, that’s why. Is it because 60%  or more Americans want the uninsured to suffer because they can’t pay 700 dollars for an aspirin? No. Something has to change in our ‘big picture’, the whole climate of this country needs to shift. It’s time to re-cast. So far, this administration has made the same mistakes I made when I was ten. They are trying to force this legislation (among others) down our throats, just like I tried to force that fly line way out behind, then in front of me. Yesterdays election results in New Jersey and Virginia are this administrations fly line piling up in a heap. Stop the shotgun approach, learn from what works, and let’s do this right within the boundaries of The Constitution. Health care is not a ‘right’, but we ought to be able to take care of people in need. Let’s do this with wisdom, compassion and thoughtfulness.

The Republicans are standing by silently with their ‘cane-pole’, and the Democrats are busy trying to untangle. This is OUR opportunity. The American spirit MUST rise and do this thing ourselves. Politicians ain’t gettin nowhere. If we’re going to keep this Republic, and I think we should, we need to teach these guys how to fly-fish. I believe we are finally getting Washington’s attention~they work for US.

The “grass roots” movement we’ve seen in the last couple of months isn’t Republican OR Democrat. It’s American. Let’s not get frustrated or give up. Our best days are ahead of us. . . if we don’t lose our load.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .