3 hours ago
Showing posts with label America and Patriotism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label America and Patriotism. Show all posts
A Quote
I think this quote section is going to be where I dump my World War 1 thoughts on you for the next few Wednesday Five posts. I’m reading so many interesting books about WW1 right now.
What has struck me most in learning about WW1 is how much most of the leaders of the countries involved did not want war. There were a couple people in Austria-Hungary who wanted retribution on Serbia, but all the allies involved seemed to try their hardest not to let a war start. It was like a very tragic “comedy of errors“, riddled with miscommunication and mistrust.
This part of the book A World Undone by G. J. Meyer, really got to me. A double ultimatum was issued by Germany to Russia and France, and the German ambassador went to meet with Sazonov, Russia’s Foreign Minister. The last ditch effort at avoiding a war fell apart.
“In his hands he had two messages, both of them declarations of war. One was for use if Russia gave no answer to the ultimatum, the other a reply to a negative answer. In his distress and confusion he pressed both on Sazanov and burst into tears.Or so Sazanov wrote years later in his memoirs. Pourtales’s recollection was that Sazonov wept first. Whatever the sequence, apparently both men cried. They embraced, then pulled apart and began to exchange accusations.‘This was a criminal act of yours,’ said Sazonov. ‘The curses of the nations will be upon you.’‘We were defending our honor.’‘Your honor was not involved.’Finally, they parted forever, Sazonov helping the distraught Pourtales to the door.”
When I was reading this, it struck me how the Fall and sin’s curse didn’t just affect mankind, and our relationship to God, and creation, and interpersonal relationships - it affects relationships between nations too. Peace is so tenuous, and war has been a part of the story of humanity ever since Adam fell.
As I write this, I’m also thinking about someday, when every knee shall bow before Christ, and He will reign for a thousand years and then create a new Heaven and Earth where sin and death are no more. Then we will have peace forever, and people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, even people who fought and killed each other in wars like WW1, will wipe their tears and sing praise to the Lord together. That will be a glorious thing to see.
A Book
Aside from my collection of WW1 nonfiction, I’m reading a book on prayer by John MacArthur called Alone With God (the Kindle version is only $2!). Prayer is always something that I wish I was better at, and I’m getting a lot of good thoughts out of this one. What specifically stuck out to me was how MacArthur says the focus of prayer needs to be God, and too often we act like we’re talking to God when really we’re just focusing on ourselves. That is so true.
A Bit Of Nature
Before it snowed two weeks ago...yes, it snowed! Not a little bit either, it snowed a few inches. But before it snowed I was worried it would kill all the leaves and I wouldn’t be able to get any good fall pictures of the kids. So I took them outside by our long, pretty mountain grass, and we had a little impromptu fall photo shoot. The pictures turned out really cute (I'll put more on Instagram).
I love long grass like this. You know, we learned that those little bunches at the end of a piece of grass are actually technically a flower.
I've mentioned these about a million times, but I wanted to recommend (again) the Rush Revere: Time Travel Adventures With Exceptional Americans book series. We like them on audio. My kids were SO EXCITED when I told them I got the next book, Rush Revere And The Presidency, at the library. Wyatt asked if he could listen to it today, and he and Gwen have their chairs pulled up to the CD player so they can listen to the story. They think Liberty (the time-traveling horse) is hilarious, and I love the strong American values and history in the stories. This one that we're listening to is also great if you are trying to teach your kids about the election. I'm planning on adding it to my election resources blog post.
A Moment Of Happiness
It's hard for me to isolate just one moment right now, because I've been feeling generally happy and content for the last several weeks. That's odd for 2020, isn't it? I just have this peace that no matter what happens, the Lord is sovereign and it's all going to be okay. I love my country and am so proud to be an American, and it kills me to see the turmoil. I also believe strongly in caring about the wellbeing of the nation, continuing to fight for our freedoms, and being an active citizen as a Christian. But this world was never meant to be my home.
Maybe it took a year like 2020 to make that extra clear.
We're just passing through, and if you believe in Christ's sacrifice to save you from your sin - well, the place we're going is promised to be so much better. I've always wanted to live my life with eternity in mind, there was always a part of me that knew how important that was - that's part of why I named my blog Through Clouded Glass all those years ago (based on 1 Corinthians 13: ). When you keep your eyes on Jesus and live with eternity in mind, the world can't touch you the same way. That's where I'm trying to keep focus, and nothing else in the world is as calming as resting in Him.
I wish that for all of you this Wednesday.
Gracious, I've lost my blogging rhythm a bit. When did I last write about something personal on here? It's been a while, so I'm going to use The Wednesday Five format to get back into it this week. You can read other Wednesday Five posts here, and feel free to join in if you want!
A Quote
"We're a violent people, Cal. Does it seem strange to you that I include myself? Maybe it's true that we are all descended from the restless, the nervous, the criminals, the arguers and brawlers, but also the brave and independent and generous. If our ancestors had not been that, they would have stayed in their home plots in that other world, and starved over the squeezed-out soil...that's why I include myself. We all have that heritage, no matter what land our father's left. All colors and blends of Americans have somewhat the same tendencies. It's a breed, selected out by accident. And so we're over-brave and over-fearful - we're kind, and cruel as children. We're over-friendly and at the same time frightened of strangers. We boast and are impressed. We're over-sentimental and realistic. We are mundane and materialistic - and do you know what other nation acts for ideals? We eat too much. We have no taste, no sense of proportion. We throw our energy about like waste. In the old lands they say of us that we go from barbarism to decadence without an intervening culture. Can it be that our critics have not the key or language of our culture? ...That's what we are, Cal, all of us. You are not very different."
-East Of Eden, pg 568 (emphasis mine)
For some reason this little monologue in East Of Eden stood out to me when I read it a couple months ago, and I've been mulling it over a bit. I don't know if I think Steinbeck got Americans exactly right, but in some senses I think he captured some of the spirit of America here.
The part that stands out to me right this minute is where he asks whether critics of our country fail to understand Americans because they don't have the key and language of our culture, and I think he got that right. Ultimately what has tied us all together as a country, as Americans, for the last 244 years is our ideals - our ideals of freedom, and our efforts to reach toward those ideals even when we may have failed to live up to them. We are a people tied together by a love of freedom, and a tenacious will to struggle and fight to achieve it, and to defend it whenever it is threatened. I hope we always keep that.
I saw a random social media comment from a person in a country which shall remain nameless, who criticized Americans for "always thinking someone wants to take your freedom away". It irked me to no end, just because of the sheer ignorance. That's an example right there of someone who doesn't understand what America really is, who maybe never will, because she doesn't have "the key or language of our culture".
Okay, sorry for the lengthy aside there - it just happened! On to the next category...
A Book
I've been reading books on alot of political topics lately, but I don't really want to talk about those, so I'm going to mention that I started Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb. It's basically a memoir of a therapist who ends up needing therapy after a bad breakup. I find the little tidbits about psychology interesting, and the author really knows how to tell an interesting story, so I kind of got sucked in.
A Bit Of Nature
This is from our trip to a little mountain stream a couple weeks ago - Clyde pointed out that the light playing on the water looked like a snakeskin - it kind of does, doesn't it?
A Recommendation
I recommend you get yourself over to Target, because they put out the school supplies in the dollar spot this week! I got a bunch of good stuff that I might show over on Instagram. I always look forward to raiding the dollar spot for homeschool stuff - all their little knick-knacks spark alot of homeschool ideas for me.
A Moment Of Happiness
Last week was our 12th wedding anniversary, and Derek and I were able to get away to a resort, thanks to my mom! We had a nice time, and when we came back home the next day, Georgie ran up to me and said in her little baby voice "Mama, you're here! I wuv you, Mama! I wuv you so much!"
Oh my goodness, that girl. I wuv her too.
(Me and my littlest girls.)
Today my kids woke up as I was finishing my quiet time, and I was greeted by a chorus of little voices calling my name (which is "Mommy", of course). They grinned at me, and laughed with each other, and ran to make their beds and get dressed before breakfast.
Today is just like any other day to them.
For the first time, I realized this summer that while 9/11 will always be a vivid memory in my mind, from here on out all brand-new, 18-year-old adults are people who were not even born then. There is a whole generation of kids who will only read about 9/11 in the history books, the way I read about Pearl Harbor. My kids are in that group.
That is so bizarre to me. Because my memory is crystal clear of my mom rushing into my room one morning to tell me to get upstairs quickly to watch the news. A plane had crashed into a building. I had no idea what she was talking about, I thought it must be a history program she wanted us to watch for school. So I had another half hour of living in my own pre-9/11 world while I got ready for the day.
I remember being glued to the TV for the rest of the morning. I remember seeing black specks falling from the building and realizing with horror that those were people. I remember sitting in silence, watching the first tower fall. Then the second. I remember seeing the clouds of debris taking over the streets, swallowing people on the streets. First responders covered in gray dust. I remember the black scar on the Pentagon building, the news that another plane had crashed in a field. I remember when everyone realized that this wasn't just an accident.
That afternoon I needed a break, and I went outside for a walk. Yellow aspen leaves rustling in the breeze. A blue, blue sky, and autumn in the air. I thought, and I prayed, and maybe I grew up a little right then.
I remember how the country pulled together afterward. I remember how for a little while we weren't Democrats or Republicans, we were only Americans. Maybe that was the one good thing to come out of the horrible tragedy of that day, that we all had the chance to know what being united feels like.
I don't know if schools even teach kids about that day as history yet, but they should. I know I plan to educate my children about 9/11 and tell them my story. But maybe not yet. They are small still, and prone to nightmares. Maybe I just want them to be little a while longer before they fully know what kind of place the world can be.
But some year soon I'll pull open the news footage on my computer or we'll watch a documentary, and I'll make sure they know. About the towers that fell, planes that were used as weapons, heroes who ran toward the danger, and countrymen who were lost. I want them to remember what happened that day, even if it feels like distant history to them. I'll tell them my memory of 9/11, just as I hope others are doing with their children who are old enough.
I would hope this day is commemorated, some of the footage shown, those who died honored in memory forever. So that even those who don't remember would never forget.
Today is Memorial Day, and if you are like our family, you are probably going to a barbecue or using the extra day off to full advantage in some other way. And I truly hope you have a wonderful, fun-filled day, but at the same time, I hope you take a minute to think about Memorial Day a little more deeply too. Because the thing is...Memorial Day is not about barbecues.
Memorial Day is a day to remember and show gratitude to those who have died in defense of our country. It's a day to remember the fallen, those who have died. I think we overlook this a lot, because Memorial Day has largely become a party holiday, the kick-off to summer, etc. But we have this day off, because we live in this country that is free. And we live in freedom in this country because men have died to protect it. Most of us will never be called upon to sacrifice in that way, and the reason we won't is because others have already sacrificed for us. These men and women gave everything they had for people they would never meet, out of love, and duty, and honor, for God and country and freedom. And the only reason we can go to parties and pools today in freedom is because of them.
We took a trip to our military cemetery with the kids the other week, to visit the graves of my grandfather and great-great-grandfather. And we looked around at all those graves, many of men who died while fighting for our country, and I explained to my kids that many soldiers have died to make us free. I'm so glad we did it, because while we celebrate in some ways today, this is a solemn day. I don't want my kids to grow up thinking it's just about barbecues.
Full thoughts on Tommy Nelson today...and I hope you take a little time today to thank God for our freedom in America, and for those who have died to keep it for us.
The sky was dark, the night air was warm. Only in the middle of the summer could you get away with no jacket at night in the mountains. I sat with my family in the back of my dad's pickup truck and watched showers of light ranging down while I yanked a bite of Twizzlers with my teeth. My siblings and I were all dressed in varying shades of red, white, and blue. And even though I had never been to one of those shows where the fireworks were coordinated to patriotic music, I silently sang the national anthem in my head, proud and thankful that I was lucky enough to be an American.
Last weekend, I attempted to make some patriotic fudge. I made it once a couple years ago, and it was pretty and yummy, so I wanted to attempt it again so I could share the recipe.
Thank you Lord, for allowing us to live in a country that is free! Please bring our country back to Yourself, and I pray for Your continued blessing on our country. Help us to remember the Christian principles that the United States of America was founded on, and to never take the liberty You have entrusted to us, or the blood that has been spilled to defend it, for granted. Help us to value that freedom, and give us the grace to always defend it and preserve it! In Jesus's name, Amen.
"The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom and defended it as they ought."
-Samuel Adams
Article in the Boston Gazette
October 14, 1771
"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and anger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men."
-Samuel Adams
Article in the Boston Gazette
October 14, 1771
"Is life so dear, or so peaceful 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!"
-Patrick Henry
Speech at Virginia Convention
March 23, 1775
"If the true spark of religious and civil liberty be kindled, it will burn. Human agency cannot extinguish it. Like the earth's central fire, it may be smothered for a time; the ocean may overwhelm it; mountains may press it down; but its inherent and unconquerable force will heave both the ocean and the land, and at some point or other, in some place or other, the volcano will break out and flame up to heaven."
Daniel Webster
Address at bunker Hill Monument Cornerstone
June 17, 1825
"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it."
-Daniel Webster
I hope you all have a wonderful celebration of the founding of this great country!
I'm getting into the Fourth of July spirit early! Hence, the fun patriotic background. Just thought I'd explain since it isn't the fourth quite yet. But then you don't need a holiday to be patriotic, do you?
Aaron Tippin - Where The Stars & Stripes & The Eagle Fly - The most amazing bloopers are here
Video from YouTube.com.
Aaron Tippin - Where The Stars & Stripes & The Eagle Fly - The most amazing bloopers are here
Video from YouTube.com.
Memorial Day is not about the three-day weekend.
It's not about the picnics.
It's not about the camping.
It's not about the parades.
Today is a day to remember the sacrifices of those who have fought and died to protect our precious freedem that we enjoy in this country. Let's remember that today and also remember to thank our God for the freedom He grants us, and pray that He will continue to allow it to be preserved.
Freedom Is Not Free
By Kelly Strong
I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
and then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.
I heard the sound of TAPS one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That TAPS had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.
More Day poems and songs at Memorial Day Tribute.
It's not about the picnics.
It's not about the camping.
It's not about the parades.
Today is a day to remember the sacrifices of those who have fought and died to protect our precious freedem that we enjoy in this country. Let's remember that today and also remember to thank our God for the freedom He grants us, and pray that He will continue to allow it to be preserved.
Freedom Is Not Free
By Kelly Strong
I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
and then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.
I heard the sound of TAPS one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That TAPS had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.
More Day poems and songs at Memorial Day Tribute.
The Gettysburg address is perhaps one of the greatest speeches in our nation’s history. Perhaps this is because of the critical point that our nation had reached at the time that it was given. At that time we were split in our beliefs on a very divisive issue, fighting just to let our nation survive. Perhaps it was because of the content of the speech, its focus on the very principles which made our nation great. Perhaps it was because of the extremely patriotic nature in which it was given, full of American pride and devotion. Or perhaps it is the dedication to freedom and liberty and justice that is found in every word of this speech, the dedication that it inspires in all those privileged souls who are truly American. Whatever the reason, this piece is very much a part of this country’s story, and it deserves some special focus as we approach Independence Day. The following is my own thoughts on the Gettysburg address, sentence by sentence.
“Eighty- seven years ago, our ancestors founded this country on the principle of liberty and the declaration that all men were created to be equal, and have the same basic rights. This civil war has tested whether these ideas, and a nation which was based on these ideas, can survive for long. While meeting in the place where a significant battle in this war occurred, part of this battlefield is offered as a burial place for those who gave everything for their country and what our country was founded on. This is a very good thing to do, but merely words do not make this place special. The men who fought, and what happened in that great battle are what make Gettysburg special. Words cannot add importance to this place, because soon these words will no longer be remembered, but the events that transpired here, and the significance behind them, will never be forgotten. Our task as those who still live is to work for the cause that these men died to protect, to finish what they started. The best way to honor their sacrifice is to take in our hearts the principles and beliefs which were supremely important to these men, and dedicate ourselves to see the fulfillment of all they hoped to accomplish when they fought here; that all men may be granted their God-given rights in these United States of America, and that this unique country and its supporting idea of freedom for all men will not disappear so long as we are willing to defend them.”
The Gettysburg address mainly emphasizes the idea of freedom for all men which the USA was founded on, and though the Civil War has tested that principle, there were still men who were willing to fight and die to protect this foundation. Though the dedication of the battlefield was meant to honor them, the best way to honor these men is to never forget what they died for, and to give everything we have to further the cause of freedom.
When I read the Gettysburg address, I think of what it takes for this country to survive. This country will always be challenged, and our founding beliefs and principles will always be resented by some. We must remember the great men who fought and died for our country in the past, “that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion”. We must remember what they died for, and never forget the sacrifice that those men made so we could live in freedom. We must learn from their example, and always be willing to protect our country, and the principles of liberty which make this country great. The willingness of the American people to defend and fight for our freedom, along with the grace of God, is what has preserved this country, what will continue to preserve this country, and we must never take that for granted.
“Eighty- seven years ago, our ancestors founded this country on the principle of liberty and the declaration that all men were created to be equal, and have the same basic rights. This civil war has tested whether these ideas, and a nation which was based on these ideas, can survive for long. While meeting in the place where a significant battle in this war occurred, part of this battlefield is offered as a burial place for those who gave everything for their country and what our country was founded on. This is a very good thing to do, but merely words do not make this place special. The men who fought, and what happened in that great battle are what make Gettysburg special. Words cannot add importance to this place, because soon these words will no longer be remembered, but the events that transpired here, and the significance behind them, will never be forgotten. Our task as those who still live is to work for the cause that these men died to protect, to finish what they started. The best way to honor their sacrifice is to take in our hearts the principles and beliefs which were supremely important to these men, and dedicate ourselves to see the fulfillment of all they hoped to accomplish when they fought here; that all men may be granted their God-given rights in these United States of America, and that this unique country and its supporting idea of freedom for all men will not disappear so long as we are willing to defend them.”
The Gettysburg address mainly emphasizes the idea of freedom for all men which the USA was founded on, and though the Civil War has tested that principle, there were still men who were willing to fight and die to protect this foundation. Though the dedication of the battlefield was meant to honor them, the best way to honor these men is to never forget what they died for, and to give everything we have to further the cause of freedom.
When I read the Gettysburg address, I think of what it takes for this country to survive. This country will always be challenged, and our founding beliefs and principles will always be resented by some. We must remember the great men who fought and died for our country in the past, “that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion”. We must remember what they died for, and never forget the sacrifice that those men made so we could live in freedom. We must learn from their example, and always be willing to protect our country, and the principles of liberty which make this country great. The willingness of the American people to defend and fight for our freedom, along with the grace of God, is what has preserved this country, what will continue to preserve this country, and we must never take that for granted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
