Several years ago two well-known speakers visited Liberty University: They were Senator Jesse Helms, (R) N.C., and Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, USMC (Ret.). Senator Helms spoke for the 1988 LU Baccalaureate Service, and Lt. Colonel North gave the commencement address. I’d like to paraphrase some of their remarks which seem particularly appropriate for Independence Day, and make a few additional comments.
Senator Helms spoke of courage and freedom. He said Moses, Jefferson, and Patrick Henry were all men of courage. Of course everyone did not agree with them. Patrick Henry, for example, was jeered when he spoke the now famous words: “...give me liberty or give me death....” It is easier to give up one’s freedoms, to surrender in timidity, than it is to stand up for right... but tyranny is the result. America’s strength is based on her faith in God and in the courage of her people. The greatest cowardice of all is to believe that government can solve all our problems. According to Jefferson, the least government is the best government. Personal initiative and innovation are to be valued greatly.
Lt. Colonel North remarked: What do men do with their God-given talents? This is the two-hundredth anniversary of the American constitution. The American form of government has survived the two hundred years of it’s existence while others have vanished because we’ve focused on the God-given rights of individuals. With special blessings, however, come special challenge: responsibility. We must live up to our highest potential, and that involves some risk-taking and not becoming quitters. We must seize our opportunities daily...refusing to be self-indulgent or materialistic, but rather becoming the servants of others. “I believe with all the strength of my soul that faith and the solidarity of the American family remain the foundation of freedom in this country. When our families are strong and secure, America’s future is strong and secure.” It is our responsibility to be informed, to speak out, and to vote.
As I see it, most of us have simply inherited out freedoms. Obviously we were not involved when the country was winning the independence it had declared in 1776, and most of us have never been called upon to help defend our liberties on foreign or domestic soil as perhaps our parents and grandparents have done. The question arises WHAT AM I doing to ensure that our liberties will be preserved and passed to the next generation? Will the baton of our freedoms be passed intact, in disrepair, or dropped altogether as a result of our mishandling?
Do I have the courage and faith in God to stand up for right? Or, do I through silence, slowly surrender my rights- timidly allowing others to impose values on me that I disagree with?
Of course, we can all pray for our nation, but we also need to speak out on the issues important to us: We can talk to our friends, write letters to the editor of our newspapers and to our elected government officials. We can help elect those candidates and officials who most closely espouse our beliefs by volunteering time and/or contributing resources, etc. We need to be registered and then actually vote. Most importantly, we need to be living Godly lives ourselves, setting the example before our children so that they learn our love of God and country, and responsible citizenship from us.
We cannot all do everything, but we can all do ... SOMETHING.
On June 24, 1826 ten days before his death on the fiftieth birthday of the Unites States (July 4), Thomas Jefferson wrote the following concerning Independence Day:
"All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man.... For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."
oOo
-Al Stephens
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