Fulfilling Our Motto

A couple of days back I heard an intriguing question asked that really got me thinking. If you could wave a magic wand and change something in D.C. what would you change? It didn't take long for me to come up with an answer but once I got the answer I started thinking about how it could be brought about. If I could change something I would get rid of the corruption, I would have a return to morality.

Many of us will remember a rather famous quote from Ben Franklin given outside Independence Hall when the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ended. A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin,” Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" His response was, "A republic, if you can keep it." It is a great quote, but I recently ran across the rest of the conversation. Mrs Powell asked Franklin what he meant by that. His response was "This Republic, which we have given you with this Constitution, will end in despotism, as other forms of government have done before it, when the people become so corrupt that they are incapable of any other form of government."

Corruption and immorality are absolutely seething in Washington D.C. and in far too many places across the country. There are way too many examples to really begin to cover them all. Corruption and immorality are bipartisan. Make no mistake if we are going to return to more freedom than we are going to have to root it out of the political machine on both sides. The solution to this is going to have to be bipartisan as well. I have to believe that most people regardless of their political persuasion and preferred ideology will agree that corruption must be done away. I know that there have been a lot of politicians and their ilk who believe that the ends justify the means. That is nonsensical. Corrupt means will always corrupt the ends. We cannot have an honest debate about any of the issues until the underlying corruption that clouds every act, and debate is taken out.

Right now it seems as if we are in a very real fight to retain freedoms in America. There are few things more beautiful and resounding than a freedom loving soul who is willing to stand and fight for freedom, not just for themselves but for the benefit of others including those who would stand against them, and especially including future generations. Our soldiers are perhaps our best example of this. But, its time we are willing to follow suit. We need to engage in this battle to return to morality and to rid out corruption because our very freedoms and our Republic depend on it. In order to accomplish the great task of rooting out corruption and bringing back morality, we must first do it ourselves individually. We must turn to God in full trust and commitment.

We are imperfect, and bound by human frailties. But, the cause of freedom goes beyond any of that. The cause of freedom existed before the world was and it still exists in every heart. Our task is to embrace it, to nurture it and use it to better ourselves and to serve one another. In the end there is nothing that can conquer freedom, for it was divinely bestowed and freedom and its guardians will be divinely upheld. Because of that reality before we can fully engage in the battle to rid out corruption and bring back morality we must turn back to God.

As in any time, and perhaps more than any other age we absolutely must turn to God. He is freedom's greatest ally for He is the giver. We need His peace, we need His strength, and we need His freedom. He and His ways have been rejected time and time again. But, He is persistent in His loving ways; He will not give up on us. Now in the dispensation of the fullness of times as we ready for all of Scripture and prophetic hope, faith and words to be fulfilled we must fulfill our motto, "In God We Trust."

We have no illusion of ease. But, we know the final outcome. The time for apathy, indifference and fence sitting is over. Choose your side

I have no idea what the battles will be like. I hope with all my heart that it can remain a battle of words and ideas. We must do our utmost to prosper peace by being at peace ourselves, than with our families, than with other loved ones, radiating outward to larger and larger spheres of influence as best as we are able.

The path to freedom and the path to peace are the same, whether personal or on larger scales. The path is only with our God. He has given us the proper measures to follow. We must commit to following and keeping His commandments. There may be heartache. There may be pain, but overshadowing all of that is the freedom, peace and joy promised to the faithful. If we stand with Him, He will stand with us.

This all is not just a question of our country. It goes beyond that. It is a longer, eternal view. Our course for eternity is set by the paths we choose in mortality. If we truly believe in God, we need to take a stand for Him. If we truly believe in freedom, we need to take a stand. If we truly love our families and friends and others we need to take a stand.

It is an hour of not just decision, but actions. May God continue to bless this bastion of freedom and its citizens. May His grace continue to be shed. We ask this knowing He will keep His promise, for He is ever faithful, ever kind and ever graceful. The final measure is whether or not we do our part.