A Grateful Nation Pauses.....and Remembers Her Protectors

In the beginning of a change,

 the patriot is a scarce man,

 and brave, and hated and scorned.  

When his cause succeeds, 

the timid join him,

 for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.  

~Mark Twain, Notebook, 1935

These words do indeed ring true.  It wasn't all that long ago that war protesters were a ubitiquous presence on the nightly news, vilifying our soldiers with ugly epithets and vindictive speech.  Many of those who shouted the loudest would later collectively (and rightly) thank our soldiers for bringing down 'the bad guy' - as if one man controlled the terror button for all the world.


At various times we experience a collective enthusiasm for using our military might to attack or defend the "right" friend or enemy, often depending more heavily on political will and pragmatic considerations than on simple moral conviction.  It is ironic, really, that we ordinary citizens, who are spared the hideous horrors of war up-front, are the ones consulted in the court of public opinion regarding what the nation's stance should be, and our opinions - hawk and dove alike - become the face of our national will.   Recipients ourselves of the soldier-borne freedom to recline peacefully in our Lazy-Boys, comfortably ensconced in our climate-controlled living rooms, we are elevated to arbiters of actions whose origins or details have never encountered the challenge of our limited understanding.


We are not wrong to hold opinions on these matters; in fact it is our right, purchased at no small cost.   Our military men and women stand ready to defend the cause of such freedoms, based not on their own personal feelings, but on something larger.   Their campaigns are not waged in the marketplace of ideas where losses are tallied by arguments won, but in the dusty battlefields of far-off lands where blood is spilled aplenty, and from whence a steady stream of hushed heroes silently return from across the sea to be remembered, honored and buried on the soil they swore to defend.  


The honor we hold for those who lost their lives should be copiously bestowed on the heroes they leave behind.  Every veteran has given more than we can ever know to protect our freedoms, despite the political winds that blow without ceasing.  They deserve our praise each and every day.  


We salute our Veterans in every branch of the military.  Your sacrifices past, present and future are remembered and honored.  A grateful nation remembers her protectors.

"The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten."

   - Calvin Coolidge

Seconds - I Am Second

One woman's unique story that resonates with many...

Seconds - I Am Second

Just As I Am

 

                                    

I love this rendition of the classic 'come to Jesus' hymn, popularized by the Billy Graham crusades.  It was written by Charlotte Elliott of Brighton, England in 1836.  As with so many hymns, this one was borne of  the personal experience of the writer:  A broken woman, embittered by her circumstances, experiences the joy of acceptance and love flowing from the One who bids us   "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."  

The story goes that Charlotte was an invalid whose disability was brought on by a serious illness in her younger years.  She was beset by an ailing body that did not function as it should, and often caused her pain, resulting in a somewhat irritable nature.  She is said to have muttered,  "If God loved me, he would not have treated me this way."  

Charlotte grew up in a family of believers, and her father often entertained ministers and others doing gospel work.    It was at one of these visits that a Swiss minister, Dr. Cesar Malan, was having dinner with the family when he witnessed an ugly outburst from Charlotte, in which she assailed faith and family after losing her temper.  Once the dust had cleared, Dr. Malan began a quiet and serious conversation with Charlotte.  He gently asked her if she was tired of herself, because she herself was all that she was holding onto in this world, and it was making her bitter; full of anger and resentment.  When she asked him what the cure was, he answered that it was "the faith you are trying to despise".   The minister talked with her for some time, and her countenance softened as they spoke.  She told him that she wanted to know God, but did not know how she could come to Him in such a miserable state.  He is said to have answered her, "Why not just come as you are?".  He told her that she could give herself to God with all of her "fightings and fears, hates and loves, pride and shame".   He was able to explain to her that great truth of  the gospel:  it is not what WE have done, can do or will do, but what HE has done for us by virtue of His shed blood on the cross, that makes us acceptable in His eyes.   Charlotte did indeed come just as she was, and on that day she was transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His light and life.   Her entire world shifted from one of self-centered alienation from the things of God, to a holy adoption into His very family, a brand new creation for whom the promises of God are both sure and manifold.

Charlotte later found a special personal meaning in a verse she read in John's gospel:  "The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out."  Later when  she wrote "Just As I Am", her first among many hymns, that scripture reference was noted in the anonymously-penned leaflet that comprised its first publication.  It is said that years later, when Charlotte was ill and bedridden, her physician brought a copy of this hymn with him when he came to visit.  He had previously received it from a woman who found it greatly comforting, and who had taken to copying and distributing the words to anyone whom she felt might benefit from its simple message.  Charlotte's doctor put it into his feeble patient's hands, telling her that he hoped that she would find it as comforting as he did.  There is no doubt of the mutual joy they shared in discussing not only the content of that hymn, but the author!