[NFBF-Melbourne] FW: [nfbfl-faith] Eternal vigilance

[Dr. Joyce Taylor]

From: nfbfl-faith at groups.io <nfbfl-faith at groups.io> On Behalf Of Bill Outman
via groups.io
Sent: Saturday, December 7, 2024 2:46 PM
To: nfbfl-faith at groups.io
Subject: [nfbfl-faith] Eternal vigilance

 

Eternal Vigilance 

On this Pearl Harbor Day I was reminded of the quote that the price of
liberty is eternal vigilance.  On that day in 1941, it was the second Sunday
of Advent.  The nation was insular, complacent, and in some quarters willing
to countenance undemocratic tendencies.  That was until the nation was
snapped to attention.  

Today we need to continue to be vigilant, not only about threats from
without, but also forces within that threaten things we take for granted in
similar fashion.  Consider first the Pledge of Allegiance, where we say what
the flag stands for, under God if we so believe.  If we are not careful, it
may still exist, but not stand for liberty and justice for all, or for a
democratic republic.  The structural forms might be there, but it might deny
the substance thereof.  

Or consider the Star-Spangled Banner, written first as a poem during the
famous battle in Baltimore when there was legitimate risk it might be
replaced by the British standard.  The familiar first verse ends in a
question about whether that banner would still wave over the land of the
free  and the home of the brave.  We always have in mind the first
possibility that was real at the time of the War of 1812, but have we ever
thought about the other possibility in that question.  The flag might still
wave, but as we mused earlier, it might stand for something else than what
we had in mind in the pledge.  Through erosion internally, the nation might
not be free, and many might be profiles in cowardice rather than courage for
either having allowed this to happen or actively having caused it.  

Perhaps we sing God Bless the U. S. A., but freedom can be given away, even
inadvertently, as much as it might be taken away.  Or perhaps we like to
sing God Bless America, and yes, God wants to bless America and we want
God's blessing for the land.  Those blessings are not, nor should they be,
for America alone.  Canadians ask in their anthem for God to keep their land
glorious and free, and the British in theirs for God to save the king or
queen.  We know that melody better as My Country 'Tis Of Thee.  

It is more, though, than merely preserving the freedom we have, but also
extending it fully to those who have not historically or do not currently
fully experience it.  That's what forming a more perfect union is about.  We
the people are supposed to be the deep state.  

That is one side of the coin, though.  We must also be vigilant about our
private dealings as well, treating others with equity as we would like to be
treated as well.  Not doing so sometimes gets reflected in the erosion of
our public institutions.  It is not the case that someone either becomes a
genius or dunce by going from the private to the public sector, or vice
versa, as we have the same nature in either place.  

Bill Outman 

 

 

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[drjoycetaylor56 at gmail.com]

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