Happy Birthday USA!
“God
governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow
cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is
it probable that an empire can rise without His
aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings
that except the Lord build the house, they labor
in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I
also believe that, without His concurring aid,
we shall succeed in this political building no
better than the builders of Babel” Benjamin Franklin –
Constitutional Convention of 1787,
original manuscript of this speech
"Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character
of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it
is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption.
If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand
these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature....
If the next centennial does not find us a great nation ... it will be
because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the
morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces."
James Garfield, the twentieth president of the United States, 1877
"We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which
preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us,
and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that
all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of
our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too
self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace,
too proud to pray to the God that made us."
Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation
Celebrate Freedom. Celebrate Family. Celebrate the memory of those who gave their last full measure of life for those values that we cherish. Celebrate the God of all creation and give thanks that His grace has place us in the greatest nation on earth. May we NEVER lose sight of His blessings on our country and that God is indeed the source of everything that we hold dear. Have a blessed Holiday.