A 4th July Reflection

Dear G:

Here are some thoughts from a guy who was taught in grade school U.S. history and respect for the American flag.

I am convinced the quick fire of youth light not their minds today, or in any generation. Seldom does one hear from the younger mindset the discourse on the “seven ages” of life came after the ubiquitous Shakespearean quote, “All the world’s a stage…” (As You like It, 2.7). These younger spirits would just as soon leave the introspection on the stages of life to folks like us.

Two hundred thirty-five years ago, on the last day of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 (eleven years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence), Benjamin Franklin offers a profundity of thought. If the Republic of the United States were to abide as one, the people must accept and defend the governance of the Constitution.

Unequivocally, the Franklin pundit is put to rest. To this day, this country is bruised but not broken, smoldering in upheavals but not quenched. The strong oak of this Republic has not torn asunder since the shot that heard around the world in 1775. To this day, the Constitution of these United States holds. To this day, our Republic stands indivisible.

Notwithstanding learned professors could render the War of Independence and much more in winsome edification to the readers. Nevertheless, from a Christian perspective, apart from the agency of God (cf. Psalm 127:1-2), the ‘A Train’ to Zarathustra pursuits, as it were, are useless of human effort. It is in Christ “in whom are hidden all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). When Christ comes again, He will deliver the kingdom of this world to God the Father (1 Corinthians 15:24).

It is the special grace He bestowed on His people. In life and in death, (Romans 14:7-9) they belong to Christ the Savior (1 Corinthians 3:23; Titus 2:14).

In the meantime, we thank Him for the showers of general grace, with another celebration of 4th July in this Republic!

L'

4 July 1776, The Declaration of Independence

By the rude bridge that arched the flood, 
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, 
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world. 

— Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
The Concord Hymn, First Stanza Engraved
The Battle Monument, July 4, 1837.

"To Paint the Lily" Not

Lunar New Year 2020

Chinese New Year - 28 January 2017

Independence Day 2015

Our 239th year as a nation.

Presidents Day 2014

A painting on a friend's family room wall.
Something Democrats might not like to see. Too Bad.

Chinese New Year, 31 January 2014

Year of the Horse

For All the Saints

On this Labor Day, a William Walsham How hymn, "For All the Saints", comes to mind. Ralph Vaughan William re-arranged the hymn to his Sine Nomine setting. This is one of the most beloved hymns in Christendom.

The first stanza of the hymn reads as follows:

For all the saints, who from their labours rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.

Independence Day, 2012

The MP3 below expired on 07-12-2012.
Click here to play the current selection.

Richard Clayderman, piano (2000)
- The Star Spangled Banner (Key)

Also, here is text to the long forgotten national hymn written on 4 July 1876. It was written for the celebration of the 100th birthday of these United States.
It is still being sung, however, in conservative Christian churches today.

God of Our Fathers
Words: Daniel C. Roberts
Music: George W. Warren
Date: 4 July 1876

God of our fathers, Whose almighty hand
Leads forth in beauty all the starry band
Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies
Our grateful songs before Thy throne arise.

Thy love divine hath led us in the past,
In this free land by Thee our lot is cast,
Be Thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide and Stay,
Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.

From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence,
Be Thy strong arm our ever sure defense;
Thy true religion in our hearts increase,
Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.

Refresh Thy people on their toilsome way,
Lead us from night to never ending day;
Fill all our lives with love and grace divine,
And glory, laud, and praise be ever Thine.

America, Why I Love Her

On celebrating the 235th Independence Day on 4 July 2011...
The MP3 below expired on 07-21-2011.
Click here to play the current selection.

John Wayne (1973)
- America, Why I Love Her

You ask me why I love her? Well, give me time, and I'll explain.
Have you seen a Kansas sunset or an Arizona rain?
Have you drifted on a bayou down Louisiana way?
Have you watched the cold fog drifting over San Francisco Bay?
Have you heard a Bobwhite calling in the Carolina pines?
Or heard the bellow of a diesel in the Appalachia mines?
Does the call of Niagara thrill you when you hear her waters roar?
Do you look with awe and wonder at a Massachusetts shore
Where men who braved a hard new world, first stepped on Plymouth Rock?
And do you think of them when you stroll along a New York City dock?
Have you seen a snowflake drifting in the Rockies way up high?
Have you seen the sun come blazing down from a bright Nevada sky?
Do you hail to the Columbia as she rushes to the sea?
Or bow your head at Gettysburg in our struggle to be free?
Have you seen the mighty Tetons?
Have you watched an eagle soar?
Have you seen the Mississippi roll along Missouri's shore?
Have you felt a chill at Michigan when on a winters day
Her waters rage along the shore in a thunderous display?
Does the word "Aloha" make you warm?
Do you stare in disbelief when you see the surf come roaring in at Waimea reef?
From Alaska's gold to the Everglades
From the Rio Grande to Maine
My heart cries out.
My pulse runs fast at the might of her domain.
You ask me why I love her?
I've a million reasons why.
My beautiful America beneath God's wide, wide sky.

Front Door to D.L. Menard

More touring photos taken at the Big Easy and Cajun Country.

29 April 2011, D.L. Menard at the La Maison de Begnaud, Scott, LA
D.L. Menard et al.
"The Back Door"
Click here to view this 29 April 2011 L'Envoi YouTube.

A Tara Replica House, St. Charles Ave., LA

Rip Van Winkle Gardens, Jefferson Island, LA

Shadow-at-the-Teche, New Iberia, LA

A Place in the Sun

More pictures taken today in N'awlins.

St. Peter Street, French Quarter

Her Place in the Sun - On the Middle of Royal Street

A View of the MS River

Street Jazz Tonight

Here in the Big Easy

I am in N'awlins. My second day. Balmy weather here in the Big Easy. It looks like the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival will not be dampen by the stormy weather being felt in other states farther up. I am staying in the area for a fortnight, and am looking forward to the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival starting on 29 April.

Various Katrina Flood Level Damage Display (Blue), Lower 9th Ward

Conti Street, French Quarter

Hotel Monteleone, French Quarter

Archie Manning's House, Garden District

The French Market

Independence Day, 2007

This MP3 Selection Expired on 07-05-2007
John McEuen
Stars and Stripes Forever (Sousa)

On This Presidents Day

"What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ."

--George Washington in a speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs May 12, 1779.


"What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence? It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling sea coasts, the guns of our war steamers, or the strength of our gallant and disciplined army. These are not our reliance against a resumption of tyranny in our fair land. All of them may be turned against our liberties, without making us stronger or weaker for the struggle. Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, every where. Destroy this spirit, and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors."

--Abraham Lincoln, From the September 11, 1858 Speech at Edwardsville

Proclaim Liberty Throughout

Liberty Bell, Liberty Bell Center, Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA. (3 Nov. 2003)

If one looks closely at this photo, he can make out the top inscription on the bell reads "Lev. XXV VX Proclaim..." The full text inscribed on the Liberty Bell reads as follows:

"Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof" from Leviticus 25:10 of the Bible.

Fellow Americans and Christians, some of you are stressed that the godless ACLU might file suit to declare the government showing of the Libery Bell with this inscription is in violation of the First Amendment. Fear not.

This is not not a life and death matter. "The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever" (1 John 2:17, NASB). Let the ACLU and its ilk agrue their mission in God's court. That day will come.

Therefore, the thing to hold dare in our hearts and minds from this day to eternity is the Lamb of God has already paid the price to free us from sin and judgement.

"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36 NASB)

This is the message of liberty we are to proclaim. And on this 229th birthday of these United States, let us thank Him for his faithfulness and mercy to all its inhabitants.

A National Hymn Written for July 4, 1876

We sang this 129-year old hymn in worship service this morning. By the grace of God, may we sing it again next year on the 4th July weekend.


GOD OF OUR FATHERS
Words: Daniel C. Roberts
Music: George W. Warren

God of our fathers, Whose almighty hand
Leads forth in beauty all the starry band
Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies
Our grateful songs before Thy throne arise.

Thy love divine hath led us in the past,
In this free land by Thee our lot is cast,
Be Thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide and Stay,
Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.

From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence,
Be Thy strong arm our ever sure defense;
Thy true religion in our hearts increase,
Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.

Refresh Thy people on their toilsome way,
Lead us from night to never ending day;
Fill all our lives with love and grace divine,
And glory, laud, and praise be ever Thine.

On This Presidents Day

The liberals (mostly white intelligensia) of this country, namely the main stream media, Democrats, and academia, will unfailingly vilify these two "dead old white men" every year on this day. I, for one, won't let them dominate this day with their diatribe on these two presidents.

I want to note on this day how the characters of these two great Americans were evident in their words. Below are excerpts of words written and spoken by both Presidents Washington and Lincoln, respectively, at an opposite juncture of their public life.

In the letter to the governors of 13 states, George Washington expressing his retirement from the command of the Continental Army and public life, herein is Washington's final paragraph contains the words of his benediction:

I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in his holy protection, that he would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the Field, and finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all, to do Justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity, humility and pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristicks of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation.

On his departure to Washington DC to assume the first term of his presidency, Abraham Lincoln said farewell to his hometown folks on 11 February, 1861. He spoke these famous, heartfelt words as he boarded a special presidential train at the Great Western Railroad station at Springfield, Illinois. Unknown to him then, Lincoln would see this depot for the last time. Fate led him into the bloodiest chapter of the American history where many thousands died, including Lincoln himself.

My friends, no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of the Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.

If it weren't for this two God revered men, there wouldn't be a United States as we know, love, and be proud of today. This-country-is-always-at-fault elitists should immigrate to Canada or to the EU and take the UN with them. There, they can break bread with the Islamic radicals and sing "We Are the World" with the socialistic technocrats.

Others have been thankful and blessd these United States. We Americans should bless God for all that He has done for this country.