Monday, June 7, 2010
Carpe diem... in spite of the heat...
So what did I do? Laundry! My Monday routine activity. Then I made buttermilk syrup and pancakes with nieces. Yummy!! Caught up on some reading. Picked a few apples. Stayed inside out of the heat as much as possible. I truly don't handle it well. Ended with popcorn and watching MacGyver, with the nieces! It was fun! Also did a little prep for the coming work week. And yes, I'm keeping up with reading twelves pages or more a day of The Five Thousand Year Leap. I'll re-read it as soon as I finish simply because I know I'm not absorbing it all. I'm awed by how inspired the Founding Fathers were, the work and study and discussion and discussion and discussion about subjects that frequently make my eyes glaze over, and yet because of their passion for freedom and desire to understand what it truly means I have been blessed to the point of taking for granted their work and sacrifices, not so much for themselves but for future generations. How carelessly I've held the precious treasure, but no more. Every day I am grateful for the right to choose, for the freedom to choose. With such freedom, needs must I choose wisely. Better late than never. I pray every day for God's mercy and love and the courage to seize each day and use it well. Blessedly, the Atonement allows for mistakes and the opportunity to keep trying. I will never stop endeavoring to seize each day and make it worthwhile, a blessing, a proof of God's love and hope.
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Anne Baldwin married Samuel Chase in 1762. Thought she bore six children, two sons and four daughters, she didn't live long enough to se...
Ditto about taking our freedoms for granted. Every time I forget to be thankful for them (and for our servicemen and women) -- well, it's just not good to take it all for granted. A lot of people died (and were maimed/injured; many of those would rather have died, probably) to protect the freedoms of their own generation and of future generations.
ReplyDeleteI'm very grateful for the right to choose, on a daily basis. It IS a huge responsibility. With great power comes great responsibility, as Spiderdman's dad said. (Well, it's actually a sort of a rehash from the Bible (Luke 12:48) -- "[Jesus said,] ... from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
The Founding Fathers were really doing a quantum leap sort of thing. What's sad is that, since men are essentially sinful (not irredeemable, but sinful), many of them act purely out of self-interest, which doesn't make governmental structures (designed around the idea that people will care about the welfare of others, not just of themselves) work too well. No matter what form of government there is on earth, it will be flawed because people are so selfish. (I'm not saying there is a solution to this, I'm just yakking. There won't be a solution until the Judgment Day). I love the ideas of the Founding Fathers, but they were naive (note I did not say bad-- just naive!)... to think that men of their time were somehow fundamentally less selfish than men of other eras. But in those days, they really believed that the Enlightenment had come, and that Reason was winning out, and that people would all come around to the notion of being reasonable, enlightened, educated, and, well, reasonsable! Talking things out in a peaceful manner. Working things out. Although a lot of this DOES happen in our land (thank God) and in other democracies (thank God), it's far from perfect. I believe the Founding Fathers truly believed in their hearts that men had changed in some fundamental way, and that Reason would be the salvation of all. It was a nice idea, but naive.
But God is loving, and takes care of us all, nonetheless. He is all-forgiving.
Cheers!
Mary
Thanks, Mary! Always good to see you!
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