Let Freedom Ring - A Reflection

On this day, 233 years ago, we became a free people.

Today, we are still free. But for how long?

I now call upon the words of Abraham Lincoln's Lyceum Address (January 27, 1838);

"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some trans-atlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us in a blow? Never.

All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined cannot by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on a Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years.

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer that if it ever reaches us, it must spring from amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be the authors and finishers. As a nation of free men, we must live through all time or die by suicide."

Despite the fact that danger looms in the east, politicians wage war on freedom in the name of stabilizing the economy, and China questions our authority, the United States is still the hegemonic power to be reckoned with. Our collective knowlege and spirit has built a nation unlike any other in the world.

We are a people who celebrate success - both our own and our fellow man's.

We are a people who celebrate victory - collectively and individually.

We are a people who don't settle for less than perfection.

We are a people who are proud of our history.

We are a people who celebrate both tradition and progress - never sacrificing one for another.

We are the people of the United States who will form a more perfect union.

We must always remember that the world is closely watching our experiment in popular government - we are a city on a hill that cannot be hid. (Matthew 5:14)

The people - not the government - define our nation. Through the toil of their labor, we all reap the benefits. Our people were the first to set foot on the moon. Our people developed the personal computer. Our people have the capacity to make their dreams reality.

The American Dream is not a mirage. It is very real. It is a Golden Dream shared by our pioneers and our children's children.

We ended World War I. We ended World War II. We ended the Cold War. Together, let's end what some believe is a final war on Freedom - whether it is waged by Islamofascists, politicians, or a slightly insane dictator. Let us prove to them that a free people can, indeed, come together and preserve their collective freedom in the name of generations unborn.

In the face of what lies ahead, we must remember that we have surmounted these obstacles. If we remember that we did so through honest labor, commitment to duty, and valuing the freedoms preserved by our fallen, sacrificial lambs - our men and women in uniform - we shall overcome once more.

"Let us strive to deserve as far as mortals may the continued care of Divine Providence trusting that in future national emergencies he will not fail to provide us with the instruments of safety and security. Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against it nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the government nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might. And in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it." -- Abraham Lincoln (Cooper Union Address, 1860)

God Bless you, and God Bless America.