Chosen

I thought perhaps I wouldn't have time {or inspiration} this year for a pre-Christmas post, but now with both in hand, I'll give it a go and hope it gives you something to think about as you prepare for Christmas Eve.

I Choose You

When everyone around you sees an ordinary life

Fit for nothing more than common dreams

I can see the stars of Heaven shining in your eyes

Soon the world will hear the angels sing

Mary, I know it's hard to understand

You hold the light of the world in your hands

I choose you to bring the world a Savior

I choose you to bring the world a King

I choose you to be the arms of love that hold the answer

For the world to see my promises come true

I choose you

I know there are many questions weighing on your mind

What is becoming of your life?

Oh, just remember I have called you to leave your fears behind

To walk by faith and not by sight

Mary, I know it's all a mystery

My hand is leading if you'll only believe

I choose you to bring the world a Savior

I choose you to bring the world a King

I choose you to be the arms of love that hold the answer

For the world to see my promises come true

I choose you

And he shall be called Emmanuel

Wonderful, Prince of Peace

I choose you to bring the world a Savior

I choose you to bring the world a King

I choose you to be the arms of love that hold the answer

For the world to see my promises come true

I choose you

I choose, I choose you

For the world to see my promises come true

For the world to see my love come shining, I

I choose you...

Every year, this song is sung during the last Advent service at my church. Every year I love it, but only this year did I realize that the words are not reserved solely for Mary, or Mary's circumstances, or Mary's calling by God. 

In fact - aside from the physical acts of carrying the baby for nine months, giving birth and raising him when he was a child - what God asked of Mary is identical to what He asks of me, you, and every Christian on earth. In the words of the song, it was like a puzzle coming together in my head.

When everyone around you sees an ordinary life

Fit for nothing more than common dreams

I can see the stars of Heaven shining in your eyes

Soon the world will hear the angels sing.

Mary, I know it's hard to understand

You hold the light of the world in your hands.

I've often wondered the same thing: what can an ordinary, not exceptionally bold, constantly sinning human like me do for a God who created the universe and holds it spinning in His hand? It is hard to understand that we are called by God - not because we desired Him, but because He desired us - and He has given us the Light of the World. To hold in our hands for all to see.

I choose you to bring the world a Savior

I choose you to bring the world a King

I choose you to be the arms of love that hold the answer

For the world to see my promises come true

I choose you...

I know there are many questions weighing on your mind

What is becoming of your life?

Oh, just remember I have called you to leave your fears behind

To walk by faith and not by sight

Mary, I know it's all a mystery

My hand is leading if you'll only believe

The angel Gabriel came to Mary and said "Greetings, you who are highly favored; the Lord is with you!" 

Highly favored.

Those words are not solely for Mary either. She was chosen to carry the Son of God for nine months, to bear the scorn of those who refused to believe the truth, to give birth in the cold with only Joseph to help - a man with absolutely no experience in any of the areas she most needed. Yet we, as undeserving but perhaps not as humble or willing, are also chosen to bring the Savior to a confused and desperate world.

 

To bring a King to those who have lost control of their lives. 

To be the arms of His love, reaching out with the only answer that will heal and make whole. 

To prove that the words God has spoken will not return to Him empty.

And we're confused and questioning too. Why this? Why that? What is happening to the life I had under control, organized and planned out?

Why me?

Because we are not chosen to keep this great light to ourselves.We are chosen to believe in something so much bigger than ourselves. To believe it with such tenacity and abandon that we'll do the seemingly illogical and walk forward in faith, not seeing, but only believing, that He who began this good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  

And in those words is our greatest hope: that we have not been called in vain. That the God who chose us for reasons we don't understand will also use us in ways we cannot imagine. 

Merry Christmas! 

What It Means: Christmas Edition!

So despite the fact that I was apparently jealous of Rudolph's nose without being aware of it and my body taking matters into its own hands and contracting a cold to satisfy this envious need, I promised a post this week and a post you all shall have! {While I glug mint tea and force myself to wean off the Kleenex and eat spoonfuls of honey and cinnamon in an all out effort to shake this thing before the weekend hits...}

I am at war against these mutant germs.

But we can speak of cheerfuller things! {Like my shock that "cheerfuller" is not spellchecked by blogger, but "spellchecked" is??}

Ah well.

So with a snowstorm {our first real one of the year} hitting during church on Sunday and the news reports of 60, 40 and 15 car accidents on the freeways nearby forcing us to cancel our weekly Ultimate Frisbee get-together, the eleven of us were all at home for the day with a bare Christmas tree standing in the corner. After watching the Green Bay Packers win their first game in 5 weeks {!!} we hauled the Christmas decorations from the attic and set to work.

This all sounds quaint and joyful and Christmas-cardish, I know, but the very cozy and festive can quickly become arguments and chaos when 9 people of various ages {and stations on the proverbial totem pole} are involved. In this house, Christmas decorating means:

...complete dismantling and stowage of most everyday knick-knacks {whether we remembered owning them or not} to make way for the overload of Christmas knick-knacks...

....string after string of burnt out lights that no one wants to mess with and we forgot to replace at Home Depot's after-Christmas sale last year...

...ceremonial smashing {accidental, of course} of at least three ornaments. I think it may have been more this year, due to The Incident....

...ceremonial loss {unintentionally, of course} of at least two tempers...

...Christmas music playing in the background {in an attempt to be festive and traditional} that no one is listening to...

...segmented garland because Thing 5 and Thing 6 decided to play tug-of-war with it...

...3/4's of the ornaments placed on the front of the tree...

...honorary arrangement of our traditional clay and pewter creches...

<----- {including a charming tour of our collection of Royal Diaries and Heroes of the Faith books...}






...tinsel draped over lampshades and wrapped around several Things pretending to be the Ghost of Christmas Present {Ebeneeeezer Scroooogeee...Come in and know me better, man!}...

...trauma over the fact that we're using LED bulbs on the tree this year {partly due to missing the after Christmas sale last year}...

...snowman ornaments dangling over the table in an attempt to disguise the fact that we have one of the ugliest light fixtures designed by man...

 ...numerous jokes and laughter at the expense of the contents of the ornament tins as we remember old favorites and reevaluate the chucky-chuckies {our pet name for the ornaments that nobody knows why we still have but manage to get packed away after Christmas each year} before hanging them on the tree...

An old family favorite. Who doesn't want a
biological impossibility hanging on their
Christmas tree??

Chucky-Chucky.
Aside from that, we're not sure what it's supposed to be...

...Things 6-9 feeling free to jump on the furniture because no one really cares at this point what they're doing so long as it's not breaking more ornaments or falling into the tree...

...nearly packing away the ceramic handbell Mom painted in grade school...

{I don't think I'm allowed to post pictures of that}

...Rudolph, Randy and Rhonda gracing the top of the bookshelf once again...

...the empty stable on top of the rolltop desk...

Radewahn family tradition: each piece of the
nativity is hidden by Dad {generally in places
they'll be discovered if we do our chores}
and as Christmas approaches, the stable fills with
magi, shepherds, animals, and, of course,
Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. We came
very close one year to celebrating Christmas
with an empty manger when Jesus went missing
for longer than expected.

...leaving it all lit and behind as we exit as one to the basement... 

The tree in all its controversially LED'd, ornamented and garlanded glory

And that is my post for the week! Take it with my sincere hopes that this post has made you feel warm and fuzzy and smug about your own traditional, peaceful and orderly decorating experiences. 

Until next time!

St. Nick's Fuzzy Socks

Hello! If you didn't know {or care} that today is officially St. Nicholas day, I am the charming elf who either did or did not inform you of this news {depending on how you feel about this sort of unnecessary holiday}.

Normally {as in never, ever, ever} I have not celebrated St. Nick's day or honestly cared that it's come and gone each year {we still get mail, so I'm not complaining}.

But when St. Nick's day means red, sparkly {sparkly, people!!} fuzzy socks, then I am definitely all in.

   {Photography: Elizabeth Radewahn. The model is wearing socks by airplus.}

This particular pair was given to me by one of the secretaries at my office and they are super snuggly and infused with aloe and vitamin E {yeah, not sure what that's doing, but hey, the more the merrier!}.

I don't know who the genius was who decided to start infusing socks with vitamins and minerals, but since we seem to be handing it out to just anyone these days, I would say they deserve the Nobel Prize. And a great big thank you from fuzzy sock wearers everywhere.

Happy St. Nicks!

Ciao Bella! 

P.S. The fun doesn't stop here! Look below: another new post! 

You're A Good Egg

Yes, I am going to post this post which I intended to post on Good Friday but was postponed and put off on Easter and then ignored for two weeks.

This is why I try to steer clear of holiday posts.

Every Good Friday, it's our family tradition to dye the Easter eggs for Easter Sunday. I don't know why we do it then because it's actually rather inappropriate for the day to be dealing with color and eggs and what-not. At least, I think it is?

This tradition gets less and less traditional every year, but some of us refuse to give it up. Thus, we are left to make sure it happens {lovely, huh?}

The only person in our family who has any artistic talent whatsoever had to play her violin at the afternoon service at church. The rest of us, eyeing the cups of color and pure white eggs, were left to our own devices.

Heh-heh-heh...

Being the year of Pinterest we turned to our over-logged boards for fresh inspiration that could cover up the fact that we actually have no talent for what we're doing. Three-quarters of those ideas {I'm assuming you can relate?} were waaay over our heads and weren't quite feasible considering the supplies we had with us. {We're not really the cut-out-Subway-letters-and-then-glue-them-to-the-eggs-and-then-paint-over-them-with-acrylic-paint-and-oops!-you-might-not-be-able-to-eat-them type} In our house, the uglier the egg, the less drama there will be when someone eats it and no one will care if it falls out of the pine cone wreath during the Easter egg hunt and cracks irrevocably.

However, egg-faces seemed to be taking over the imaginations of everyone on Pinterest and we figured we could probably manage that.

This is an example only. We did not make these.
Unfortunately.

Out came the ultra fine point Sharpies and frantic orders not to jiggle the table.

Someone jiggled the table on this

guy

Here are were our Easter eggs:

I think he bears a striking resemblance
to Charlie Brown

He started out as a parachute - or

something. 

How appropriate upon Easter eve, that we should remember -
oh...

The whole motley crew

Promptly after this shot, we were reminded of the mortality of all things when my mother took the cartons of eggs downstairs and accidentally dropped two of them. 

Not all pictured here survived the fall.

Till next time,

When It *Wasn't* Good Friday

It's over. Over. Was I tricked? Taken in? Is this really all there is? Were the priests right? Is this how it ends?

Lately, I've been studying the Easter story as part of my Bible reading in the mornings. Not actually because of the season {slightly ironic, I know}, but because I'm teaching it to our First Friday group next week and I want to make it real. I'm better at points-of-view than generalizations when push comes to shove, so I'm narrating it through Mary Magdalene.

A recent discovery I stumbled across is that, in understanding Bible characters and their surroundings and what God wants me to learn from their situations, it helps me to look at things from their perspective - not so much historically as emotionally. Emotions are pretty neutralized in the Bible but, as I once heard, God gave us imaginations to fill in the blanks from A to B in the Bible stories and the people between those pages aren't very different from us. The way the Bible reads, you can get into the rut of feeling that these humans were somehow special and capable of great things.
The truth is, we're all just as capable of doing the things that men and women like Joseph, David, Esther, Daniel and even the apostles were capable of doing. It wasn't them. It was the grace and power of God.

The same God who works in our lives. 

They were human. They were selfish, intolerant and proud. They turned away from God and then turned back to Him. They made mistakes and didn't trust. They doubted God's promises and gave in to doubt. They didn't make the Bible because of what they did, but because of what God did through them.

Putting the emotions into the story opens up the truths. It makes legends humans and takes you  from distant familiarity to empathetic understanding.

So as I study Mary Magdalene through the scope of the Scripture from Palm Sunday to Easter morning, I realize that {as is my tendency} I took the story as it was given and didn't insert anything personal - any emotion - into it.

Here's what struck me in the context of Good Friday:

I've heard the story since babyhood, and never once have I put myself completely into the shoes of a person who lived in the present of the past. I've always put Mary Magdalene in my shoes and somehow assumed that she would have known what was going to happen next. The truth is, Mary had no idea. When she saw Jesus on that cross, she didn't know He was going to come back to life. I mean, she had heard Jesus speak of it, but quite obviously {gathering this from her questions at the tomb and the shock which accompanied them} she did not understand at all what Jesus was saying when He spoke of His resurrection.
When she left Golgotha, probably with Mary, John and the others, her heart was pretty heavy and her hope gone. I'm guessing that she assumed this was the end. Her teacher was dead. All the excitement, all the hype, all the hope for deliverance ended at the cross on the hill behind her. She didn't anticipate anything miraculous. After all, she was Jewish. She'd seen it before. Jesus had seemed different, seemed genuine, seemed true, but He died, just like the other insurrectionists and would-be deliverers that had come and gone over the years. The priests, mocking her messiah at the foot of the cross, had won. They had been right about Jesus and she had been a blind fool, grasping at a hope that didn't exist.

For us, Good Friday is the beginning of the story. For Mary Magdalene and her companions, it was the end.

We know that in a day the black draping in the church will disappear and the somber music will be put away. We know that on Sunday the hymnals will be turned to pages festooned with hallelujahs and the sanctuary full of springtime's yellows, whites, pinks and purples. The joy of Easter is unmatched. It's special. We know what happened. Satan was defeated. Jesus is stronger. Death is crushed and we are are victors in Christ.

It's an amazing, powerful joy.

And I thought Mary and the others would have gone home filled with the same excitement, expectant of the day their Messiah would return and ready to rejoice in the defeat of the enemy greater than all others.

But they weren't.

Their hope was hanging dead on a cross at Golgotha. They were at the end - and anticipating, expecting, nothing else. Good Friday, in their shoes, was not so good. In the darkness of their grief, they had no idea what they were in for.They were not expecting a resurrection.

Or anything "good".

Until next time,

On Good Friday...

Singing this hymn in choir weeks ago, put me in mind of the perfect Good Friday blog post. It's a sad and hopeful contemplation.

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,

See Him dying on the tree!

’Tis the Christ by man rejected;

Yes, my soul, ’tis He, ’tis He!

’Tis the long expected prophet,

David’s Son, yet David’s Lord;

Proofs I see sufficient of it:

’Tis a true and faithful Word.

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,

Was there ever grief like His?

Friends through fear His cause disowning,

Foes insulting his distress:

Many hands were raised to wound Him,

None would interpose to save;

But the deepest stroke that pierced Him

Was the stroke that Justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly,

Nor suppose the evil great,

Here may view its nature rightly,

Here its guilt may estimate.

Mark the Sacrifice appointed!

See Who bears the awful load!

’Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,

Son of Man, and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation,

Here the refuge of the lost.

Christ the Rock of our salvation,

Christ the Name of which we boast.

Lamb of God for sinners wounded!

Sacrifice to cancel guilt!

None shall ever be confounded

Who on Him their hope have built.

Written by Thomas Kelly

'Till next time,

Christmas Gifts!

I suppose now that the last remnant of Christmas days are officially over, my lazy Christmas blogging habits must be officially over as well.

Sooo, since everything I should be blogging about is piled up like rainbow-hued clutter in the back of my brain and since I have a odd mania for knowing what other people get for Christmas, I'll share what I received from my very generous family (I apologize if you don't share my mania):

On Christmas Eve, I got these gifts from my younger brother, who picked my name in our family gift exchange:

This music is so fun and wildly Northern...

Yeah, I guess I'm a junkie. I adore this movie! 

And then on Christmas Day, I got a red Converse blouse from my grandparents (I love Converse blouses!) and money, which I used to buy this:

These are the best things on earth for coloring (aside from Sharpies, of course) :D

And on the day before New Year's Eve, we celebrated Christmas at my Dad's mom's house. My Grandma gave me a box full of my Grandpa's old Peanuts comic books and these two outfits from American Girl:

 I don't have Julie, but I'm a sucker for white ruffly dresses and American Girl's big hats...

I actually do have this doll, and the dress is so adorable!

Then, from my aunt:

It's a double-sided heart with Swarovski crystals

This gorgeous little Bible (NIV, of course)

These sweet little desk notes (she understands well my weakness for paper)

And a wristlet from Vera Bradley to add to my collection

I was part of the adult gift exchange this year and my aunt picked my name. She chose most of the books :) :

One of my absolute favorite books. Elizabeth George Speare is one of my writing heroes.

You've heard me rave enough about this one to know what it is... :D

Francine Rivers is also one of my writing heroes. Her books are SO good!

Meredith Andrews - yes!

And this gorgeous Willow Tree figurine. I fell in love with it a year ago... :D

'Till next time (and Happy New Year!),

Christmas Tag!

I got tagged for this post by my sister over on Rachyrache's Hobby Corner and thought it might be fun to 

share some Christmas cheer! (Because I know such a thing has been rather sadly lacking on this blog...)

Rules/instructions:

1. Link to the person/blog you got tagged from
2. Do the tag
3. Tag three people!

So, here's the tag:

Is your Christmas tree up?

Absholutely! We got it before December even arrived - that's a record in this family. 

How about the rest of your decorations?

Put 'em up last Thursday, the gorgeous little things. Though the porch wreath somehow got transported back into the attic before we could get it up. I'm not saying that I suspect anything, but I think my dad had a hand in that one... 

Do you have an artificial tree or a real tree?

Are you kidding? Fake trees have no scent - besides, they look like brooms with that funky brown/green plastic mixture that's supposed to make them look real.   

Do you have any lights or decorations outside?

That we do. Some tall ski-like snowmen that the little ones made at my aunt's house on Craft Day years ago set in pots that us older ones painted especially for them at the same event. We ended up with the pot I painted - which I do my best to turn to its best side every year (it's hard to do that, though, seeing as it doesn't really have a good side...). We also have a ginormous wreath and a smaller garland that we wrap around the porch railing. 

Do you have a favorite ornament on the tree?

Do I have a favorite ornament? I hate these "favorite" questions; I don't play favorites. But we do have these pretty glass balls that my aunt helped us swirl paint in. They're gorgeous - and dwindling. We manage to smash at least one every year. I made the ugly ones, but the ones my siblings made are worth hanging in the front. 

How many Christmas trees do you usually have up?

One. For a few years we had two, but it was too much work to water them both.

What is the best Christmas present you have ever gotten?

Oy vey, I don't even remember all the presents I've gotten...My favorite from last year was probably Felicity's American Girl tea set from my Grandma. But it's definitely not the one I've used the most in the past year.   

Who do you celebrate Christmas with?

My family on my dad's side, my family on my mom's side, my friends, my immediate family, my Good News Club... :) 

What is your favorite Christmas song?

I knew this one was coming... I don't have a favorite - there are so many I love! - but one that I really love this year is one we're singing in choir: Where Shepherds Lately Knelt - very powerful words! Actually, if you click on the title the arrangement is the one we're singing in our choir...

What is your favorite Christmas food?

My Grandma's thumbprint cookies. Buttery, brown melt-in-your-mouth cookies with an enormous blop of fluffy red or green frosting in the middle. It wouldn't be Christmas without those cookies. 

And eggnog. I adore eggnog. 

What is your favorite Christmas memory?

What is it with all these 'favorite' questions? Ugh... I do have a veritable ton of good ones. One that's sort of special is when we were at at my dad's parent's house we would go across the street and sing Christmas carols for their elderly neighbor who couldn't get out of her house. We were all impatient to go home and open our presents, but we never would touch one package until we had gone and sung to Olga. She died a few years ago, but I still remember her sitting in her wheelchair with an afghan over her knees, clapping for us when we finished and giving us candy canes. The first candy cane I ever remember eating came from her. 

Do you have trouble falling asleep on Christmas eve?

We usually stay up until Christmas morning watching a movie, so I don't really fall asleep on Christmas Eve. :)

What time do you usually wake up on Christmas morning?

I haven't the foggiest. 

Do you do any special traditions for Christmas?

Oh plenty. My dad hides our nativity scene figures and we find them, we watch a million different A Christmas Carol movies, It's A Wonderful Life, The Nativity Story, and A Christmas Story, we have a family celebration on Christmas Eve and go to church, eat snacks, give each other gifts, and watch a movie... Christmas traditions are the best! 

I don't think I'll tag any people in this post because I don't know who has been tagged and who hasn't. We wouldn't want anyone having to fill out two of these things! :D 

A very Merry Christmas to all of you! 

'Till next time,

Five - The Number of Thanksgiving

One Thanksgiving our entire family was gathered at my grandparent's house for dinner. The table was set and the food was cooking when I walked through the door and everything smelled (as usual) absolutely delicious.

After taking off my coat, I wandered into the dining room and as I walked past the table, I noticed something different.

At each place, next to the water glasses, were five kernels of dried corn.

Thanks to my Christian history books, I knew what they represented.

When the Pilgrims were in America for their first winter, they ran out of food. They were so low on supplies that, towards the end of the season, they each received five kernels of corn for their daily meal.

And when they had the first Thanksgiving, they put five kernels of dried corn at each place to remind themselves of God's provision.

That was the only Thanksgiving I remember where we had those symbols of God's goodness at the table, but I'll never forget it. For some reason, those little kernels seemed to add something more to the celebration that day.

A reminder of God's providence and how truly blessed we all were. And also a reminder of how often we fail to take a moment to thank God for His gifts.

This Thanksgiving, I hope more than ever to remember what has been sacrificed for this country and what Jesus sacrificed for me - and to be truly thankful for the blessings I take for granted every day.

"What if you woke up this morning and found the only things you had left were the things you thanked God for yesterday?" - Terry Shock

Happy Thanksgiving to you all; I am so thankful for every one of you!

Independence Day

I must admit, I shy away from the idea of writing a 4th of July post. The idea scares me because there's so much I want to say and I'm afraid of bungling it up. But I'll give it a try and see where it goes...

It's so hard sometimes to see past all the politics and the debate and the problems and find the America that you read about in history books. The America where mothers and fathers stayed together, where homosexuality was illegal, where children could go to the movies and see things that weren't filled up with garbage, where dating was limited to drugstore dates and walks home from school and pregnancy wasn't the result of most relationships. Where girls wore dresses and boys wore button-up shirts. Where parents were treated with respect and children were brought up in solid, moral homes. Sometimes, I wonder if a time like that even existed, because we've spiraled so out-of-control. I want that America back. The America where an age of innocence lasted at least until highschool. Where girls were innocent enough to blush and boys treated them with respect. Where going to church was something everyone did and schooling was important. Where the radio was the main source of entertainment and tv shows and movies like we have now would have shocked the nation. Is it possible to get that America back?
I believe, with the exception of a few things like radios and dresses (I assume most people wouldn't go for that), a journey back to our morals is possible. And I find that assurance in 2 Chronicles 7:14: "If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land."
The promise is there and we can do it if we get out of our safe corners and live the example of Christ in everything we do, wherever we go.

It's also encouraging to me to go to one of those parades on the 4th and to see the people, solid, decent people who love their country and are proud to be called an American, cheer for the veterans, salute the flag and sing along to the national anthem. Seeing that helps me put my concern in perspective. The people who are destroying the moral, Christian base of our country, little by little, are not in the majority. As Clarissa Saunders says in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: That kind just throw big shadows. And it's true. The real backbone of America is still made up of these solid families. We just need to get out and let the minority know who we are and what we stand for.

I'll get off my soapbox now (feels a bit wobbly) and finish off with some quotes from the movie we watched last night -- one of my favorites -- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. That movie captures what I'm trying to say dead on. This is what every one of us should remember every day of our lives:

"You see, boys forget what their country means by just reading The Land of the Free in history books. Then they get to be men they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that." 


"Just get up off the ground, that's all I ask. Get up there with that lady that's up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won't just see scenery; you'll see the whole parade of what Man's carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so's he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed. That's what you'd see. There's no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties. And, if that's what the grownups have done with this world that was given to them, then we'd better get those boys' camps started fast and see what the kids can do. And it's not too late, because this country is bigger than the Taylors, or you, or me, or anything else. Great principles don't get lost once they come to light. They're right here; you just have to see them again!" 


"Your friend, Mr. Lincoln had his Taylors and Paines. So did every other man who ever tried to lift his thought up off the ground. Odds against them didn't stop those men. They were fools that way. All the good that ever came into this world came from fools with faith like that. You know that, Jeff. You can't quit now. Not you. They aren't all Taylors and Paines in Washington. That kind just throw big shadows, that's all. You didn't just have faith in Paine or any other living man. You had faith in something bigger than that. You had plain, decent, everyday, common rightness, and this country could use some of that. Yeah, so could the whole cockeyed world, a lot of it. Remember the first day you got here? Remember what you said about Mr. Lincoln? You said he was sitting up there, waiting for someone to come along. You were right. He was waiting for a man who could see his job and sail into it, that's what he was waiting for. A man who could tear into the Taylors and root them out into the open. I think he was waiting for you, Jeff. He knows you can do it, so do I."


And, here are some pictures to commemorate the day:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the Unites States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. (Thank you, President Eisenhower, for pressing Congress to add "under God" -- it means so much more.)


'Till next time,
-- Jamie