It has been said that we are a country that is built on an idea, governed by the people, and the authority of this government is based on paper.
The Declaration of Independence was the foundational statement of that idea.
Men believed it so strongly that they staked their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor to it. Liberty was nearly in their grasp and they felt it was worth any sacrifice.
We who have enjoyed liberty for so long - and without a lot of personal sacrifice - might tend to place too little value on it.
Hollywood director, Frank Capra from film's Golden Age -knew how to illustrate liberty's passion and
there was no better actor to follow Capra's direction than Jimmy Stewart.
I hope you will watch at least a couple of minutes of this near 10 minute clip. Pay close attention and listen for this quote at the very beginning:
"Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books. . . . 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"
Today - let's hold liberty before our faces and before the faces of our children.
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