1776

I jumped ahead of my normal schedule of reading trendy books a decade or so after they were popular, when I recently read David McCullough's "1776".  I am only about five years behind on it.

The book was quite impressive.  It is a detailed description of George Washington and his "rabble" as they spent the first year of the War of Independence.  I found the book to be very eye opening as it pointed out the dramatic weaknesses of the Americans. In fact most of the "victories" this ragtag militia enjoyed during those early days were not victories at all.

They felt triumphant because they had made a valiant stand against the greatest military force on earth, or because they had successfully retreated from just under the noses of the British.

The book paints a picture of the illustrious George Washington that is, I think, accurate but not flattering.  Washington believed that he should lead by example and so acted often in ways that would today seem pretentious or hypocritical.  Washington apparently failed miserably over and over again during that first year in terms of strategy.

After he waited and waited during the siege of Boston, he lacked the powder to mount an attack.  Finally, he gained the high ground after Henry Knox led a daring expedition to obtain the Guns of Ticonderoga and transport them to Boston.

The British fled but the tables were turned when they met again in New York. Washington's troops retreated from Manhattan, Brooklyn and Fort Washington, and near the end of the year, found themselves scampering to try and evacuate and then defend the capital at Philadelphia.

McCullough pulls no punches when he points out how inept the Americans were. 
Yet they stood.  They fought - often valiantly.
While McCullough stops short of giving credit to God for the admittedly miraculous events that surrounded this army, he does at least acknowledge that some of the patriots were quick to credit the Almighty with any success they found.
Things like General Washington sitting tall (and quite peaceably) in the saddle all along the front lines as musket balls zinged back and forth around him - he was there to encourage the troops and he dared not show any fear.
There were countless examples of amazing retreats. In one instance, a night time evacuation took place without the notice of the British troops.  As dawn approached and the evacuation wasn't nearly complete, an uncanny fog settled into the area and provided cover until the operation was complete.

I was overwhelmingly impressed with the evidence of God's sovereign overseeing of the birth of this nation.

As I neared the end of the book, I was reminded of an American Trait that I had not thought of in quite awhile:  The tendency of Americans to stand strong when the odds are against them.

We haven't seen much of that since the apparent establishment of our world dominance after WWII.  There has been a trend among liberals since that time for us to fawn over other nations just to prove that we are not the "ugly Americans" they think we are.

But there exists in the hearts of freedom-loving people, a strong constitution to stand even though the cards are stacked against us - event though it seems apparent that we are beaten.

It is a trait that was displayed prominently over the recent mid-term elections by members of the Tea Party.  Those who won and those who lost.  Those who found little support among the party they were running with and those who ran in the face of petty and ugly personal attack, all stood - they fought the good fight and some won ... others will live to fight another day.

And fight they will, because like those early Americans who realized that 1776 was not the end - it was only the beginning, many Americans are awakening to the same realization. 

Washington closed out that year with a tremendous Christmas season victory at both Trenton and Princeton.  Yet there were many more battles to face ahead.  So they continued resolutely into the next year and the others that followed.
Just as we must do today . . . . it is the American way.

Relevance and Truth

For a time it seemed that the trend in new churches was to achieve "relevance".
It may still be the trend.

Relevance means "we are hip to what's happening today   ....   man".

In the seventies, Christians adopted terms from the drug culture and invited sinners to get "hooked on Jesus"...
In the eighties, I distinctly remember lobbying for our church to get with it and bring in Pac Man and other video games.
All in the name of relevance.
Even then, it seemed a little hollow.

Today, churches are struggling to discover where the culture is going and adapt, adjust - become relevant.

I have no problem with churches serving their congregants better and I like fresh perspectives; but sometimes I am afraid that we focus too closely on being relevant.  We adjust so much that we forget who we are and lose sight of who God has called us to be.

We who make up the universal church are called to be "lights".
The compelling thing about light is that it stands out.  It provides a stark contrast to the darkness.

I have been thinking a lot about truth lately.  There is a standard that says that All Truth is God's Truth, and I buy into that whole heartedly. In fact Jesus said " I am the Way, the Truth, . . . ". 

And because God is Truth, we can trust that Truth will always triumph in the end.

Have you ever thought about how constantly relevant the Truth is?

 Truths never change, and though cultures change, fashions change, people change - the Truth is always relevant - it is always "hip to the jive".

Quickly rattle off some truths that you know:

You always reap what you sow
if you play with fire you'll get burned
Give and it shall be given unto you
the idle mind is the Devil's workshop
many hands make light work

They are always relevant; they always work.  Now rattle off some relevant catch phrases:

The earth is flat
Love means never having to say you're sorry
Drop out, turn on, tune in
Never trust anyone over thirty

.... phrases that were quite relevant in their day but today they are trite.

These thoughts have given me some solace over the past couple of years as I watched our political landscape. . . the truth is always relevant - the truth always wins in the end.

When our founding fathers decided to put down their reasoning for seeking independence from Britain, they did so with a written document.  One that could easily be used against them, but one they could also use as a standard, a benchmark in case they grew weak.

It is fitting I think that they began that document with a reference to the Truth. . . .

"We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness...."

...Truth that is still relevant today.
Keep standing, America.

What if We All Practiced Restraint

Restraint.
I have written about it before; it is one of the traits that has been key to our culture here in America - it is one of the characteristics that has set this country apart.

What if  . . . .

What if the hearts of individuals in our nation suddenly turned away from the self-indulgence that seems to so possess us - and returned to an attitude of restraint?

What would that look like?

It might be as simple as pushing away from the table.
It could mean some families would downsize to a smaller house.
Restraint may take different forms; some individuals would choose to liberate themselves from the slavery of debt.

That's okay for the "haves" . . . those that already have more than they need.  But what about the "have-nots"? What would restraint look like to them?

Some may simply decide to accept no more tax-funded assistance.

To me, the most triumphant scene in Ron Howard's Cinderella Man, was when Jim Braddock - after having reluctantly stood in line to receive some government relief money during the Great Depression- stood in line again ... to return every cent.

Some could decide to stop listening to the constant siren song of victim-hood and "you can't" ... and start listening to a still small voice inside that says "try!" . . .  "do what you CAN do; and do the best you can!"

That still small voice may have belonged to one's mother or grandmother  . . . or maybe a teacher.  Someone somewhere in the past that knew that God had created every man and woman with some potential - some gifting ... He dreamed a dream for them to fulfill and gave them what they needed to fulfill it.

If only they would try.

It flashed across my mind the other day - like a dream that flourished in an instant - "What if...."

What if people in droves suddenly stopped participating in all these programs and handouts and schemes that say in subtle tones: 

 "You're a victim.  Life's been a little harder on you than on those other people... you will always need our help .   Don't even try.  You know that you will fail and then you will be right back here needing our help."

Wouldn't it be wonderful if people decided on a wholesale basis to stop taking what they didn't earn.

 As long as politicians can buy votes by funding relief style programs ... they will continue to do it.  We can't really expect them to change.  But the people could change; they could say "no more".

The days of top-down restraint are over . . . at least as far as any of the current majorities in Washington are concerned.

The people:  now that's another story.  If the people could only tap into that yearning for liberty God has placed in the breast of every man and woman, they would shake off the shackles of this false benevolence.

The people could just refuse to play the game.  Refuse to be blinded any longer.  Trade in their lifelong servitude to dependence on government programs and walk into the brisk, tantalizing breeze of freedom.

It Would Require Restraint

Such a revolution would require tremendous restraint! 
The kind displayed by George Washington when he refused a crown... and later when he refused a third term in the office of President.

One would need to have the type of restraint that was evident in our founders as they toiled together for a summer in Philadelphia, hammering out a system of government with distinct checks and balances.  Checks designed to keep restraint on power.

It would require restraint because if people walked away from the pittance they receive at the end of a bureaucratic labyrinth - it would appear at first that they were walking into certain poverty -utter devastation.

Neighbors Would Rise Up

Here's what I am sure would happen:

Churches would suddenly pick up the mantle of responsibility they long ago relinquished to the government.
Churches and other organizations - full of people - would rise up to help.

Why?

Because that is what we do in America. 
We help our neighbors.
And people would be able to help because they had practiced restraint and so they had more to give, more to invest.

Well isn't that the same thing that's happening now with tax funded programs that give assistance?
No.
It is a very different thing when your neighbor or friend gives of his or her own free will.  They are saying "I believe in you and I am willing to help you climb out and never return to the place you are now."

Where can you start saying "no" today? 

America at Her Best

Well I first heard Dave Ramsey reference this blog post on Wednesday and then I happened to catch a few minutes of Rush Limbaugh yesterday in which he also talked about the post in
Patten Fuqua's Section 303 blog.

This is a picture of what America is like when she is at her best.

I attempted to "share" the post earlier but was technologically inept. So I just copied and pasted it below. You can link there and see it amid all the acoutrements that make up that blog. Enjoy and learn:

Allow me a moment to step away from the usual voice of this website.

What I am about to write has absolutely nothing to do with hockey.

If you live outside of Nashville, you may not be aware, but our city was hit by a 500-year flood over the last few days. The national news coverage gave us 15 minutes, but went back to focusing on a failed car bomb and an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. While both are clearly important stories, was that any reason to ignore our story? It may not be as terror-sexy as a failed car bomb or as eco-sexy as an oil spill, but that’s no reason to be ignored.

The Cumberland River crested at its highest level in over 80 years. Nashville had its highest rainfall totals since records began. People drowned. Billions of dollars in damage occurred. It is the single largest disaster to hit Middle Tennessee since the Civil War. And yet…no one knows about it.

Does it really matter? Eventually, it will…as I mentioned, there are billions of dollars in damage. It seems bizarre that no one seems to be aware that we just experienced what is quite possibly the costliest non-hurricane disaster in American history. The funds to rebuild will have to come from somewhere, which is why people need to know. It’s hard to believe that we will receive much relief if there isn’t a perception that we need it.

But let’s look at the other side of the coin for a moment. A large part of the reason that we are being ignored is because of who we are. Think about that for just a second. Did you hear about looting? Did you hear about crime sprees? No…you didn’t. You heard about people pulling their neighbors off of rooftops. You saw a group of people trying to move two horses to higher ground. No…we didn’t loot. Our biggest warning was, “Don’t play in the floodwater.” When you think about it…that speaks a lot for our city. A large portion of why we were being ignored was that we weren’t doing anything to draw attention to ourselves. We were handling it on our own.

Some will be quick to find fault in the way rescue operations were handled, but the fact of the matter is that the catastrophe could not have been prevented and it is simply ignorant beyond all reason to suggest otherwise. It is a flood. It was caused by rain. You can try to find a face to stick this tragedy to, but you’ll be wrong.

Parts of Nashville that could never even conceivably be underwater were underwater. Some of them still are. Opry Mills and the Opryland Hotel are, for all intents and purposes, destroyed. People died sitting in standstill traffic on the Interstate. We saw boats going down West End. And, of course, we all saw the surreal image of the portable building from Lighthouse Christian floating into traffic and being destroyed when cars were knocked into it. I’m still having trouble comprehending all of it.

And yet…life will go on. We’ll go back to work, to school, to our lives…and we’ll carry on. In a little over a month, I’ll be on this website talking about the draft. In October, we’ll be discussing the new Predators’ season with nary a thought of these past few days. But in a way, they changed everyone in this town. We now know that that it can happen to us…but also know that we can handle it.

Because we are Nashville

Hooray for Post Cereals!

I love cereal.

Where I come from, we drag out our words but we compensate for it by shortening them. So it's a shorter word or phrase but by the time we insert the drawl it takes about as long to say it as it normally would. So we call it seerl.

Unlike the rest of my immediate family, I am NOT a breakfast cereal man.

R. and the kids could eat cereal for breakfast most every day and be satisfied. I, on the other hand, consider inferior, any breakfast that doesn't include cheese and a generous helping of animal fat.

I like my cereal at night as a just-before-bed snack.

There is something compelling about the literature on cereal boxes.

How many times have you munched a rhythm with your Captain Crunch as you read off the ingredients ..."SUGAR, corn starch, riboflavin, artificial color, artificial flavor, artificial ...."

Some savvy marketers have harnessed the power of the cereal box and have used it as a billboard for various movies or action figures. Other cereal companies have somehow absolved their conscience of all the guilt associated with being associated with an industrial concern in a capitalistic society and so they have used the cereal box to promote "awareness" . . . . environmental concerns, carbon footprints and all the other trite that fills our post-modern society.

The other night I was pleasantly surprised by the back of a box of "Honey Bunches of Oats".

I love stories, and there on the back of the box was a story all about Vern J. Herzing, who worked for Post Cereals as a student in the early 50's. He later returned to work full-time and became a facility manager in the late 70's.

Vern came up with an idea to combine all the cereals that his plant produced into one and on a Saturday afternoon, he and his 18 year old daughter set up something of a test lab in their kitchen. They worked together measuring and tasting various cereal combinations.

You see, Vern did not have a job - he had a passion!

Do you know what it's like to get an idea that gnaws away at you, and you just can't wait to jump into the doing of it.

We are created in the image of God and one of the things about us that most favors Him is creativity. Don't you hear the excitement and passion in God's voice in the Genesis creation account? Especially when He says ...

"THAT IS GOOD."

Anyway Vern's idea eventually came to fruition; people came alongside him and joined in his creativity by adding their own ideas. Eventually the cereal was market tested with the name of Battle Creek Cereal . . . that name didn't take, so they brought it back later and tested it under the name of Honey Bunches of Oats.

The cereal grabbed a big market share it's first year and has "grown to become one of the top-selling cereals in America today."

In the 19th century, an author of boy's books by the name of Horatio Alger, Jr. churned out numerous stories of boys who applied themselves, did the right thing and succeeded. AA is trying to read his first Horatio Alger, Jr. book now, but I think he is struggling with the antiquity of the language. Maybe there is a glimmer of hope that he will be able to find something contemporary that will pack the same punch - maybe even a cereal box.

Thank you Post Foods LLC of St. Louis, Missouri, for bringing back something we have lost in America - stories of the energy and fun of capitalism at work.

PostScript: It is difficult to know how to properly credit literature from a cereal box, so I will have to settle for linking to the website. . . http://www.onespoonful.com/ .

A View of Restraint from a Bridge

At the pinnacle of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge one can get an impressive view of Washington, DC.

There a placard bears an interesting story.

George Washington had the plans drawn up for a Federal city that would be separate from the states as called for in the Constitution. The area that would later become the "District of Columbia", was a 10 - mile by 10 - mile square on the Potomac, taking land both from Virginia and from Maryland.

The city of Alexandria bordered the land on the Virginia side, Georgetown on the Maryland side.

Because George Washington hailed from Virginia and owned property very near to the new District, he did not want to do anything that would profit himself - or even give the appearance of impropriety. So the new President decreed that none of the federal buildings would be built on the Virginia side of the Potomac - only on the Maryland side.

Thus, Alexandria missed the economic boom that would later flood the region.

Washington was displaying one of those "Great America!" traits - restraint. I suspect that I won't be able to fully explore this subject in one post, so you may see it again sometime.

It was restraint that caused Washington to deny an offer of monarchy; and again later, it was restraint that caused him to set the standard of only serving two terms as President.... a standard that has stood for centuries with only one exception.

In the many wars this nation has faced and won - it is that same spirit of restraint that has caused this nation to immediately show mercy to the vanquished foe.

It is why the founders installed three branches of government and a series of checks and balances that would hold each one back from becoming too powerful.

Even as late as Gulf War I, Bush 41 showed restraint when General Schwarzkopf told him that he could march right on in to Baghdad and unseat Saddam Hussein - George H.W. Bush said "no".

It is why Americans can practice the freedom of assembly without getting out of hand; restraint keeps them within the limits of the law.

It is why a neighbor mows his lawn right up to the property line - careful not to usurp anything that belongs to his neighbor.

When offered a piece of cake, we teach our children not to grab the whole thing - that's restraint or self-control.

The Bible would call it Temperance and describe it as a natural outgrowth of the Spirit of Christ dwelling within a person.

I'm afraid restraint has fallen out of vogue in recent years. We see little focus and little promotion of the man or woman who follows the rules - and practices ruling well their own appetites. In our entertainment industry, even the "good guys" display little self-control. Athletes declare that they "don't wanna be no role model!" and so they destroy their lives with excess.

I long for a return to restraint.

I long to see those in "power", once again restrain themselves from abusing that power.

The accolades don't fall quickly on those that practice restraint - sometimes it may be generations later before the impact of their character really takes effect.

I think those accolades are the best kind though. When people who have little understanding of one's culture and dress and hairstyle and technology (or lack thereof) can still recognize the goodness that was displayed ...

...and learn from it...
...and be inspired by it ...
...and quickly teach what they have learned to their children ...

... and then continue across the bridge to live their lives differently on the other side.

Moon Shot

I wanted to write a post about the Apollo 11Moon Landing last night but just didn't have the energy.

It's been thirty years but I remember some things about that summer quite well.

My best friend, Steve - who was more advanced than I in Science and Current Events - somehow sparked my interest in the Apollo mission. Steve knew all about the previous missions, even the Gemini Project.

We commemorated the endeavour the way we commemorated most trends of that day - by pretending we were participating (I never liked to call it "pretending" - preferred to say "play-like"; pretend always sounded too effeminate).



Steve and I built our Lunar Module and the Command Module out of lawn chairs:

We started out the first morning at my house, we stacked a couple of lawn chairs on top of each other in my carport and climbed inside. In the afternoon we might move to my closet which was very dark, as we were orbiting around the dark side of the moon.

We had an alternate set up at his house and every day, the first order of business was to rebuild the command module - it was different every time.

I seem to recall that Steve got to be "Neil Armstrong" and I had to be second-fiddle - Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (even though Steve's haircut more closely resembled Aldrin's). Neither of us wanted to be Michael Collins - the unsung hero who kept everything going in the Command Module while Armstrong and Aldrin were lolly-gagging on the moon.

I remember the excitement of those days. Both Steve and I had collected a couple of official moon maps. These were large folding maps that our bank was giving away (I still have one). We noted the Sea of Tranquility on the map - that's where the LM (Lunar Module) was supposed to land.

I also had a 45RPM record that the local A & P Grocer was distributing. It offered segments from Kennedy's "We Choose to Go to the Moon!" speech along with other inspiring features about this national response to his challenge.

There were commemorative items everywhere, one could purchase a LM Model Kit for only 10 cents. I remember seeing the ad often in those days, "Lunar Module Model Only 10 Cents!" -so I clipped the coupon and mailed it in along with my dime.

I think I was under the impression that it could possibly something near life-size; it was instead a small plastice model - much like the model cars of that day. I never was very good at putting models together but I did get that Lunar Landing Module put together in some fashion. Some time later, I was surprised to receive another package in the mail - this one was much larger than the one containing the LM. I opened it to find two booklets about space exploration!

WOW!

Thanks to the wisdom of my Dad, I soon learned that the books were the first of many that I would receive at a charge. The ten cent plastic model was the bait to get me into some "Space-Book-of-the-Month" club; Dad paid - I believe it was seven dollars - for the two books I had already opened and sent a letter stopping the books. Fortunately, I had helped him wash his car and he let that count toward the cost of the books. This was an early lesson in: "if it sounds too good to be true - it probably is".

Dad purchased our first RCA color TV so we could watch the Apollo 11 lift off in living color. That was quite an experience!

On the night of the moonwalk, we had been to a mid-week church service (ours were on Tuesday nights) and rushed home to watch on television. If I recall correctly, there were thunderstorms and the power was off for a time - but the astronauts were experiencing delays as well. The power returned in time for us to see Neil Armstrong edging out of the hatch and onto the ladder to descend to the surface of the moon.

In 1969 there was a great deal of turmoil in the country: student protests, the Vietnam War, Nixon in the White House, the rise of the drug culture ...

In the middle of all that, some clean-cut, wholesome American heroes briefly burst on the scene atop a Saturn V rocket. And rode that rocket to the resolution of a dream whose seed was planted almost a decade before.

The moon shot was a pleasant diversion from all the turmoil.

"But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?

We choose to go to the moon.

We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things,

not because they are easy, but because they are hard,

because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. "

President John F. Kennedy,

Rice University,

September 12, 1962

Reasoning : Great America Series

Have we lost the ability to reason in this country?

Or have we just thrown away that option as if it really wasn't all that important anyway?


Working in the area of recruiting vocational talent, I have often heard more seasoned employees and decision-makers decrying the fact that often graduates leave college without every acquiring any critical thinking ability.


Yet our country was built upon a foundation of reasoning.


A group of men gathered together to hammer out a document that would properly define their reason for rebelling against a tyrant. Men, fatigued with the heavy burden of representing their friends and families; men living somewhat as outlaws, these men - argued, proclaimed, persuaded and listened -all in an attempt to come up with a statement that people would buy into so wholeheartedly that they would be willing to die for it.

Thomas Jefferson penned their thoughts and the Declaration of Independence became just such a document. The document is inspiring! It was achieved - not so much through compromise and consensus as through the contention of debate. Through well thought out arguments they chiseled down to the truth.

And the document they presented to the world - endorsed with their signatures - was truth...

. . . We hold these truths to be self-evident . . .

That is why people were willing to link arms with the framers and pledge their own lives.


Tell me, has anyone in Washington produced anything in recent history that people would be willing to die for?

Can you point to any piece of legislation, any speech, any executive order that carried with it the least bit of inspiration?

I think it is because we have forgotten about truth.

In other times, men of truth were able to express themselves and their beliefs and together they were able to arrive at God's truth.

Political correctness...
fear of offending...
a prevailing sense of false tolerance ...
arguments that are disallowed before they are even offered ...

- all these snuff out reasoned thought. Expression is shut down. Creativity is aborted.

And we end up with much talk ... much communication ... much action ... but nothing is really accomplished - at least nothing worth believing in.

When it seemed our nation had outgrown the "Articles of Confederation" ... legislators met again in the late 1780's and for one summer they contended over the document that would become our constitution. What a miraculous work they produced by the Grace of God!

They worked through the aggravation, the heat, the insects. They refused to take any issue off the table - everything was up for discussion - anything could be altered.

Finally, they produced a document that - maybe, just maybe - the people of the nation could come together on.

But they weren't overly confident.

In Miracle at Philadelphia, by Catherine Drinker Bowen*, the author records portions of a speech written by Benjamin Franklin and presented on the day of the signing of the Constitution. Franklin said ...

"I must confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve. . . . but I am not sure I shall never approve them."

... "I consent, Sir, to this Constitution, because I expect no better and because I am not sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice the the public good. . . ."

Quickly, name one politician today who would sacrifice anything - least of all his/her opinion - for "the public good"?

Franklin was willing to trust trustworthy men and their opinions and because he knew that their hearts were as his heart - he felt it quite possible that he would eventually come into agreement with them.

It all starts with truth. A common moral compass.

Shortly before the American Revolution, The Great Awakening had infused this fledgling nation with a fresh regard for the truth.

Our nation has been through at least one generation of moral relativism and a constant denial of absolute truth.

I think that is why we are so easily swayed by emotional topics.

It is definitely why we would become so panicky at the threat of a severe economic downturn.

Panicky enough to do goofy stuff - like selling out our liberty, one right at a time, in exchange for the promise of ...

what?

... oh yeah,

"hope".

The neat thing about truth is that it is God's Truth.

Jesus said that He was the Way... the Truth ...

So the Truth exists despite our actions and our emotions and all of our psuedo-intellectual rules...
What's more the Truth will prevail. It always wins in the end.

The forefathers knew that,

that was why they reasoned among themselves;

they wanted to be certain -

not that truth was on their side

- but that they were on the side of truth!

What a blessed country! What a blessed History!

* Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, May to September 1787, Catherine Drinker Bowen. The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1966. pp255 & 256

Practicality in a Parable

I love the practicality of the Bible.



Apart from the deep spiritual mysteries that it entails, the wonderful drama of Redemption and the stories that all point to HIStory, the Bible is marvelously practical.



Did you know that under the Mosaic law, there was actually a Building Safety Code that required handrails on the roof in order to avoid the liability of senseless injury (Deuteronomy 22:8)?



Recently, while listening to Pastor Jeff Chadwick, I got stuck on a verse that was pregnant with practicality; let me explain.



In Matthew 20 you can find a parable about a landowner who hired some workers one morning to work in his field and reap the harvest. For all of my "old movie"fellow travelers, you might remember Marlon Brando and that gaggle of dockworkers waiting to be picked to work in the movie,"On the Waterfront". For those of you that just do not have the imagination or patience for Black & White entertainment - perhaps you could call up some images from "Cinderella Man" and Russell Crowe getting shut out of another work day behind the iron gate. That's the scene that is painted in the parable: guys waiting on the street corner for somebody to come by and hire them.



You may remember how the story goes, a group is hired for the day at a rate of one denarius.


But the landowner - apparently anxious to meet some deadline - goes back to that corner again and again throughout the day, hiring more workers each time. He finally returns to the corner with barely an hour left in the day . . . and hires one more group.



At the end of the day, they all cue up to the pay master. Everyone gets a denarius.



Though they had agreed to that rate, the first hour workers were kinda' sore on account of they were expecting to get more than those blokes that had only just arrived.



Those of you that fall in to the liberal egalitarian class will probably applaud the fact that equality abounded - the "playing field was leveled". What a moderate thing to do!!



Mr. Obama would applaud this landowner's action - might even make him a part of his brain trust . . . he might not even "bail him out" until last.



I don't really like the idea of "from each according to his ability to each according to his need".



That's when I heard the verse . . . and I must admit I was more than a little distracted for some time after that . . . verse 15, in the English Standard Version puts it this way:



"Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?"



There is was, as plain as day - the Bible was displaying private property rights!



This landowner could do what he wanted with what was his.



Though it might have been deserved, I was a little troubled recently by the crowds cheering when Bernard Madoff was sentenced.

That whole episode was too easy of a reinforcement to the popular mindset that no one achieves anything honestly. I am troubled by the way that too large of a segment of our society willing gulps down the class envy that is doled out by the popular culture.



It is couched in phrases like: "the rich must pay their fair share" . . . and "we just want to spread the wealth around" . . . It is evident in the extortionate tactics employed against executives - and their families - recently who received big bonuses.



Many - if not most - well to do people are that way simply because they worked harder and sacrificed more than the rest of us. And many of us have a job now because some wealthy guy decided to pursue a profit and employed us to help him (or her) in that endeavor.



Though it is not the main emphasis of the parable, I am glad that Jesus shared that statement from the landowner, because he is right: he does have the right to what he chooses with what belongs to him - because he earned that right.



On a personal note (as if I haven't already interjected my personal opinion into this piece), I get very frustrated as I watch freedoms ebbing away.



I don't smoke - never believed it was a good thing to do (although I did think it looked cool so as kid, I was not above sneaking a drag on a white crayola or candy cigarette now and then); but suppose today some guy wanted to invest his life savings into a restaurant where smokers were not only allowed but were encouraged to smoke.



You know the answer - he'd never get a permit. Yet cigarettes (thanks to their enormous tax revenues) are perfectly legal.



That is not freedom.



Freedom says: "sure you can build your restaurant and if folks don't like it they are free to eat elsewhere".



Freedom says: "achieve all you can (honestly and legally) and then use your money as you wish: perhaps you will choose to build libraries or hospitals with it; or perhaps you will invest it in such a way that others may join you in your success".

You know, I am told that originally Jefferson had listed "the pursuit of property" instead of the "Pursuit of happiness" as one of our inalienable, God-given rights in the Declaration of Independence. Freedom is not all about property and stuff we grab for ourselves; but everyone that is grabbing stuff is not hoarding it - many will share it freely.

That's the American way.
It's the Bible way.

But it only works when we share according to our own hearts... not when someone takes it from us in order to share it according to their own desires.

I like freedom... and I must say, I am starting to miss it.

Great America Series: Liberty

I am wondering these days - do the concepts that have long defined our nation have spiritual significance? Those "first principles" that our founding fathers prescribed, are there Biblical parallels?

The burning question that I really want to get to but am not yet prepared to answer is: Is Capitalism a spiritual tenant?

Perhaps we'll tackle that question another day.

For today let's look at the simple idea of liberty. Many would say that it defines our nation, certainly no other nation has enjoyed its fruits as long as ours. It is the thing that drew the teeming masses to this distant shore.

We find "liberty" in our founding documents:

" ... We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ... "

self-evident truths - my brother and I once were in business together in a retail store, the woman from whom we purchased the store would tell us "these are things you just know..." in other words there were things we should have naturally just known about the products we were selling. The truths the founders expound upon in the statement are things that all people "just know" though many throughout the world have numbed themselves to that knowledge, having no hope of ever drinking from the liberty cup.

unalienable rights - these are rights that we cannot be alienated from! They beat in the breast of every man.

endowed by their Creator - God. He is the One Who grants us these rights - rights that cannot be taken away.

among them are...Liberty... - every man and every woman in every nation under heaven has a right to be free! That's an amazing thought! Stop right here and read that last statement again, speaking every word to yourself slowly and deliberately. Why is it that only a few nations have indulged in this wonderful God-given right?

Liberty is a right that all sides (Right, Left and "moderate") seem to be able to agree upon - though we can't seem to agree upon what that right looks like.

Is liberty a spiritual concept?

I think so. In fact, I think that true liberty can only be found in Jesus Christ... "whom the Son sets free is free indeed!"

When Jesus embraced His own Mission Statement in Luke 4 He said that He was to proclaim liberty. Galatians 5 declares that we are "called to liberty"; Romans 8 proclaims the "glorious liberty of the children of God".

No better is the concept of biblical liberty illustrated to me than in the story of the demon-possessed man from Gadara.

I imagine his legend graced the lips of many a story-teller around a dark night and an Autumn camp fire ... adolescent boys probably achieved notoriety among their peers by racing through graveyards where this man was known to frequent.

The man was a literal wild man, he could not be tamed. Oh sure, from time to time some band of townspeople would get aggravated at this threat to their women and decide to do something about it. Perhaps at times they had even enjoyed a level of success: capturing him and chaining him up. But the success was only temporary, for no fetters were made that could hold him!

He wandered about in the mountains and among the tombs, cutting himself with sharp stones and wailing in eery tones.

He was a fixture that terrorized the town.

It has been said that given his way, Satan will always go too far. He will invariably drive his victims straight to the feet of Jesus. That is just what happened with this pitiful soul.

When Jesus arrived at the nearby shore, the demons that controlled this poor man drove him toward these visitors. But I suspect that by the time the demons realized that they were headed straight toward the Means of their destruction, they tried an immediate about-face. However, at that point, some sort of spiritual inertia had occurred: the momentum was just not in their favor; they couldn't get him turned around in time.

The man collapsed at the feet of Jesus.

Jesus brought him liberty that day and when the townspeople came around, they saw a much different figure from the ghost that had formerly haunted their village. He was sitting, all peaceful, clothed and had his right mind.

Here are displayed two forms of liberty:

Some would contend that prior to Jesus' visit, this man was truly free! No chains could hold him, he was not constrained by the social norms of proper attire and manners, he went where he wanted, when he wanted. Everyone yielded a wide berth to him.

After he encountered Jesus his liberty looks different; he was free yet he took on a submissive role to his Liberator. He was quiet, sober, and later when he truly wanted to accompany Jesus, he acquiesced when Jesus said no.

My imagination really kicks in when I get to the next part of the story. Jesus told him to go back to his old friends and to his own house! What kind of bitterness would the family of a man like that, build up over the years. No financial support for his wife... perhaps people often had eyed his children warily - wondering if they, too, would inherit their father's nature.

For the man who had been set free, the easier thing would have been to go somewhere else and make a clean start.

But Jesus wouldn't let him. True liberty often requires that we do the hard thing.

Jesus told him to proclaim to his family and friends what He had done.

And the King James translation paints in my mind, the picture of a noble entrepreneurial journalist (something we know very little about these days) that sets up his own newspaper - when it says he "published throughout the city" the great things Christ had done.

So one type of liberty is what we call "license" - a hedonistic sort of freedom; the other type of liberty requires something of the recipients.

Yes. I think there is a spiritual basis for the liberty that still graces this nation (though I fear it is diminishing fast);

The trouble is, too many people define that liberty incorrectly.

The story of the Demon-possessed Man of the Gadarenes can be found in the Bible: Mark 5 & Luke 8.

Great America Series: Rally Around the Flag

I wanted to write something inspiring in honor of September 11th. But somehow, the memory of that dreadful day when three thousand Americans lost their lives through a coordinated series of despicable acts, just leaves me cold and empty.

What followed, however, was inspiring. And that brings me to what I want to post tonight. The Great America Series is a recurring series of posts that involve single words or small phrases that describe this wonderful miracle of a nation that we enjoy. Previous posts have centered on American know-how, rugged individualism and the Judeo-Christian work ethic.

This one is about how we rally together in times of crisis.

I had a teacher in the eighth grade, I think her name was Mrs. Wiggins. She taught American History and her passion about the 1940's inspired me. So much so that to this day, I cannot get enough information about that WWII era.
When I was in the eighth grade at that Junior High School in the small town of LaFayette, Georgia, the Vietnam War had just ended. In fact, I believe it was that same year that the last Americans pulled out, leaving that country to a bloodthirsty enemy bent on vengeance.

Mrs. Wiggins told us that one reason there was such turmoil in our country over that war was that we were not directly attacked. She said that if anyone ever attacked this nation, the people would always rally together. And she pointed to Pearl Harbor and December 7, 1941 as her example. I remember how she talked about everyone joining in to help with the war effort during that time.

That's what Americans do. In crisis, we rally around the flag. Like some dysfunctional families, we may be at one anothers throats most of the time. But you let some outsider come in and harm our sibling and -dysfunctional or not- there will be a scrap!

A little while back, I entered into an in depth discussion with my brother-in-law and my father-in-law. We talked about religion and we talked about politics. Then my father-in-law asked us if we remembered what things were like on those few days after the September 11th attack in 2001. I don't think either of us said anything, but we knew... there were several days in which you just wanted to plaster flags everywhere in defiance of those that had attacked us. Communities were coming together for prayer services; people from down here in the southland were loading up in trucks and vans to go up and help out that bunch of yankees in New York City; people looked other people in the eyes and asked - "are you doing okay?" - and they really meant it!

People were freely talking about God and praying for each other - even congressmen "crossed the aisle" to sing "God Bless America" on the Capitol steps.

It was really, amazingly - neat!

That's what my brother-in-law and I were thinking and my father-in-law's eyes glimmered as he said, "that's just the way in used to be - all the time".

It didn't just happen during acts of war. How many hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters have brought people together in this country? Hurricane Katrina was such a politicized tragedy but in her aftermath, how many people loaded up there tools and went to help? When refugees were coming to our state, healthcare workers, churches and volunteers met them at Welcome Centers and took care of them.

But I think that's always been the case... whether it was barn-raising in the Amish country, or joining together to bring in the cotton crop in the deep south- Americans count on other Americans in a pinch.

I don't suppose anyone captures that spirit of America any better than my favorite movie director, Frank Capra. One of the hallmarks of his movies is big crowds, often rallying together in order to come to someone's aid. Remember Jimmy Stewart and that crowded living room during the closing scene of "It's a Wonderful Life!" - that was America, and Frank Capra found a way to put that into most all of his movies.

In this clip from the last scene of "Meet John Doe" another Frank Capra movie, Barbara Stanwyck tries to convince Gary Cooper ("John Doe") not to jump off that building at midnight on Christmas eve. Well, you need to see the movie to understand it, but what you will see is a lot of people gathering together at a time of crisis.

So what happened to that "rally around the flag" attitude?

Well, the last time -as I recall - it was an election. Some time around the 2004 campaign, political parties decided that a united front just wasn't worth the loss of power. So it became popular for elected officials to speak out against the President and his policies -even during times of war...even sometimes on foreign soil.

Can we get it back? Perhaps.

But first I think we have to talk to people that really remember what "coming together for a common purpose" was like.

The real tragedy of 9/11 may not have been the senseless death of so many... it may be that we didn't come together and stay together when we had the chance.

Great America Series: The Judeo-Christian Work Ethic

Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10 NLT

Then Came Bronson

When I was a kid, our family would sometimes watch a movie on television on Friday night and the theme of the movie would set the stage for my play on Saturday. Once we watched a movie that later became a series, called "Then Came Bronson" . "Bronson" in the movie was played by Michael Parks and he drove a Harley in the movie. My friend Steve and I converted our "Stingray" bicycles into Harley's and we each became "Bronson" on numerous occasions after that. There is a line in the movie that has stayed with me all these years (though I just watched the scene on You Tube and it was nothing like I remembered)... Bronson has found work for himself and the girl that has just imposed herself into his life. It's hard, manual labor in a brickyard - so the girl plops herself down next to a pile of bricks and sulks. Then Bronson delivers the line: "You don't work - you don't eat!"

I must have been eight years old but the line stayed with me.

I later learned that it originated with Paul in his letter to the Christians in a city called Thessaloniki.

Somehow early Americans got this concept. Oh there was a Gentry Class of "Gentlemen" who landed on our shores in the early days. Their very existence was based on the fact that they did no work... it wouldn't do for them to soil their hands with labor. But their ilk quickly faded under the harsh realities that this new world held. If they didn't work, they might not survive.

You Don't Work - You Don't Eat!

You may remember from an earlier post, how William Bradford, the Governor of Plymouth Colony, was inspired to put forth the practice of private property and families becoming self-sufficient. He found that people planted and tended their fields with much greater zeal when they owned the benefits their work produced. And the whole colony was improved.

There is a book that, though it is somewhat dated, addresses the modern work ethic in America, it's called "Why America Doesn't Work" by Charles Colson and Jack Eckerd. One discussion in the book touches on how America provided an opportunity for two "classes" of people to combine their efforts and achieve more... the "working class" and the "intellectual class". In other societies people were relegated to one class or the other. America's system allowed for people to do both. They could be very intellectual and very hard working at the same time. Thomas Edison, Henry Ford... they were among those men of great minds and strong backs.

I want to tell you a little bit of the story of another giant in the field of work and proper work ethics. His name was Booker T. Washington. I believe he was a picture of the "excellent spirit" that the Bible reports was present in the Prophet Daniel.

Booker T. Washington was born a slave and knew the sufferings caused by that wicked system. But so kind was he, that in his book,"Up From Slavery", he also pointed out how the system took it's toll on the slave owners as well. In some cases, slaves did as little work as possible and with just enough care to avoid punishment (understandably); slave owners, on the other hand, became very lazy and listless put all of the work off on the slaves. The end results was that houses and farms fell into disrepair, doors and gates lagged off their hinges, and things took on a dim appearance.

But I want to tell you about Booker T. Washington's college examination.

Booker T.'s College Entrance Exam

As a young man, Washington drank in any education he could find. Shortly after the slaves were freed, Sunday Schools were formed in order that former slaves might learn, and Washington says the principle book studied in Sunday School - was the Speller.

Washington sought out education but when a school opened nearby, his father did not allow him to go; sending him instead to work in the salt-mines. Washington hired tutors to teach him at night.

When he learned that a boarding school where African-Americans were allowed to attend, had opened in Hampton, Virginia, he set out to attend.

After many disappointments and hardships, he finally left his home, headed for Hampton. He eventually reached Richmond, where he found that he was out of money and 82 miles short of Hampton. So he lived under a boardwalk for a time and worked to earn enough money to set out again.

When he finally arrived at the school, he was not immediately accepted. In fact the "head-teacher" just wouldn't tell him whether he could stay or not- for several hours. Though his rearing hadn't educated him on how to present himself, he knew that his appearance was important; he also knew that head-teacher had doubts about his character based on his disheveled appearance.

Then opportunity knocked... the head-teacher came to him and told him that the recitation room needed sweeping.

That tired, ragged, road-weary young man, lunged at the opportunity to "show what was in him". He swept the room three times; then he grabbed a dusting cloth and dusted the room four times. He dusted the woodwork on the walls, the tables, the benches, and the desks four times. He moved every piece of furniture and dusted in every corner and every closet.

When the head-teacher returned, she thoroughly inspected every area of the entire room. She then pulled out a handkerchief and wiped down the walls to check for dust. She found no particle of dust.

The work paid off. She quietly remarked "I guess you will do to enter this institution" .

Booker T. Washington referred to that room cleaning as his "college entrance exam".

I had an opportunity to visit his Tuskegee Institute a few years ago, and I was so impressed with the high expectations the organization placed upon it's students in it's early days. Self-discipline was required at every juncture. There was also a great pressing toward self-sufficiency. This was manifested in the fact that the very bricks that made up the many buildings on campus were manufactured right there on campus.

Booker T. Washington - a man that would work so hard just to have the opportunity to learn - is an example of that merging of intellect and a strong back.

Intellect and a Strong Back

This emphasis on work as an integral part of man's existence yielded a "common sense".

Common sense refers to wisdom or intelligence that has been tempered by actual experience. I have been told by more than one veteran nurse, that when a new nurse graduates from college - it takes awhile (for some a year or so) to really become a nurse. There is no substitute for literal hands-on training.
Often individuals that have received high levels of training can be quite confident; however that confidence is quickly deflated when they try to put that training to actual use. Once they go through the trial of real life experience, those highly trained individuals will often emerge with a new - quieter confidence, a confidence that is real and solid.

This points up a problem that I see today in our society and in our system of education. There is a strong emphasis on self-esteem; sometimes at the expense of authentic education. Graduates come out with great self-esteem but it is not substantive . . . they may not understand that in the real world 2+2 always equals 4 ... no matter how you feel about it. They may not understand that creative spelling is not really considered a strong point when one is submitting a resume or job application.

Furthermore, some of those graduates have such self confidence that they would not dare stoop so low as to take a job "flipping burgers" or if they do, they don't understand why the manager can't see their great self-esteem and promote them quickly. Their expectations are unreasonable.

In the Human Resources field I have often seen applications with sporadic work history. Often an individual will work 3 months here, 6 months there. They will often list as their reason for leaving: "couldn't move up any higher in the organization".

What if Booker T. Washington had adopted that mind-set? What if he had traveled to Hampton, Virginia with that attitude? Well, I'm afraid he never would have even made it to Hampton. And I am pretty sure he would have tossed the broom back to that head-teacher and sulkily stalked out with his self-esteem intact.

Some time back I heard a sermon that pointed out a misconception I had previously held. Having what I hope is a Biblical worldview - I have always supposed that work was actually part of the curse that Adam brought on the world when he sinned. But a closer reading of the text in Genesis 3 reveals that it was the ground that was cursed... the ground would be hard and would produce thorns and thistles and things that make work difficult. So the fact that work is sometimes difficult is partly a result of Adam's sin.

However, work was going on well before Adam sinned. Adam was given charge and responsibility over the animals and he was instructed to tend or work the garden.

Work and responsibility are God's gift to us. And its yields are multitudinous: self-confidence, exercise, profit, health, enthusiasm, joy, prosperity ... these are just a few.

"Chop your own wood, and it will warm you twice" Henry Ford

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

"Up From Slavery" Booker T. Washington, originally published : New York : Doubleday, Page, 1901.

"Why America Doesn't Work", Colson, Charles M.; Eckerd, Jack. Word Publishing. 1991.

Great America Series: Rugged Indvidualism

Rugged individualism and it's twin giant, self-reliance make up a great part of the fabric that is America.
Though today it is "poo-pooed" as cowboy mentality, rugged individualism was much of the fuel that propelled this country to greatness. It is sad to see it demeaned, ignored and generally looked down upon as mere machismo.

Rugged individualism is the realization that God endows all of His creatures with unique and wonderful gifts and talents; and they are compelled then to squeeze every drop of usefulness from those gifts for the benefit of others, for the enrichment of themselves and for the glory of God.

It's seed was likely present at Jamestown as men set out on the adventure of establishing a settlement.

It was definitely alive at Plymouth. The people worked a common field: planting, reaping - everyone was to do his part for the good of all.
Yet many called in sick - regularly - some from the gentry class hired other people to do their work for them. Some worked hard while others were sparse in their efforts. Governor William Bradford hit upon the idea of allowing households to farm their own ground and raise food for themselves along with the community fields. Capitalism was born as rugged individuals waxed valiant in their industry!

Later, rugged individualism would cause colonist to shirk off the bondage of Britain as they stopped using products from the mother country; it's one of the reasons Americans today still predominately prefer coffee over the tea of England.

It drove the westward expansion as people sought out a "little place of their own". Homesteaders braved the elements, cleared the land, built homes and farms and villages and cities and tamed the western U.S.

In the industrial revolution, the spirit of rugged individualism possessed the likes of Thomas Edison. When he was turned away from school because he "couldn't learn", he went to work on a train. This involved long hours of riding back and forth. Soon he had developed several occupations to bide his time on the train... he sold snacks and printed his own newspaper, eventually he turned one of the rail cars into a laboratory.

There was something inside each man and woman - a calling, a special purpose - and this nation was the first to give them freedom to answer that call! Rugged individualism didn't originate in this country but this was where it was allowed to live and grow.

Capitalism fueled the fires of individualism and self-reliance - anyone could succeed if he just worked hard enough and didn't quit. Our newspapers, our books our songs all hailed the heroes who endured sacrifice, got up when they were knocked down, and through every hardship pressed on.

America has always loved the stories of regular guys who keep getting up when they are knocked down and who eventually rise to the top. I have a suspicion that we still love those stories, we just don't have enough folks telling them.

This concept is not arrogance, as some might think these days - it's far from it.

Self-reliance simply meant that people were responsible for themselves and their families. There were few "safety nets", few government bail out programs. That meant that when all hope was gone and one had truly reached the end of his or her rope, he looked - not to Washington - but higher; he looked to God for help. And God, in turn, often helped through other people in the community.

So the "cowboy" who was all full of pride and puffed up - when he suffered a setback - found himself cleansed by a fresh dousing of humility and he was also reminded that his true source was God. Then when he looked across the way, he remembered that his neighbors were the Lord's instruments of help - and he felt grateful.

Now compare that to today.

Much of society gives up way before they ever reach the end of their rope - fuel prices go up, housing prices go down, rice costs more and it is deemed a CRISIS! People cry out "We're at the end of our rope!" and look - not to God - but to Washington; so legislators hold hearings and look all concerned for cameras.

Help is slow about coming or it comes in some perverted form that causes more harm than good or perhaps it never comes at all.

Now I ask you: this great move away from rugged individualism and into collectivism or pluralism - has it worked?

Has our ever increasing dependence on Washington and independence from Heaven - has that gotten us anywhere?

Are we all one big collective community now?

To answer that question you need but go to the nearest outlet of Americana on Parade: Walmart. Everyone from every walk of life, in every type of circumstances can be found at Walmart.

We enjoy the highest level of technology and communication that the world has ever none. Never have there been so many options for communicating at one time... and its all going on there at Walmart: people texting, talking on cell phones, listening to their ipods, retrieving emails over their palm device... so many opportunities for people to share in community but we're not closer. We are all together, near one another, yet separated by our devices. We can go through a cashier line and if a human actually serves us, it is doubtful we'll ever make eye contact with that person.

How ironic that the traits that we have tried to hide in the cellar and forget about -like self reliance . . .
. . . the things that other nations complain about we Americans, things like rugged individualism that harm the self esteem of under-achievers . . .

this is actually the stuff that was holding us together. The glue that adhered us into a vast community . . . .

A nation - under God. Indivisible.

Let's bring it back.

Great America Series! "American Know-How"

I thought John McCain had hit upon a pretty good idea the other day: Offering a prize of $300 Million for someone to create a better battery. . . then I remembered that this was the guy offering to pay $50 per hour for lettuce pickers a couple years ago. I don't think he ever came across with the cash on that deal so I didn't even bother to go out to my garage and attempt anything.

The premise seemed good - it made me think that at least one contender for the presidency recognized that Americans are problem SOLVERS. But we don't need taxpayer funded prizes to incentivize solution-producers... that's what our glorious free market system does. It's called "profit" and it is the built-in, God-given reward for risk, hard work, blood, sweat and tears!

And that's the point of this post - to celebrate and remember "American know-how" - that national tendency toward fixing things.

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I hope to produce a recurring series I'll call Great America. In it, I will examine single words or phrases that have characterized this nation through the centuries. Characteristics that are sadly languishing in neglect these days. This is my first installment.

Good ole American know-how is one of those neglected characteristics.

In one of his books on the heroic "citizen-soldiers" of WWII, Stephen Ambrose pointed out that one thing that kept U.S. troops moving was their ingenuity. A soldier who back home had often spent Saturday afternoons under the hood of his car - would think nothing of ducking under the hood of a troubled tank (if tanks have "hoods") and get it running again. Their Axis army counterparts might bog down as they waited for experts to be called in or just abandon the tank altogether.

There exists an innate desire in Americans to do-it themselves. Something wells up inside and we say "I can do this!" or at least we have to try. It stems from our sense of self-reliance which is a Great America Series topic for another day.

In the past when faced with challenges, Americans didn't wait for someone else to bail them out. In fact in the very early days, there wasn't anyone to bail them out; so they pulled together and did what needed to be done to get the problem solved.

So American know-how is born of adversity.

Thomas Edison, an icon of American know-how, said "I haven't failed once. I've just found 10,000 ways that didn't work". In G. Glenwood Clark's, 1950 biography of Edison ("Thomas Alva Edison", Berkley Publishing Corp. New York, NY), he describes one of the inventor's numerous demonstrations of American know-how: Edison took a job with the Western Union office in Boston. Shortly after arriving he learned that the office was overrun with roaches. Edison pulled out his "roach exterminator", a couple of strips of tin foil pasted to the wall and attached to a battery, and soon the first victim was zapped!

There was a problem and he believed he could come up with a solution so he just did it. Over a century later others applied their own "know-how", improved his device and marketed his bug-zapper.

In doing a little internet research for this topic, I came across a comment posted on soldierant.net (I know nothing about this site - it just popped up on Google). It was about modern day soldiers trying to find a way to deal with IED's in the War on Terror. Someone had a toy radio-controlled car sent over. When troops saw a suspicious object, they'd just send the car to bump it. If it moved easily that indicated it was light and therefore not explosive - if it was heavy, they called in help.

Ben Franklin may be the father of American Know-How. The man was always wondering, figuring, thinking and apparently enjoying himself all the while. He came up with ideas for streetscapes and city designs, lightning rods to prevent house fires; designed a better street lamp and with his 14 Points he even tried to improve himself - he was a true Renaissance man!

So how come it's "American" know-how - why not "planet" know-how or "multicultural" know-how?

Though I truly believe in what Rush Limbaugh refers to as American Exceptionalism, I do not believe American "know-how" stemmed from some greater intelligence that we possessed. We weren't American "know-it-alls"; no, it emerged because of our system. In America there was LIBERTY to seek answers, the FREEDOM to fail and the OPPORTUNITY to try again. This was possible because our system of government and our economic structure were all bent toward staying out of the way. Sometimes that meant that Americans didn't have as many safeguards, they weren't as protected. There was no one standing over your shoulder to be sure you didn't harm yourself or some endangered species.

Americans had "know-how" because they were free to TRY. They were free to fail and try again and again. In America today it seems that all the powers that be are always trying to protect us from something. Whether it be radon, nuclear holocaust, greenhouse gases, CO2 emission, bicycle crashes, second hand smoke, chlorofluorocarbons, too much free speech in politics, mono sodium-glutamate, or peanuts they are always trying to save us - and built into every protection is a reduction in freedom. With every diminished liberty - we see a decrease in that precious commodity, know-how.

Everyone can probably remember someone in your childhood that exemplified this anomaly. Remember, that pathetic, over-protected child who - like Henry Fussy in "Charlotte's Web" - was forced to stay indoors and couldn't risk a head cold or a skinned knee?

Is that our plight? To become a nation of Henry Fussy's? Perhaps not. Perhaps liberty will come back into vogue.

Once we trumpeted American know-how, in John F. Kennedy's Rice University Speech (the lead- in You Tube video) in 1962 - he talked about how our scientific knowledge was growing at a remarkable pace, he talked about the advances of the 20th century and then he laid out a challenge: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and to do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard!"

He promoted the advances - bragged about them and then established a new challenge. He called upon a nation of problem-solvers to jump in there and meet that challenge.

National pride has its place. And that brings me to the last point.

In back of all our advances throughout the centuries; underneath every example of good ole' American know-how, there was a belief that our place, our benefits, even our abilities came - not from within - but from above.

There was a national recognition that God was our source.

He provided the means for us to accomplish great things. And because our founders recognized God's gift of liberty - they established a system of government that would provide opportunities for men and women to discover, to create, to improve, to innovate... to fix things.

Good ole American know how is God's endowment to us. Let's not fling it away too easily, but rather, let's cherish it.

scene from Apollo 13 illustrating American Know-How