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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

1944

One of my favorite songs never made the charts. Twila Paris sang the haunting "1944" on her Where I stand album.

"He was 21 in 1944
Unknown and thrown upon a distant shore.
Sent there by his mother
With love behind her tears.
Just a young American,
Who chose to rise above his fears.
And as I watche him struggle up that hill
With no thought of turning back
I cannot help but wonder
What did he die for..."

Stop there and think. Did he fight just so you could have a cushy life and security? Was it so you could demand more benefits from politicians? Did he fight so that our country could be like others hwo take over or controll the most inmportant industries--health, finance, autos, energy and the banks (optional to throw all the Jew bankers in concentration camps). Did he fight to create a vast underclass of peronistas who pay no taxes but always hsow up at election to demand the taxpayers take care of them. Did he fight for separation of church and state where the State has all power inthe public square? All these things are the hallmarks of fascism so maybe we can presume that the young man in 1944 fought against such things. What did he fight for? The song continues

"What did he die for when he died for you and me?
Made the sacrifice so that we could all be free?
I believe we shall answer each to Heaven
For the way we spend a priceless liberty.
Look inside and ask the question,
What did he die for, when he died for me?"

Maybe we should go back farther to the Revolutionary War and ask what those who risked everything, what did they fight for? No family had as much invested in the Revolution as the Adams family, John and Samuel, wives, and children. John Adams, co-author of the subsequent Constitution was about as plainspoken as you can get. "The great glory of the American Revolution was that it bound together in one indissolvable bond, the principles of Christianity and civil government." Now that doesn't mean that our government is a substitute for faith or a stand-in for Christianity. But I take it to mean that the Constitution was designed to reflect, as bes tthe authors could, those principles of their Christian faith. (By the way, why do people say the founders were all dieists?) I guess I agree with John. And so Memorial Day is more profound than just honoring the dead. It means to me that I need to join the fight for what my country is all about--freedom put together by Christian belief and the freest government possible.

Paris's song has a second verse that tells where that freedom to be all you can be came from.

"Came the darkest days of AD 33
Struggle 'tween the depths of hell and Heav'n's eternity
Sent there by His Father,
With Love behind His tears.
Only Son, Beloved One, upon whom Hope of all the years.
And as I watched Him struggle up that hill
With no thought of turning back
I cannopt help but wonder
What did He die for when He died for you and me?
Made the sacrifice so that we could all be free?
I believe we shall answer each to Heaven
For the way we spend a priceless Liberty.
Look inside and ask the question,
What did He die for when He died for me?"