WEAVINGS OF AMERICA
WEAVINGS OF AMERICA
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord...."
Psalm 33:12
"We stake the future of this country on our ability to govern ourselves
under the Principles of the Ten Commandments." (James Madison)
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enought
to take away everything you have.
(Thomas Jefferson)
"Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is Just....
(Thomas Jefferson)
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam is a figure that symbolizes the United States.
Historians aren’t completely certain how the character was created,
but the prevailing theory is that the name originated as an unfriendly
nickname for the U.S. government during the War of 1812.
As the story goes…the term, “Uncle Sam,” had its origin in a specific person, Samuel Wilson.
He was born in Arlington, Massachusetts on September13, 1766. His childhood home was in Mason, New Hampshire. In 1789, he and his brother, Ebenezer, walked to Troy, New York.
During the War of 1812, Sam Wilson was in the business of slaughtering and packing meat.
He provided large shipments of meat to the U. S. Army...
in barrels that were stamped with the initial “U. S. Army.”
Supposedly, someone who saw the “U.S.” stamp, suggested...perhaps as a joke...
.that the initials stood for “Uncle Sam.”
The soldiers of that time equated their United States supplied rations with “Uncle Sam Wilson.”
Sam Wilson died in 1854 and his remains are located
in the Oakwood Cemetery in North Troy, New York.
Let our object be our country,
our whole country,
and nothing but our country.
And, by the blessing of God, may that country itself become
a vast and splendid monument,
not of oppression and terror, but of wisdom, of peace, and of liberty,
upon which the world may gaze with admiration forever.
--Daniel Webster
In this situation of this assembly, groping, as it were, in the dark to find political truth…
how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying
to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings?
In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger,
our prayers, sir, were heard; they were graciously answered...
Have we now forgotten that powerful Friend?
I have lived, sir, a long time;
and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs
I see of this truth, that
God governs in the affairs of men.
And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice,
is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that
“Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.”
I firmly believe this;
and I also believe, that without His concurring aid,
we shall succeed in this political building no better
than the builders of Babel;
we shall be divided by our little,
partial, local interests,
our projects will be confounded,
and we ourselves
shall become a reproach and a byword to future ages.
--Benjamin Franklin
The poet called Miss Liberty’s torch, “The Lamp beside the Golden Door.”
Well, that was the entrance to America, and it still is….
The glistening hope of that Lamp is still ours.
Every promise, every opportunity is still golden in this land.
And through that golden door our children can walk into tomorrow
with the knowledge that no one can be
denied the promise that is America.
Her heart is full;
her torch is still golden,
her future bright.
She has arms big enough to comfort and strong enough to support,
for the strength in her arms is the strength of her people.
She will carry on…
Unafraid,
Unashamed,
And
Unsurpassed.
--Ronald Reagan
“Belief in and dependence on God is absolutely essential.
It will be an integral part of our public life as long as I am governor.”
--Ronald Reagan
You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments;
right that cannot be repeated or restrained by human laws;
right derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe.
--John Adams
I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost
to maintain this Declaration, and
support and defend these States. Yet through all
the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and
glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all
the mean.
- John Adams
“LET EVERY NATION KNOW,
WHETHER IT WISHES US
WELL OR ILL,
THAT WE SHALL PAY ANY PRICE,
BEAR ANY BURDEN,
MEET ANY HARDSHIP,
SUPPORT ANY FRIEND,
OPPOSE ANY FOE
TO
ASSURE THE SURVIVAL AND
THE SUCCESS OF LIBERTY.”
Inaugural Address, 1961
John F. Kennedy
The Greatness of America
Early in the nineteenth century the French statesman,
Alexander de Tocqueville, made a study of democracy in our country
and wrote as follows..
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious
harbors and her ample rivers, and
it was not there.”
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her
fertile fields and boundless forests, and
it was not there.”
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her
rich mines and her vast world commerce and
it was not there.”
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her
public school system and her institutions of learning, and
it was not there.”
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her
democratic congress and her matchless constitution, and
it was not there.”
“Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits
flame with
righteousness
did I understand the secret of her genius and power.”
“America is great because America is good,
and,
if
America ever ceases to be good,
America will cease to be great.”
An American Creed
I was born an American;
I will live an American;
I shall die an American;
And
I intend to perform the duties incumbent upon
me in that character to the end of my career.
I mean to do this with absolute disregard of personal consequences.
What are the personal consequences?
What is the individual man, with all the good or evil that may betide him,
in comparison with the good or evil which may befall a great country,
and in the midst of great transactions which concern that country’s fate?
Let the consequences be what they will, I am careless.
No man can suffer too much, and no man can fall too soon,
if he suffer, or if he fall,
in the defense of the
liberties and constitution of his country.
--Daniel Webster
Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men,
But
A right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature…
I never doubted the existence of the Deity,
that
He made the world and governed it by His Providence…..
The pleasures of this world are rather from God’s goodness than our own merit.
Whosoever shall introduce into the public affairs the principles of
primitive Christianity
Will change the face of the world.
--Benjamin Franklin
Patrick Henry’s Unforgettable Speech
“They tell us, sir, that we are weak—
unable to cope with so for-midable an adversary.
But when shall we be stronger?
Will it be the next week, or the next year?
Will it be when we are totally disarmed?
“Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction?
Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying
supinely on our backs,
until our enemies shall have bound us hand and food?”
“Sir, we shall not fight our battles alone.
There is a God who presides over the destinies of Nations.
…..The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone;
it is to the vigilant,
the active,
the brave.
“There is no retreat but in submission and slavery!
Our chains are forged!
“Gentlemen may cry Peace, Peace!—but there is no peace.
The war is actually begun!
Why stand we here idle?
What is it that gentlemen wish?
What would they have?
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet,
as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?
Forbid it, Almighty God!
I know not what course others may take;
But as for me,
GIVE ME LIBERTY
OR
GIVE ME DEATH!”
--In the Virginia House, 1775
It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often
that this great nation was founded,
not by religionists,
but
by Christians;
not religions,
but
on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
For this very reason peoples of other faiths
have been afforded asylum,
Prosperity,
And
Freedom of worship here.
--Patrick Henry
Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and
happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt.
He therefore is the truest friend of the liberty of his country
who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend,
will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust
who is not awise and virtuous man.
Samuel Adams
A great people has been moved to defend a great nation.
Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest building,
ButThey cannot touch the foundations of America.
These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.
America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom
and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining…
None of us will ever forget this day.
Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.
God Bless America...
George W. Bush
God’s signs are not always the ones we look for.
We learn in tragedy that His purposes are not always our own.
Yet the prayers of private suffering, whether in our homes or in this great cathedral,
are won and heard and understood.
America is a nation full of good fortune, with so much to be grateful for.
But we are not spared from suffering.
In every generation, the world has produced enemies of human freedom.
They have attacked America, because we are freedom’s home and defender.
And the commitment of our fathers is now the calling of our time.
On this national day of prayer and remembrance, we ask Almighty God to watch
over our nation, and grant us patience and resolve in all that is to come.
We pray that He will comfort and console those who now walk in sorrow.
We thank Him for each life we now must mourn and the promise of a life to come.
As we have been assured, nether death nor life, not angels nor principalities,
nor powers, not things present nor things to come,
nor height, nor depth, can separate us from God’s love.
May He bless the souls of the departed.
May He comfort our own.
And
May He always guide our country.
God Bless America.
GeorgeW.Bush
The God who gave us life gave us liberty.
And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have
removed their only firm basis,
a conviction the minds of the people
that these liberties are the gift of God?
That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?
Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just;
That His justice cannot sleep forever.
Thomas Jefferson
I am sure that never was a people, who had more reason to acknowledge
a Divine interposition in their affairs, than those of the United States; and
I should be pained to believe that hey have forgotten that agency,
which was so often manifested during our Revolution,
or that they failed to consider the omnipotence of that
God who is alone able to protect them.
George Washington
Providence has given our people the choice of their rulers,
and it is the duty as well as the privilege
and interest of our Christian nation
to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.
John Jay
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people
whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” (Psalm 33:12)
It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence
upon the overruling power of God and to recognize the sublime truth announced
in the Holy Scriptures
And prove by all history,
that those nations only
Are blessed whose God is the Lord.
Abraham Lincoln
"If my people, which are called by my Name, shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
(II Chronicles 7:14)
Lincoln’s Speech Lives
“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation,
conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation
so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
“We are met on a great battlefield of that war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting plac
for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.
It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate,
we cannot consecrate,
we cannot hallow this ground.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated
it far above our power to add or detract.
The world will little note nor long remember what we say here
but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work
which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us,
that from these honored dead we take inmeasurement of devotion
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain
that this nation, under God,
shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government –
Of the people,
By the people,
And
For the people
Shall not perish from the earth.”
President Abraham Lincoln’s speech at the Gettysburg Battlefield
November 19, 1863.
“The memory of the just is blessed....."
Proverbs 10:7
