04.19.08
233 Years Ago Today
233 years ago today a group of simple village and farm folk stood up against the forces of an empire which desired to force upon them its ideals and laws. They “fired the shot heard ’round the world” and after several long years of war they attained their goal - a free and sovereign nation that was built upon Biblical principles with freedom for all. May we all be grateful for the legacy passed down to us by those brave men. It is because of their resolve and dedication and sacrifice that we enjoy the freedom that we have a US citizens.
Now we have candidates to the presidency of the US who would take away the very freedom by which our nation was founded. We have a candidate who denigrates “fly over land” as “bitter people clinging to their guns and religion”. I stand amazed at the current crop of candidates and can only wonder what happened to the spirit of the men who stood that April morning against the forces of a far off king and set the stage for a grand new nation’s entrance upon the stage of the world. Oh that their spirit may spring once more to life in the hearts of my fellow citizens.
Concord Hymn
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood;
And fired the shot heard round the world.
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps,
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream that seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone,
That memory may their deeds redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
O Thou who made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free, –
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raised to them and Thee.