HE SAID, I'LL GIVE IT 200 YEARS

HE SAID, “I’LL GIVE IT 200 YEARS”

(The readers of this commentary blog continue to grow at a rapid rate because so many of you share the writings with friends. Thank you. Neil Wyrick)

Try to imagine Ben Franklin and fifty-five other Founding Fathers sweltering in Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 125 DEGREES HEAT. It was July but the real reason it was so hot inside the hall was that all the doors and windows were shut as tight as a drum. They rightly realized that in order to accomplish the job set before them, there must be no leaks for either press or gossipers to spread far and wide. Thank goodness they were equal to the task of putting together a Declaration of Independence that has become a model for all the world to follow.

It certainly was not a lack of courage that led these men to chose to become a part of this group so revered down through the years. FIVE, BRANDED AS TRAITORS, were captured by the British forces. Five others watched their homes stripped bare and then burned to the ground. The sons of two of them paid the ultimate sacrifice. Nine died of wounds sustained in battle or from the hardships of war itself.

Many of them inherited poverty and loss of property for their trouble. They were always on the run, LOOKING OVER THEIR SHOULDERS. Sure that what they had done was right; unsure of the final victory that did gloriously come to pass. But then, it could not have come as any surprise. Voluntarily they had put their heads and hearts on the line. Voluntarily they were resolute to the end.

THEY WERE A DIVERSE GROUP. Eleven brought to the signing table skills as merchants which hardly prepared them for what was to come. Twenty-four came equipped with legal skills. Nine were farmers who were more accustomed to growing crops than a harvest of freedom. Just ordinary men at first glance, but were they? For all brought a sense of dedication that raised them head and shoulders above the common crowd.

Therefore, with the spirits of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson looking over our shoulders, let us sing “Happy Birthday” to this great land. Lady of Liberty with outstretched arms, we salute you. On this Fourth of July we will fly the flag that once held a lesser number of stars but certainly no less degree of love for our beloved country.

How do those songs go that raise our spirits in the singing of them? “My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty.” “O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain.” “Oh, say, can you see, by the dawns early light.”

Home of the brave, land of the free. What a heritage. What a responsibility.
It has been awhile since I have been back to Washington, D.C., but I will soon be going again. It is a needed journey to remind myself of all THOSE MAGNIFICENT YESTERDAYS. To stand and look up at the face of Lincoln. To linger by the Vietnam Memorial and the new monument to the fighting forces in World War II. To visit the Smithsonian and have so much of yesterday no more than a fingertip away.

Have you in the last few reading minutes perhaps started to think of that bearded patriot with the steely eyes TO WHOM WE ARE ALL RELATED. Uncle Sam dressed in striped pants, long-tailed coat and a tall hat covered with stars and stripes.

Or, have you thought of the bald eagle made the symbol of America in 1782? Better than the turkey that Ben Franklin first suggested. Perhaps your mind has focused on the Liberty Bell that was rung as the Declaration of Independence was being signed.

One thing is for sure, the world is filled with millions who want to live here; live here in this place with all its warts, a country over two hundred years old and not yet done.

Benjamin Franklin, after he had signed the Constitution threw it down upon the table and said, “I’LL GIVE IT TWO HUNDRED YEARS” He never thought it would last any longer than that because he knew that the greatest danger to freedom is freedom itself. And that there are not enough policemen or soldiers to keep freedom alive and well, only self-discipline can do that. That’s you and I wanting freedom enough we will vote each time we have the chance. Obey the laws when no one is looking. And define freedom not only by how we enjoy it but how we are also willing to give it to each and every one of our fellow citizens.