I was looking for something nice to say on this Memorial Day weekend. In my favorite quote books there wasn’t much between memory and virtues. But I did find this quote which really touched a nerve and I thought should be considered in our nation on this day we celebrate some heroes.
“The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas—a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, and the ideals to which we are dedicated.” –Ronald Reagan.
“Make big decisions in the calm.” That’s what Dwight D. Eisenhower said. As you know, he was the nation’s 34th President.
Benjamin Franklin was aware that he was dying in 1790. He was cared for by his daughter, Sara Franklin Bache. One evening a knock came at the door. A messenger carried a letter from President George Washington.
In high school one of the books that was required reading was Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography. I don’t know if it still is. But I do know it had an effect on me, not a major one at the time, but still an effect. Which is saying something for a high schooler.
Betsy Ross was a recent widow, and she was a poor, struggling seamstress when the story goes, she was approach by a team, including General George Washington to create a new flag for the hope of a new nation. It was apparently a secret meeting. General Washington asked her for help in the preparation of a brand new flag, and a new concept for a struggling nation.
Alexander Hamilton said it this way: “The law . . . dictated by God Himself is, of course, superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times. No human laws are of any validity if contrary to this.”