Perhaps you were able to attend one of the Mesa, Arizona, George Washington Birthday Celebrations. I was the organizer, the planner, the idea man, and the chief fundraiser and donor. They were held for four years in a row on Presidents Day Monday. The attendance increased each year until the crowd of 2,500 was simply too much for our location. The Mesa School District offered to let me continue the event at any of the Mesa schools. However, I declined. I knew that would ruin the neighborhood feeling of the annual event.
At the beginning of our history as a nation, there wasn’t very much to occupy a person’s free time such as sports. Of course, there was no television, so you couldn’t watch a baseball game. And it’s sad, what with the NBA championship coming up, there wasn’t even a game of basketball that had been invented yet. And no football either.
In a Peanuts comic strip, Lucy is wearing a baseball cap and leaning on a baseball bat as she talks to Charlie Brown. He’s also wearing a baseball hat. And a frown. Lucy says to Charlie: “You’re not a good manager . . . you know why?”
Persuading others to your point of view requires patience and endurance. Franklin assumed that people change their minds only slowly and indirectly. Ben would say: “If you don’t win the bargain today, go after it again tomorrow.” Here are some of the tips Franklin recommends for initiating persuasion:
1. Be clear, in your own mind, about exactly what you’re after.
2. Do your homework, so that you are fully prepared to discuss every aspect and respond to every question or comment.
3. Be persistent. Don’t expect to “win” the first time. Your first job is just to start the other person thinking.
4. Make friends of the person you are bargaining with. Put your bargain in terms of that person’s needs, wants, advantages, and benefits.
5. Keep you sense of humor!
The original Founding Fathers didn’t seem to move around too much. You know, sell their homes and find another. George Washington loved Mount Vernon so much that he wanted to return there instead of serving another term as President.
Thomas Jefferson loved Monticello and continued rebuilding and remodeling all his life. James Madison, his close friend, likewise loved Montpelier. That’s where he grew up, lived after marriage and after he served as President. That’s where he eventually passed away.
I’ve read a lot about our Founding Fathers. They were men of great faith, and great action on that faith. I read the following quote and it reminded me of our Founding Fathers, especially George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and James Madison. Yes, and others. Here’s the quote:
“God blesses us according to our faith. Faith is the source of living with divine purpose and eternal perspective. Faith is a practical principle that inspires diligence. It is a vital, living force manifest in our positive attitude and desire to willingly do everything that God and Jesus Christ ask of us. It takes us to our knees to implore the Lord for guidance and to arise and act with confidence to achieve things consistent with His will.” (Ulisses Soares, Ensign magazine, May, 2017, page 34.)
In the Constitution, the Founding Fathers set out a plan for the ruling of the new nation. That plan included procedures should the leaders be guilty of high crimes or misdemeanors. They could be impeached. Yes, even the Supreme Court Justices were (in theory) subject to this.
Do you recall how it is born out in history? Vice President to Richard Nixon, Sprio Agnew, resigned after bribery allegations were brought against him. Nixon appointed Gerald Ford to become the new Vice President, replacing Agnew.
Most have forgotten that Thomas Jefferson refused to make blackmail payments to the Barbary Pirates for protection in the Mediterranean Sea. Our merchant ships were threatened with destruction or capture. Other nations had complied to their extortion demands. “But not the United States” Tom declared.
He sent his fairly new navy to remedy things. They did. They knocked the Barbary Pirates out of existence essentially. Well, he didn’t go quite far enough. The Barbary Pirates were what we today call extreme Islam. Well, some of us do.
I flipped through some notes and here’s what I found:
A Peanuts comic strip.
Charlie Brown, holding a bedroll, and a back pack, is talking to Snoopy who is laying on the top of his doghouse. (Did you notice it’s a red doghouse?) Charlie says to Snoopy:
“Well, old friend, I’m off to camp for two weeks.”
Next frame Charlie continues: “I just wanted to say ‘Good-bye’ before I left . . . I know I’m going to miss you.”
In the next frame Charlie adds: “I suppose you’ll miss me, too. But I guess we . . .
To All You Mothers Out There:
Have a very Happy and Blessed Mothers Day!
Thank your God for all your many blessings, especially for the freedoms you have.Thank Thomas and Martha Jefferson and our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution and our Bill of Rights.
Freedom of Religion is one of our precious gifts.
In honor of our Founding Fathers and especially their mothers, with Mothers Day coming up this weekend, I chose to tell you about one of them. Thomas Jefferson’s Mother.
Thomas Jefferson was serving in Congress in August of 1775. At their break he was happy to return to his home at Monticello. His happiness soon turned to grief. A month after he arrived home, his second child, one year old Jane Randolph Jefferson, died. Jane had been born April 3, 1774, only 3 ½ months after the Boston Tea Party had taken place.