YAHOO! I
finally finished it! It took me an embarrassing 13 months, but here I am entering my last post on
The Five Thousand Year Leap. One thing I did notice is that it was less necessary for me to use the dictionary in these last few chapters. Ha! Maybe my vocabulary understanding is expanding?
I definitely recommend this book...even if it takes months to read. It isn't for lack of interest but simply because I wanted to take the time to fully comprehend its message and because I have a full life of books, children, and responsibilities. None of which I regret. This book can be purchased
here. Thanks for going through it with me.
To read this series from the beginning, go
here.
Principle 27: Avoiding the Burden of Debt
Well, the title of this chapter alone is enough to send us spiraling into depression...the emotional kind, not the monetary kind; though that sorta goes with the territory, I guess.
"...when you run into debt; you give to another the power over your liberty." ~Ben Franklin
Hence, the squeeze we are starting to feel from China.
Debt causes bondage.
To whom or what are we enslaved?
- to the one we are indebted to;
- to the fear of the risk of any change in location or profession;
- of our own spirit - conscience and therefore against our own happiness.
The Founders saw debt as a "temporary handicap...alleviated at the earliest possible moment." I think I'll start crying now. IMPOSSIBLE. So, it seems. Though my knowledge of God proves to me that nothing is impossible with Him, but we
must depend on Him. (Mt. 19:26) Ok, I think I'll start crying again. When will we get our heads out of our butts and start looking to God for answers?! His presence is ridiculously obvious, yet we rationalize and deny His existence and refuse His guidance. And aren't we so much better off because our own brilliant (note the sarcasm) ideas? NO.
The Founders "felt that the wars, economic problems, and debts of one generation should be paid for by the generation which incurred them." ...so that the subsequent generations would be free. But now we force our posterity into economic bondage from the moment they are born.
"When we trace the history of the national debt, we find that the policy laid down by the Founders has been followed by every generation until the present one." (p.209)
And why is that? Because during the Great Depression government got too big for its britches and overstepped its authority and now we are paying dearly for it...or not paying. The shackles of debt are locked on us.
Click it and weep: U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time.
Principle 28: Manifest Destiny
"The United States has a manifest destiny to be an example and a blessing to the entire human race."
We are special. We are unique. We are God-blessed. And I won't ever apologize for it. God has set us apart. May He continue to rest His hand of grace and peace upon us, though we now find ourselves in a place where we absolutely do not deserve it. "When we are faithless, He remains faithful." (2 Tim. 2:13) That being said, I do sense that one day enough will be enough and justice will reign in our land. We don 't want justice. We want grace. But it will only come if we surrender ourselves to the perfect will of God.
I hear the phrase "manifest destiny" often and have never known really what it meant, so I did an internet definition search and this is what came up: the doctrine or belief prevalent in the 19th century that the U.S. had the God-given right to expand and possess the whole of the North American continent. This sounded a little off to me...the idea that we are to selfishly conquer ---honestly, it sounds like a lie to me.
"It is extremely important to distinguish between a sense of mission, and the spirit of perverted chauvinism associated with the idea of 'racial superiority.' The former is a call to exemplary leadership and service. The latter is the arrogant presumption of a self-appointed role to conquer and rule." (p.216)
or as John Adams put it:
"I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth." (emphasis added.)
Pardon me, but the Founders' intent regarding manifest destiny is a wee bit different from the propaganda of revisionists and liars that is so prevalent in our American culture today. How important it is that we know the truth! And how inspiring it is! Until this present generation, America has been looked at as a nation to imitate and admire. It has been a coveted dream by a world starved of freedom. But now we are saturated with a generation entitlement-minded lemmings; we have a president who bows and apologizes to tyrants all over the world; a media embarrassed by American success and exceptionalism.
In conclusion:
"The Founders knew they were sailing into uncharted waters, and the knew their ship of state was entirely different from anything else on the face of the earth. True, they had examined every kind of political operation known to man, and they had abstracted from history every lesson and precaution they could learn, but their own product was unique, bold, and filled with the promise of a better day." (p.218)
"Happily for America, happily we trust for the whole human race, they pursued a new and more noble course. They accomplished a revolution which has no parallel in the annals of human society." ~James Madison (emphasis added.)
So, let us never take for granted the miracle of America. Let us not let our guard down. Let us not sleep on the watchtower but be alert. There are plenty who hate our freedom and there is a darker enemy behind it all who seeks to kill, steal, and destroy. Be on you guard. Be in prayer. Be thankful for the rarity of freedom on the earth and that we are participants thereof.
