THE LAST FULL MEASURE OF DEVOTION
Arturo Chacon Cruz and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

GEORGE WASHINGTON... 

"We cannot, Sir, do without you"

                                               image from pinterest

For the last seven years I have been telling stories to the five hundred students in the Charter School where I work as the librarian. The satisfaction I have felt has turned into a passion for showing these children how truly amazing this world is. 

We all fell in love with Pale Male, the red-tailed hawk that took up residency in Central Park. 

I marveled at the story of the Great Serum run of 1925 and I was blown away as I tried to piece together accurate facts for our great historical events. 



My first year I had a wonderful library aide that quickly became a "friend"  She was Native American and when Thanksgiving rolled around she looked at me and said...

"If you're going to tell that old Thanksgiving story, you'd better get your facts straight" I was shocked... weren't my facts straight? They were not and what I learned, as I studied and read, opened up a whole new world for me. 

So when I approached President's Day it was with excitement, knowing that I was about to see things in a new way. The history of Abraham Lincoln was so LARGE.  He was truly a "giant" of a man. I had to dig a little deeper before I would appreciate and understand more about George Washington. I kept asking myself... "Why is he so beloved" This is what I found...

In the spring of 1782 American patriots were still celebrating Washington's victory over Cornwallis at Yorktown.  The Revolutionary War appeared to be over. 

Only months after Yorktown, people began to talk about the need for a strong leader to put things in order. Nowhere was the talk more common than among the men in Washington's Army. Colonel Lewis Nicola feared that democracy would not work and proposed that Washington become King.



"Banish these thoughts from your mind" was Washington's reply. He reluctantly accepted the presidency when Jefferson told him...

"We cannot, Sir, do without you"

This is where I got stuck.  Weren't there many capable men who could have filled that position?  Why is it that Washington was unanimously elected? 

Compared to other political leaders of his time such as Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, Washington was far from outstanding.  He had little formal education. He knew no foreign languages and had never even traveled to Europe. Personally aloof, even cold, he was not a great thinker, writer or speaker. Still he places near or at the top of the list of great American presidents.

Washington's genius, his greatness, lay in his character.  It was this moral character that set him apart from other men.  He had firm personal and political principles and he stuck to them.

Unlike other founding fathers, Washington was a true "non-partisan" He hated it when people divided into hostile groups and he avoided taking sides during political disputes. 

During the heated debates at the Constitutional Convention he used his considerable prestige to calm people down and get them back to their main objective... creating a new form of government. 

He was the perfect choice for unifying all of the diverse personalities and holding our fledgling government together.

 painting by Arnold Friberg

I think his Eulogy, delivered December 26, 1799 by Henry Lee, best describes why he was so loved and respected...

"First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in the humble and endearing scenes of private life. Pious, just, humane, temperate and sincere, uniform, dignified and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting. Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue always felt his fostering hand. The purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues... such was the man for whom our nation mourns."  Henry Lee was a cavalry officer in the American Revolution and the father of Robert E. Lee

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

During his resignaton speech in 1783 Washington said...

"I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my Official life, by commending the interests of our dearest Country to the protection of Almighty God."

THE FIFE AND DRUM... 
an essential part of the Revolutionary War

Colonial Williamsburg website

It is widely recognized that the fife and drum came from the armies of Switzerland hundreds of years before the colonization of America. During the Revolutionary War the music of the fife and drum was essential as it became the armies best means of communication over long distances. The fife was used because of its high pitched sound and the drum because of its low pitched sound. Not only can these instrument be heard from far away, but the music transcends the sounds on a battlefield."

Most musicians would have been boys too young to fight in the war or old men who were no longer able. 

On the battlefield the fife and drum corps had the responsibility to keep order and make sure the soldiers functioned as a unit. 

Every command that needed to be carried out would be signaled by a fife and drum. 

Drummers would play "beatings" telling the soldiers to turn left or right, as well as to load and fire their muskets. There was a tune called "Cease Fire" and one called "Parley" that meant surrender.

"Tunes were used to tell soldiers to wake up, eat meals and do camp chores." Whenever a command needed to be spread a fifer and drummer played the appropriate tune. Soon other fifers and drummers joined in until the whole army knew what was expected.

This information was found on the United States Army Fife and Drum Corp website...

http://www.fifeanddrum.army.mil/kids_fife_drum.html

The Fifes and Drums of Colonial Williamsburg began in 1958 and is an elite performing group drawn from a waiting list of young applicants. They begin their training at age 10 and practice weekly for the next eight years, keeping a piece of the history and traditions of the American Revolution alive. 

There are several songs in this clip... it pauses between each one. 

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

from sea to shining sea 

image from pinterest

Katherine Lee Bates was born in 1859. Her father, a minister, died shortly after her birth leaving her mother to struggle to provide for the family. 

Although money was scarce, education was a top priority and Katherine attended Wellesley College, the only college at that time that allowed women. She would eventually become an English professor there.

One summer, 33 year old Katherine traveled across the country by train heading to Colorado to teach summer school. She was smitten with the beauty of the land and the cities along the way. 

In her poem she eludes to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago... the "White City" with alabaster buildings, the wheat fields in America's heartland (Kansas) and the majestic view of the plains from the top of Pike's Peak.

In her own words she recalls the ascent to Pike's Peak...
  

image from pinterest

"We hired a prairie wagon. Near the top we had to leave the wagon and go the rest of the way on mules. I was very tired. But when I saw the view, I felt great joy. All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse."

While standing upon the peak the words of the now familiar song started to come to her. Returning to her room in the Antlers Hotel she finished her poem. It was published two years later in 1904 and immediately became a favorite across the country.

The coast of Maine (image from pinterest)

 

Bates received $5 for the initial publication of her poem, She maintained the rights to control any adaptations but she gave up all the royalties. 

A year before after her death, Samuel A. Ward, a church organist, composed the music that would be joined with her lyrics.

image from pinterest

Many thought it should become our national anthem. Although President Herbert Hoover passed it over in favor of the Star Spangled Banner, it remains a favorite for millions of Americans... a song that clearly rings true to how we feel about our country! 

Katherine Lee Bates... a truly remarkable woman who blessed all of our lives! 

Here are some little known facts about our 4th of July history...

1. The Second Continental Congress made a decree for freedom on July 2nd. It was adopted two days later, July 4, 1776

2. The decree became official on August 2, 1776 when most of the delegates signed it.

3. In 1776 there were only 2.5 million people in the colonies. Today there are 316.2 million Americans.

4. Presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe all died on the 4th of July. Adams and Jefferson died on the same day in 1826

5. The 4th of July became a federal holiday in 1870

6. The colors red, white and blue have specific meanings... red is valor, white is purity and blue is justice.

I SURVIVED!

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Spent a wonderful week camping and roaming through Grand Teton National Forest. It was breathtakingly beautiful. 

                                                                      I was about 25 ft away from him

I was fortunate enough to see elk, moose, bear, and bison. I marveled at the grandeur of the mountains and was filled with the peace that living close to the earth brings.

When I stood on the boardwalk at Old Faithful and watched the geyser erupt, I thought... "God certainly thinks big!"  And without a moments hesitation the voice in my head responded... "Yes, but he also thinks small"  

I smiled because I knew it was true. He cares about the big events in our lives and he cares about our small mundane everyday struggles as well. 

Mathew 10: 29 - 31

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father knowing.

30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

HAVE A BLESSED SUNDAY!

I think I need this for next time!

INTO THE WILD ... 

I'll be back!

"PAIN DEMANDS TO BE FELT"

I finished The Fault in Our Stars (by John Green) and along with thousands of others gave it a "two thumps up." It was sad of course. Facing mortality at such a young age seems so wrong. 

But it wasn't the sadness that made me cry, it was those moments when Augustus or Hazel Grace would say something with such clarity that it rang true for all. This line was the one that literally drew my breath away.

"That's the thing about pain," Augustus said, and then glanced back at me. "It demands to be felt."

We all have moments of pain. Twice in my life I have felt pain to the point that it rendered me completely dysfunctional. 

The first time, was nearly 40 years ago when I buried my tiny baby boy. The pain was so intense that it was not only emotional it became physical. I remember thinking that someone had cut my chest open and forgot to sew me up.

Because I had two young children I did keep moving but inside I was a wreak. I kept looking for something to take the pain away. I felt sure if I had another baby it would stop. It took five more years before my "miracle baby" was born... my sweet Annie.

Home from the hospital and alone for a few moments I sat on the bed and just held her. I began to cry... the pain was still there. I realized that as much as I loved her ... she didn't replace him. It would be a lot of years before I finally knew what to do with that pain.

My second bout with pain came when my husband left. I simply went to bed and pretty much didn't get out for weeks. Sleep was the only relief I could find. 

After a couple of months I found a little trick... I would get up around 10:00 am, shower, dress and drive myself to the mall. I would head straight for Nordstrom and buy something beautiful... shoes, jewelry, clothes. Then I would drive home put on my pajamas and go back to sleep.

The rush from shopping would temporarily take the pain away but it was a small band-aid covering a geyser. 

Finally a dear friend sat me down and gave me some wise advise.  She said, speaking of the pain, 

"Don't fight it, just accept it and try to learn from it.  Keep moving and eventually you will walk out the other side."

I followed her advise. Instead of running around like little half-chick, yelling "the sky is falling" I just let it be. I acknowledged it and I went quiet. I kept walking and in time I did walk through it.

I believe "pain" is a great teacher. It can render us bitter, twisted and self absorbed or it can morph us into a better version of ourself with  greater understanding and more compassion for others.

My sweet friend did not just "talk the talk" she had quite literally walked it. She had buried a 20 year old son, who in a moment of despair, took his own life. She knew more than a little about pain. With her compassionate, soft spoken nature she had reached out to help another ... me. 

"Pain demands to be felt" but we are the ones that choose how it will affect us.