Newt Gingrich? Honestly?

 George Washington, in his first inaugural address said: 

 “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.”

John Adams said:

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Providential agency is to be acknowledged in the Founding of this country and the government was made for, and is only serviceable to, a moral and a religious people.

Hmmm. 

 Thomas Jefferson:

“He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world’s believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions.” 

And, lastly from Sam Adams: 

“The public cannot be too curious concerning the character of public men.”

Newt Gingrich finished on top in South Carolina. WHAT are we thinking??

 Aren’t we even concerned that a man who rivals Bill Clinton for moral depravity may once again grace the White House? I know Obama the Dictator is bad, but Newt as the replacement? Really? 

If the Author and Finisher of our faith cared so much about us, and about Liberty to have a hand in founding this country, will we now say “no thanks”? Will we approve a man who is a serial adulterer over other good and decent men?

If our Heavenly Father took such great care to raise up wise men to Found this nation, can we now be ambivalent to the character of the men we choose? 

What happened to Integrity? Character? Honesty? Honor? 

The definition of insanity is doing the same things again and again, but expecting different results. Is ANYONE happy with the morals and character of our elected representatives these days?

How often do you hear “they’re just a bunch of crooks”? Well STOP electing crooks!

“They’re just a bunch of slimeballs”; STOP electing slimeballs! 

I have not been a Mitt Romney fan; I was last election--come on, John McCain?? I was a supporter of Romney last election, but this time, I’m more conservative than I was then, and Romney hasn’t been my guy; until now. 

I’ve been in an lengthy discussion on Facebook about forgiveness, and how I’m not being forgiving of Newt; well, *I* don’t have any reason to forgive Newt, he hasn’t done anything TO me. I don’t NOT forgive him either; he has to ask his Father in Heaven for that; I don’t however have to trust him one way or the other; here’s what I do know: 

Doctrine and Covenants 82:3

“For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation.” 

And that’s not about forgiving Newt Gingrich; it’s about US. 

Could we say, as American’s with a divine document as our foundation, that much has been given? Can we honestly doubt the hand of God in our government? Our Founding Father’s believed it, are we so much more “enlightened” that we can safely shun that ideal?
Much HAS been given to us, and MUCH is expected of us in return; how we  handle the reigns of liberty will be weighed against us just as readily as any other sin we might commit. Do not take lightly the trust your Heavenly Father has placed in you, and do not take lightly the responsibility to be “curious about our public men.” 

If we can’t be too careful, as Sam Adams reminds us, how is it that someone who has cheated on two wives can be trusted to not be a liar and a cheat again?

Can we trust a person, man or woman, who has had a $300,000 ethics fine while serving in the public trust? I say no. 

I don’t understand how Newt can be favored over two men of valiant character; how can Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney both be rejected for Newt the slimeball? 

Heavenly Father IS mindful, and if we aren’t careful, if we don’t hold our elected representatives to a higher standard, one that we should hold ourselves to, then not only will he be our “elected representative”, but he will be a representation of how far American’s have sunk morally. 

Proverbs 3:5-6:

“5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” 

Pray for guidance, and look to George Washington as a model for our public men and women; use the General as the example to measure the others against.

The “Indispensible Man” is needed once again. Now.  Even yesterday.

What a Wonderful Book Year it Was

Well, I’m a tad embarrassed. I exceeded my reading goal by a wide margin; not because I meant to, but because I got the numbers wrong. 

You see, I thought I’d given myself the goal of 40 books, so to have read 43 was over, but nothing spectacular. I just went to check my booklist post from January, and found that I’d only committed to THIRTY books, not forty. Wow. How lame am I? 

So, yes, I read 43 books this year; some new to me authors, some old favorites, and a couple “Several days of my life I will never get back” books. 

I find I adore Gene Stratton-Porter; I’d read “Laddie: A True Blue Story” for the second time, and was asked if I’d ever read “The Girl of the Limberlost”; I said I hadn’t, and was encouraged to do so--thank you Anne! I devoured it, and moved on to four more GSP books in than six weeks. Wow.

Courage, compassion, honor, integrity, endurance, love, tenderness; all this and more are embodied in her novels, at least these six that I read.

I highly, highly recommend them. 

This was my first experience reading any Kipling; I think I’d tried once before and was not impressed and put the book away. I decided this year, that I knew “The Jungle Book” (you know, because of Disney, we know the Jungle Book, right?), and decided to give it a try. Boy was I surprised. What Disney gave us was a FRACTION of the story, and there are several OTHER stories that I had no idea were from “The Jungle Book”. I loved it, and will not ever trust Disney again to give me the whole story.

That being said, I loved it enough to go on to read “Captains Courageous” also by Kipling; I can’t say that I LOVED this book, but I can say that I have a greater appreciation for Kipling and I love the WAY he writes; I will be adding “Kim” to my reading list soon, maybe not this year, but soon.One that didn’t make the list, because I can’t officially say I “finished” it is “The Last of the Mohicans” by Hawthorne; {gasp} what a boring book!  If you loved it, I’m so sorry,  but I hated it! We listened to it going cross country last summer, and I COULD NOT stay awake; boring and confusing ( I fully admit that the confusion may be because I kept falling asleep, but my husband was driving and HE was bored and confused too); never again. Done.

Another one I hated was “Redwall”; I know, I know, don’t throw rocks, but BAH! What a boring book. I did finish it, because it was the first book of the New Year that I was reading and I HAD to, but good grief, I’ll not read the rest of the series, no thanks. 

I read several of the Narnia books, and that’s like a visit with an old friend-although we’ve only been acquainted for about 6 years, they go deep into my heart and will live there a good, long time.

As usual, I read plenty of non-fiction, which is my favorite place to be; there is great evil coming, but there is great strength and courage to draw from.
If I could recommend one, it would be “The Real Thomas Jefferson”; how I love this man.  The picture that has been painted of this great man through years of Progressive led education is made up of lies and distortions; read this book.

I also recommend “The Coming Insurrection” by the Invisible Committee; this book details the evil that was coming and is now here; the occupy movement handbook if you will.

Another one I highly recommend is “How Evil Works” by David Kupelian; I was enlightened on how evil grabs us, and how to watch for the snares. 

On to 2012. 

 I’m reading Glenn Beck’s “Being George Washington” right now, and so far I love it; I also have several holdovers that I didn’t get to in 2011, two of which I’m in the middle of, and while they are fabulous, I can’t go too fast, because there is SO much to take in; “An Enemy Hath Done This” by Ezra Taft Benson, and “Original Intent” by David Barton. Both highly recommended, thus far.

I also want to get to “Jesus the Christ” by James E. Talmadge this year as well as “George Washington’s Sacred Fire” by Peter Lillback.

I have a whole stack, I suppose I should get busy! 

I think this year my goal WILL be forty, obviously I can make it. giggle. 

All in all, it was a wonderful book year. How about you? What did you read? 

Happy New Year, go get a book!!

Change is Our Only Hope

You might think, from the title that I’m referring to Obama’s mantra of “Hope” and “Change”; in a sense I am. I had posted “‘Change’ is our only ‘Hope’” as my Facebook status the other day; at least that’s how it started.

I realized afterwards that it goes much, much deeper than just who gets elected as the next President.

The Thirteen Colonies were established because there is, deep within each of us, a yearning for Liberty; and religious liberty was a primary concern.  With these liberties available here, religion flourished, and by the time the Declaration of Independence was signed, the colonies were a patchwork of religious sects; diversity wasn’t even a catchword then. 

John Adams said “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

He meant it; most of our Founding Fathers also meant it. 

Read the writings of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Samuel Adams and others; they believed in “Divine Providence” and “the Invisible Hand” guiding the fortunes of America, and the need for us to be a moral people for the republic to flourish; the history we’ve all been taught in public schools is wrong.  

 2 Corinthians 3:17 tells us:
“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty.  

Look back over the ages past, and you’ll notice that the United States of America, the Republic we were blessed to be born in, has enjoyed the longest and most prosperous union of any other nation in the history of the WORLD. Why?

Because of the Judeo-Christian principles that permeated society for the first 100 years; this was the unquestioned standard until the middle of the last century; God was present and accepted and cherished. 

Fast forward nearly 160 years after the signing of the Constitution; religion came under attack, and in doing so put the Republic in peril. Knowing what we know, these being the Last Days, this really isn’t a surprise.

The march of anti-religious sentiment has kept a steady pace with prayer being forbidden in most any public institution.  

How did we get here? What can we do? 

It started simply enough 1947, when the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) essentially “federalized” the First Amendment; it has been turned AGAINST the people and AGAINST the states since that time, completely turning the meaning on its head, despite the writings of the Framers of the Constitution and those we consider the Founding Fathers. 

First Amendment
“Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

It’s very simple.

There are many cases, but one highlights the blatant disregard given to the Framers:

In the case “Lee vs. Weisman; 1992”, (prayer at school graduations), Justice Souter, in a most arrogant assessment, dismissing historical precedent, claimed that the Framers of the Constitution “simply did not share a common understanding of the ‘Establishment Clause’” and that they tended to “raise constitutional ideals one day and turn their back the next.”

Justice Souter claims to know more about the Constitution and the INTENT of the Framers than they themselves knew and meant and WROTE ABOUT. Incredible. 

Thomas Jefferson was rightly concerned about a Federal judiciary; he said “The Constitution…is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary which they may twist and shape into any form they please.”
He was spot on. 

We, as a populace got lazy; and by and large, we let this happen; we remained silent while this precious liberty has all but evaporated.

I found this in 1 Corinthians 8:9:
“But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.” 

We were weak; we let others handle the burdens of liberty and they had (and have still today) an agenda; in league with the Enemy of all mankind.

We were not diligent in our stewardship over the Constitution of the United States of America, and we got Justices like Souter as a reward-and he’s just the example of the day. I suggest you read “Original Intent” by David Barton; no revisionist history here; only original sources, quotes and examples. It’s quite enlightening. 

Do you realize that at the start of 2012, FORTY THOUSAND new laws were put on the books across the country? FORTY THOUSAND new flaxen threads, to bind your liberties, all across these fruited plains. 

How do we save our beloved Republic? 

Here’s what Moroni did in Alma 46:

12 "And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole. 

13 And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land" 

I’m not asking that you rip your clothing and place it on a pole for your neighbors to see; I am asking that you behave like Christians. I’d love it if you found my brand of Christianity to your liking, but that’s not even what this is about. It’s about BEHAVING in a Christlike fashion. Help others to see that being good, and kind and honest and trustworthy is a worthy goal. Loving your fellowman regardless of the differences you may have between you. The best way to convert someone to your way of thinking is to be what you profess to be. 

Insist on prayer in your home; when you have company over, have a family prayer with them before they leave; let them know that you value God, and that you value them.

We have to change OUR hearts, OUR minds, and OUR examples before we can hope to influence a nation.

I heard someone on Glenn Beck’s program today say that he didn’t believe that God cares much about elections. I vehemently disagree. 

Doctrine and Covenants 101:
77 “According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles.”

80 “And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood. 

If our Heavenly Father isn’t interested in elections, he wouldn’t have given us a Divine document that needed preservation, and set up within that document the methods for election, nor would he have “raised up” wise men as an example to us. I believe God cares very much about elections, about the United States of American and about Liberty. 

“Our God, our religion, our freedom, our peace, our wives and our children”’ these are the things that matter; notice that Moroni puts liberty as third on the list of things to fight for AFTER our God and our religion. Mighty important.Throughout history, when people leave God, God leaves them; change is our only hope, and it starts with us.

Just for Today

It’s New Year’s Day again, and just for today, I’m going to pretend that everything is perfect.

I’m going to pretend that I’m a fabulous cook, that I’m back into my “real” clothes; I’m going to pretend that I’m a tidy housekeeper and I’m going to pretend that I’m a fabulous Constitutionalist and historian.

I’m even going to pretend that the world isn’t on fire. 

Just for today. 

May you have a Happy, Blessed and Prosperous New Year!

A Day of Publick Thanksgiving and Prayer

It's time for George Washington's first Thanksgiving Proclamation again; I know I posted it last year, but my heart is so tender toward the General that I feel impressed to share it again.
People will tell you that Mr. Washington was not a man of God. I beg to differ. He was sincere in his devotion and his understanding of the role that Divine Providence played was deep.
Please read his words, take them into your heart and find the way to make yourself a better person by taking his advice.
His initial goal was to make the day one of service to our God. He wasn't telling us which God to serve, only that we must be filled with the idea that we owe EVERYTHING to Him who lends us breath, and on this, Thanksgiving Day, we should be in the attitude of continual prayer.

We are at a place in our country now, that prayers by all of us are needed to restore the Constitution and to steer us away from Communism. Please, I know it's evolved into a day of football and family, make time today to pray fervently to your Father in Heaven, not only in gratitude for the magificent blessings we have both personally and as a nation, but also in humble supplication for the restoration of our Republic.

I give you George Washington's First Thanksgiving Proclamation; it's not long, please read it.

God Bless you on this day of Thanksgiving.
WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:
NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

Source: The Massachusetts Centinel, Wednesday, October 14, 1789

Gettysburg Address

On this day, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln gave a most moving speech; for us, today it is a touchstone for our time.

Many revile Lincoln, having suspended states rights and abolished slavery which stepped on "property rights"; I would like to posit that Lincoln was acting as God would have him do. He was a prayerful man, and it is my firm belief that he was acting according to the spirit. He restored states rights in the end and righted a terrible wrong as well. Until we meet God face to face, and the questions of the ages are answered, I will hold Lincoln in high regard, and bless his name for all the good that he did.

Lincoln's words resonate with us, because of the times in which we find ourselves. These are dark times, with evil growing around us. Communism is on the rise and we have "king-men" elected to high places. Many have died for the freedoms that these evil and designing men which to usurp; let us not forget their bravery, their sacrifice, but rise up and take back the government from those who would bind us into modern day slavery.

I have been to this battlefield, the spirit is strong there; those who have sacrificed are continuing participants still in the cause of freedom.

Gettysburg; November 19, 1863

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

Food Freedom and You

Please read this article; it's frightening in it' scope. An activist judge has defined your rights.

Is Your Choice of Food a Fundamental Right?

Please, please, please, read this and pass it on. Make the power of the Social Network work for us.

The Loss of Liberties and Resources

I've been pondering lately the loss of our Liberties around the country. Have you noticed it too?

By small and seemingly inconsequential methods, the government is encroaching further and further into our lives; taking more and more of our liberties and our resources, without our consent, "for the greater good".

Take today for example. I went to the local hardware big box store--it's called Jerry's; if you get over my way, check out Jerry's, they are fabulous!

Anyway, we bought a gallon of paint for a project we're engaged in. As of July 1, 2010 a seventy-five cent charge has been added to the purchase of a gallon of paint. The fees will be collected at the time of purchase by all companies who sell paint in the State of Oregon. These fees will be used by PaintCare.org to fund the recycling & disposal of architectural paint. There are various fees, for various amounts of paint.

I don't WANT to pay SEVENTY-FIVE cents a GALLON to fund this non-profit company; I don't want to pay for a program I will NOT BE USING! I don't recycle paint. I SAVE paint. I USE my paint. I won't BE PARTICIPATING, so why should I have to pay a SEVENTY-FIVE cents PER GALLON OF PAINT????

Because I live in Leftistville, I am FORCED to participate in a program that I'm not interested in using. This has taken away my liberties and my resources.

Let's say I plan to use 10 gallons of paint. The 1-5 gal fee is $1.60; I certainly HOPE that means $1.60 for the ENTIRE 5 gallons, but this is Leftistville in which I live, so there is really no telling from the way it's worded. So, I use 10 gallons and am forced to pay $3.20 ON TOP OF THE COST OF MY PAINT for some government worker to do WHAT with it? Hand it out??? Sell it??? It's MY MONEY!

This is what Frederic Bastiat called "Legalized Plunder" my friends. It's MY THREE DOLLARS AND TWENTY CENTS! I no longer have the FREEDOM to use that money in the marketplace for my own pursuit of happiness. My resources have been stolen from me against my will to go to a program that I WILL NOT BENEFIT FROM.

Our Founders recognized one of our basic rights was the pursuit of happiness; with additional readings from Leonard E. Read founder of The Foundation for Economic Education, I have come to understand that the pursuit of happiness means essentially, the right to the use of the fruits of my labor. Some legislator, some bureaucrat somewhere, pushed by the enviro-wacko lobbyists has stolen the fruits of my labors to the tune of SEVENTY-FIVE cents a gallon.

Even at the rate of $1.60 for five gallons, if I use two of those for a total of $3.20, that's at least a gallon of milk that my family would not be able to purchase.

This is how they get us folks. Make things so difficult, so cumbersome and expensive that eventually, the population will turn to the government to live. That's what they want.

Think of all the "fees" and "taxes" that seem small, but add up to a whopping number individually and as a family. They are slowly but surely squeezing the middle class.

Watch for other encroachments; watch carefully, you’ll be amazed at how much we’ve given up by those flaxen cords.

I urge you to contact this paint recovery program and complain. I wrote a letter asking how I could opt out and I hope you do too.

Contact Paintcare:

Alison Keane, Executive Director
1500 Rhode Island Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-719-3703

akeane@paint.org

Independence Day!

Yesterday in church we sang “America the Beautiful” for our opening hymn; I don’t think I’ve sung that fully since grade school. As you may have guessed, I have a few thoughts.

The first verse, we’ve all heard, I’m putting an asterisk at the beginning of the chorus: 

“Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties, above the fruited plain! *America! America! God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.” 

The second verse is where it gets interesting:
“Oh beautiful for pilgrim feet, whose stern impassioned stress a thoroughfare of freedom beat across the wilderness!

*America! America! God mend thine every flaw, confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law.” 

Do you see it? It’s almost a prayer! “God mend thine every flaw”

As if to say “We know we’re not perfect, but we implore God to make us better!” 

Ok, let’s go on:

“Oh beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life! *America! America! May God thy gold refine, till all success be nobleness, and every gain divine.”

There it is again, this time, a hope that God will refine us and make us the best we can be! 

Now the fourth verse:

“Oh beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years, thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears! *America! America! God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.” 

The expectation of the future; we will grow and prosper in our freedom, and not even the grief we may experience will dim the light of our Republic. 

Now I’m fully aware that you may see these verses differently; that you may not have the same message that I got today; but the spirit bore witness to me today of the greatness of this country, of the Divinity of our Constitution and the exceptionalisim that is the United States of America, and I needed to share that with you. 

As a Latter-day Saint, I know that the Constitution of our Republic was inspired of God; that our Heavenly Father raised up wise men for the very purpose of forming this country.

Brigham Young said “The form of the government of the United States differs but little from that of the Kingdom of God.” (Thank you DoriAnn!)
When Isaiah prophesied about the Savior’s birth, and said the “government will be upon his shoulders”, most people look at that as meaning during the Millennial era; I think it means that, of course, but I believe it also means now, today. We have the document, a sacred document, to rule ourselves in a Godly fashion.  We need to take more time, more care in defending and preserving and restoring that sacred document. 

Let the words to the sacred patriotic hymns buoy you up, fill your soul with love for the Constitution and our Founding Fathers. They’ve left us a legacy that is hanging by a thread; let’s not let it break.

Memorial Day: A History

I found these two excerpts in an old book that I have on my shelf; it’s my “go to” book for wonderful thoughts on Memorial Day.

As I ponder the great and ultimate sacrifice of so many, I feel the only thing I can do is pray for our beloved Republic, and say God Bless the United States of America. May she endure the assault from within, and remain the shining light on the hill.

Memorial Day is a creation growing out of the sentiment of the times in which it originated. It has been the custom in several countries of the Old World to decorate the graves of soldiers, but in no other country is it made a day of national observance as it is no known in the north and south of the United States. Its observance at first grew spontaneously from the tender rememberance of the relatives and others who survived the war for the Union. The practice of fixing a day for visiting the graves of the fallen soldiers and strewing them with flowers commenced in the early years of the Civil War of 1861-1865. But different days for some time were observed in different localities. It is a well ascertained fact that on April 13, 1862, just one year after the fall of Fort Sumter, Mrs. Sarah Nicholas Evans, with the wife and two daughters of Chaplain May of the Second Regiment, Michigan Volunteers, decorated the graves of a number of soldiers buried on Arlington Heights, VA. In May of the next year, these ladies again performed the same loving service. In May of the following year, they also rendered the same sadly pleasant attention to the graves of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg, Va. The custom gradually became more general…and at length President U.S. Grant and several Governors were led to unite in recommending the observance of the same day, and in 1874 by Congressional enactment, a ceremonial so significant of the nation’s obligation to the dead, they decided upon May 30^th as a legal holiday--now known as Decoration Day in nearly every State of the Union.

 

“Thoughts for the Occasion; Patriotic and Secular”

E.B. Treat; Chicago 1894

The Nobility of Patriotism

It is appropriate and just that we should commemorate the services of those who fought during this long struggle. All nations, ancient and modern, Christian and heathen, have religiously cherished the memories of those who have fallen in the military service of their country. The reason is obvious: to peril life in the national defense is the severest test of patriotism, and the spirit which prompts that sacrifice deserves enduring honor; while the homage which it receives educates and develops that noble sentiment which is the only security for the continuous life of nations. So long as its sons are willing to die for their motherland, so long will it endure to shelter and bless them and their children. At the hour when a people shall be unwilling to abide this test, they will find that they have no longer a country worth saving, and those lives they will have deemed more valuable than honor and freedom transmitted undimmed through centuries of glorious national life, may prove to be an intolerable burden of humiliation, misery and disgrace.

 ibid pp. 119-120