Bail out the Big 3: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

From Vicki:

It's been a while. Lots has happened since my last blog post. Tom and I made a quick trip to D.C. for the 9-12 march on Washington. It was incredible!

Earlier that week I had pulled a muscle in my right leg and was using crutches. Not a perfect situation for walking around D.C. And it was a beautiful weekend. Tom's brother, Pat, dropped us off at the Capitol so we didn't actually get to walk from Freedom Plaza. There was such a level of respect for people and our national capital. Most of the signs expressed the frustration of our voices not being heard by our elected representatives. Our sign received lots of double takes: Bail out the Big 3--Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

There were veterans of wars, heroes who fought for our country. Tom and I stopped to thank as many as we could. There is never enough thanks for what they have given to us.

As we were leaving the Capitol area, one of the peaceful protestors stopped to apologize for a worker who was putting discarded posters in a trash buggy. Then he handed the fellow a $10 and thanked him for his service. The only negative reaction we saw and heard was from a couple of gals who yelled out of a metro bus window: Racists! You are racists!  One of the ladies on the sidewalk calmly looked over and remarked: You really don't understand, do you?

For too many years I've taken this marvelous country for granted. I suppose it's like an historic building: you can't neglect the building blocks or it will fall into ruin. Living free takes work and we've had our wake-up call.

God Bless America. Say a prayer for our troops both here and abroad. They are following our Constitution by protecting us. It's up to us to preserve our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Please pray that Congress wakes up and takes a stand for the Constitution.

Congress met in D.C.for the first time 208 years ago today; Why was the Preamble of the Constitution written?

From Vicki:

On November 17, 1800, Congress met in Washington, D.C. for the first time. Commemorate the day by reading your Constitution. Oh, and I came along 154 years later on the same date! Thanks, Mom and Dad :)

The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

This is a beautifully brief, yet powerful explanation for the Constitution. It reminds me of the basic questions to be answered in any news story: who, what, when, where, and why. The founding fathers knew this document for a new country was not for the elite or by the elite. This was for the people and created by we the people, not merely for that period of time, for the future as well.

Our liberties hinge on this document. What a huge responsibility we have to protect these precious freedoms established for us in the 18th century. As a family's history is passed down from generation to generation, so we must pass our American history forward by word of mouth, writing, and living it if we are to maintain our democratic republic as was envisioned then.

I should make a list of the thoughts I have for this blog and try to get to them as they feel right. The military, inheritance, posterity, freedom, prejudice, family, and many more...Mark Twain said one of the best legacies we can leave is our writing. Of course, Mark Twain and others have a lot to say about authors' works as well! For that very reason, I don't even pretend to be an author!

Take time today to pray for our military families, especially those who will be apart during Thanksgiving next week. We have so much to be thankful for.

God Bless America!