The not so United States was engaged in a great Civil War.
The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) , one the bloodiest battles--over 50,000 casualties--marked a turning point for the Union. But victory came at a heavy cost of blood and treasure.
"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." Benjamin Franklin
No kidding!
And that anecdote is never so obvious as in April, and especially ....
* April 15th *
And that date - April 15th - is a dark day in American history in many ways.
A triple dark day!
And those dark days all started the night before - April 14th.
Let's start with ... * Death *
The 19th century:
The dark days of the Civil War seemed over, as General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox on April 9, 1965. [reference: Surrender at Appomattox, 1865]
April 14, 1965 was to be a good day. In fact it was Good Friday. And President Lincoln was enjoying a night out at the theater when this happened:
The Titanic embarked on her maiden voyage - a luxurious trip from Southhampton, England across the Atlantic to New York City. Among the famous first class passengers - American multi-millionaireJohn Jacob Astor IV and the "unsinkable" Mrs. Margaret "Molly" Brown.
Before midnight on April 14, 1912, the Titanic hit an iceberg, and the wee hours of April 15, 1912, this happened.
We know how that turned out. Currently, taxable federal income is from 10 to almost 40 percent - hitting the middle class. [reference: Tax Brackets (Federal Income Tax Rates) 2000 through 2013]
As April 15th is the individual filing deadline [reference:File Your Taxes | USA.gov], many burn the midnight oil on April 14 to get their taxes done. April 14 and 15 are not good days.
The Beatles commented on some the inconsistency and unfairness of the tax system in the lyrics of their song - the Tax Man.
In his booklet of the same name, the author,Dr. J. Vernon McGee, puts forth three steps that precede the downfall of any nation:
1. Religious Apostasy
2. Moral Awfulness
3. Political Anarchy
(Many blogs could be written, filling the details of the three points above.)
As for the United States of America , one of the quotes given in Isaiah - Thru the Bible Radioapplies to our current state of affairs:
“America is coasting downhill on a godly ancestry, and God pity America when we hit the bottom of the hill.”
–Dr. J. Gresham Machen
And Dr. McGee expounds on this downward spiral with an example in history, a summary from the historianEdward Gibbon of the main reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire:
1. Undermining the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of all society 2. Higher and higher taxes, the spending of public money for free bread and circuses 3. The mad craze for pleasure, sports becoming every year, more exciting, more brutal, more immoral 4. The building of great armaments when the great enemy is within — the decay of individual responsibility 5. The decay of religion, fading into mere form, losing touch with life, losing power to guide the people
The problems we face today may seem enormous and complex. But the problems of the day have always seemed so in other times of history. And clergy (such as Dr. McGee, in point #1) and historians (such as Edward Gibbon in point #5) have some consensus that the root cause of the decline of a nation is spiritual.
Decline has its genesis in religious apostasy as the religious institutions fail to have any meaningful effect in personal lives or provide moral guidance and ballast for the individual, the home, and the nation.
It makes sense that the start of a way out of a downward spiral is to look up. And we have a great opportunity to pull up out of the tailspin - now. And a national event coming in the next few days may just be the kick start we need.
Is it true .... "We learn from history that we learn nothing from history" ? George Bernard Shaw
Are we doomed by our own amnesia?
Many of our past presidents have relied on prayer, especially during difficult days when it looked the nation would not survive. Such words from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln indicate their dependence on God, as in the link given below:
Ronald Reagan also said much about prayer and his faith in God, as shown in this clip below, which gives an insight for his optimism in America, even in the troubled times.
Keep praying for America for ...
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord ... Psalm 33:12 (NIV)
As I flip the calender to a New Year - 2012 - I reflect on growing up in a seemingly more innocent America and I get nostalgic with a tinge of sadness. Many songs express these feelings, as one of my favorites made popular in 1968 - Those Were the Days - sung in this video clip below.
Those were the the days, my friend.
We thought they would never end ...
Not so long again, October 2011, I wrote a blog: America in Decline?! The news has been (and still is) bad for so long that it has affected the national psyche. Even global tweets in twitter show we are depressed: Is Twitter Showing We're Depressed?
And I find myself getting older, but not wiser?
How did that happen?
Let's go back to the "Good Ol' Days" - 1983
I wrote a poem some 30 years ago, which I had posted more recently on my web page: here. Back then, I had been a little then depressed - it was raining - and I was between jobs. In 1983, the country was still in a deep recession as we were just starting to pull out of a national malaise. And I had written this poem to express my feelings - looking back to my more optimistic school days,
Lamenting the "Good Ol' Days"
The past is gone The future dim We lament What could have been!
As the rain Blows in wind We yearn the sun That could have been!
Time wears away As the rain That pounds and drips Against the pane ... What could have been! Dare we say -- Will be the 'morrow Which is today?
(C) 1983 by S. K. Smith
But after 1983 came ...
1984
It was an ominous sounding year with the ring of disaster thanks to George Orwell's novel - 1984. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. Yet in 1984, the national spirits and the economy took off. It would not be an exaggeration that in 1984, it was - Morning, again, in America.
Now at the doorstep is ...
2012
Like 1984, 2012 sounds like an ominous year. Some ancient prophesies predict a year of disasters. According to the Mayan calender - December 21, 2012 will be the "End of Time" (Also, reference: 2012 Mayan Predictions ) And there was the 2008 disaster movie - 2012 Doomsday.
We survived Y2K - whose predicted disasters did not live up to the hype. With the turn of the new Millennium, The Lord of the Rings trilogy made it to the big screen in its latest version, starting in 2001. After the unpredicted disaster of 9/11, the story offered hope for the future as the protagonists faced and overcome overwhelming evil. One of my favorite speeches comes near the end of the second movie in the trilogy - The Two Towers (2002):
Looking back to stories in the past gives me hope for the future. There have been many dark days in our history. Like in the Lord of the Ring trilogy, the real life hero and heroines had many chances to turn back, but they did not. All were hanging on to the hope that there was some good in this world worth fighting for.
These stories still inspire me and we have their stories easily accessible to review in many forms of media. Here is a sample of some of those stories - with video links:
During the Battle of Baltimore and the fierce British bombardment of Fort McHenry, it looked like the United States would lose its "Second War of Independence." Great Britain had offered us an easy out if we took down our colors and surrendered. But we did not. Then enemy gave it everything they got. Against the odds, we prevailed. This battle inspired Francis Scott Key who wrote the words that became our national anthem: The Star Spangled Banner Story
* The Civil War
During those very dark days, it seemed the United States would dissolve, especially after the terrible losses such as at the Battle of Gettysburg. But Abraham Lincoln reminded us of the good that was worth fighting for: The Gettysburg Address
* World War Two:
During the dark days as Europe was succumbing to Hitler's juggernaut,Sir Winston Churchill reminded his people and allies as the United States that Christian civilization was worth fighting for: Their Finest Hour Speech
* The Cold War
During these dark days, it seemed communism was gobbling up the free world, imprisoning millions under dictatorial regimes behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains. Yet, Ronald Reagan reminded us that freedom was worth fighting for: A Time for Choosing
As in the stories above there is still Good in this world and ...
One hundred fifty years ago,Civil War broke out in the United States. In my opinion, this war was the worst war in our 235 + year history. It divided us as a people on many issues - slavery only one of them. The casualties - including both the Union and Confederate soldiers - were the greatest of any of our wars - even the American casualties during World War II - the worst war of the 20th century.
The song below give a sense of the intensity of the fighting during the Civil War:
The turning point in favor of the Union, some historians believe, was the Battle of Gettysburg. The causalities for both the Union and the Confederates was 51,000 in this one battle alone over three days of fighting (July 1 to July 3, 1863). Compare these causalities to the 58,000 deaths over 20 years in the Vietnam War (1955- 1975). Gettysburg was a terrible battle.
On November 19, 1863 - almost 150 years ago - Abraham Lincoln read a few words at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He spoke for only two minutes. But these few words redefined us as a people and became a balm to begin healing the wounds that had so grievously divided us.
Many voices have re-read this speech since then. The version below, eloquently read by Johnny Cash, displays iconic images in American history spanning four centuries - 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st.
Some rank this speech as one of the greatest speeches in American history, if not in the top ten of the greatest historic speeches of all time ... and we are still talking about. And this speech was first given by the 16th president of the United States on November 19, 1863.
The Gettysburg Address is part of America's Story, which is
George Washington was our first president under the Constitution, chief among our founders as well as a great general leading the Continental Army in the American Revolution. He was born in colonial Virginia on February 22, 1732.
And remember it was King George III of England - of all people - after the Revolution who said that George Washington was the greatest man in the world. (Check it out in the video clip above.)
Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in Kentucky on February 12, 1809.
He assumed the office of presidency during a very difficult and divisive time - breakout of the Civil War. Lincoln kept the union together and signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 to abolish slavery.
Again, volumes are written about Lincoln- but students summed up the high points of his life quite cleverly in this rap: Abraham Lincoln Rap
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
"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.
...
"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."
The following 1984 campaign ad sums up Reagan's eternal optimism: It's morning in America again. Much has been and will be written about Ronald Reagan, but some high points are captured in this video clip: Reagan Tribute
In the future, we can draw on the inspiration from the last three centuries and three great presidents - Washington, Lincoln, Reagan - who had birthdays this month. As we face our defining moments may we have the vision of moral clarity and the will to never give up.
And most of all ....
Remember who we are!
Question: This President's Day, which of the former presidents inspire you and why?
