Shade Tree Wisdom 7/4/10

What does July 4th mean to you? I remember from my youth, the 4th was always the end of school year picnic. A day to join friends at the church grounds. To play, to relax, to enjoy games and eat large lunches.

The day ended all too soon because people had to go home to do their evening chores. Because most of the people were dairy farmers, and when you have cows, you have morning and evening milking to do, besides the care of other live stock. And the day meant a day free from farm work. The first crop of hay was cut and safely in the barn, the corn was ‘laid by’ (a term meaning it was tall enough now not to need any more cultivating), and the grain, oats, rye, barley and wheat, was not yet ready to harvest.

So it as an excellent time for such a day away. Sure, we had firecrackers. Not many, because they cost money, and money most of us didn’t have much of. And yes, mothers did worry about ‘blowing off your fingers’, but there were no laws about it. And it was a time we really enjoyed freedom; of speech, for worship, from many regulations. I keep telling my grandchildren when I reached my 16th year all I needed to do was send my name to Madison, the State capital, together with a quarter, and back came from driver’s license. No test of any kind. And the first car I drove was a Model T. I never owned a car till I had been graduated from the Seminary. No, my Dad did not supply a convertible for high school graduation.

Today, how different. Many more people, and many of them do not know Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world, and don’ t care. We still enjoy freedom of worship, and are free to speak of our faith, but, as Pastor Espinosa pointed out in his sermon this morning, we are running into the tyranny of the majority. And Satan loves that. We practice tolerance. Sadly, this has been turned up-side-down by so-called social arbiters, who seem to think they alone have the right to say what is out of bounds. They ought to learn what one of the critics of the Reformation, Voltaire, who persecuted Christianity, said. “I disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.” So we shall continue to pray for this land.“So shall our prayers arise, To God above the skies;On Him we wait.Thou who art ever nighGuarding with watchful eye, To Thee aloud we cry,God save the State. 965 LSBGP7/4/10