Worth Repeating

It has been two decades since that fateful day that forever changed our nation. We vowed never to forget and the implications and consequences of those acts of terror are still with us today. The night of the attacks, President Bush went before Americans and gave a simple, brief, and clear speech. It is not the eloquence or power of it that makes it Worth repeating. It is when it was delivered; on the night of a day we should never forget. The use of Psalm 23 is an eternal comfort and I am glad he used it. It spoke to me twenty years ago and still does today.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was in a very dark place in 1863 when he wrote this poem that would eventually be set to music and come to be known as I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. He lost his wife in 1861 in a horrific way. Still grieving, Longfellow wrote in his journal on December 25, 1862, "A merry Christmas' say the children, but that is no more for me."  In 1863 his son who enlisted to fight in the Civil War was gravely wounded in battle. Longfellow was nursing him back to health at home. Deeply depressed and despairing on that Christmas morning 1863, he heard the bells, and the rest is history.

President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is more than iconic. It is impactful, profound, and inspiring. It is historically significant and worth not only repeating, but remembering. Only a few minutes long, embarrassingly brief by the standards for oratory of the day, Lincoln's speech evokes the most profound idea of the American founding, "that all men are created equal". This principle which is so essential to democratic society yet so hard for human nature to embrace, express, and experience in its fullest cannot be forgotten. In 1863, Lincoln called the nation to live up to this ideal, to not allow the to dead to have died in vain by quitting and failing to bring to realization for all the inherent equality that all humans posses in the eyes of God.

This podcast is excerpted from a speech given in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan at Memorial Day Ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery. It is brief, but poignant and profound and very "Reaganesque". This national holiday is set aside to commemorate and remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms, but it should also cause us to reflect upon what is worth dying for and fighting for and how we might live worthy of the sacrifices made for us. It should also cause us to be grateful for, and to, the men and women presently serving our nation, who have not volunteered to die, as President Reagan reminds us, but volunteered to defend values which people have always been willing to die if need be. Thank you to the fallen, and to those who stand today in defense of freedom.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow captures a character portrait in poetry. One we can learn from. One we can draw inspiration from. One we can share with our children and grandchildren. Published in 1840, early in Longfellow's career, this poem has stood the test of time but is less familiar to us today. That's too bad. It is rich. I memorized it in high school and couldn't figure out why at the time. Now, it makes more sense. Life is to be lived, and character is forged in it, shaped upon the anvil of experience. Steady, strong, true, present, and engaged. Not a bad way to be. Not a bad way to live. But we only get there through the fire and the pounding and the pressing on.

In these days of the COVID19 crisis, it is easy to lose sight of the love and power and sovereign care of God, easy to fear, easy to grieve the loss of comforts of easier days. But the power, grace and mercy of God are real and sustain us. He will keep us and give us strength. The prayers in The Valley of Vision are honest, biblical, profound, and eloquent. They are the product of puritan faith and are beautiful expressions of emotional and spiritual transparency. This particular prayer is a fitting one. May it bless and encourage you.

In these days of hardship, restrictions, fear, anxiety, and disruption to our lives, there is a need to think about perseverance and perspective. Winston Churchill's famous "Never Give In" speech is well known and is both timely and timeless. But it's striking that its not delivered to troops amassing for battle. It's a commencement speech to his alma mater, to high school students. Churchill shares some important lessons that are not merely expressed in memorable and inspiring phrases but are substantive ones that animate and inspire. "Never Give In" is definitely worth repeating.  

Abigail and John Adams are a great pair. They are incredible examples to us in so many ways. They endured much, gave much, and loved and respected one another immensely. In this letter to her husband, Abigail offers her thoughts in two parts. The first, showing her vim and vinegar, inquiring after political and military affairs while opining on what the new nation's virtues must be and what it should look like in the future. The second, sharing news of the suffering around her and her motherly concerns and wifely affection, all while maintaining her perspective and offering her service to the cause in which her husband, so many miles away, was fully engaged. It is a wonderful letter; human, and honest, and inspiring. Enjoy!

In these days of crisis, it is important to comfort and be comforted. It is important to acknowledge fears and anxieties and concerns. But we also need resolve. We need to press on, persevere, endure. The uncertainty, the inconveniences, the real and perceived threats, the restrictions and even the boredom will require of us a "can do" spirit and mentality. Guest's poem "Can't", speaks to this resolve. It is worth repeating.

When times are hard, when fears rise, and uncertainty looms large, perspective goes a long way. We need to seek it, obtain it, and maintain it. This perspective goes by many names, perhaps wisdom is one we tend not to associate with it. But wisdom matters. And never more so than in trying times when conditions and circumstances beyond our control sweep over us and change our very lives. But where is wisdom? With all that we can do as humans, all that we can accomplish, we must humbly accept that wisdom is beyond ourselves. But it is there for the getting. The book of Job is wisdom in the form of poetry. Tennyson referred Job as the greatest poem of either the ancient or modern world. It is beautiful wisdom worth repeating.

Silent Night is an iconic Christmas carol sung the world over for 200 years. It transcends time and place. The simple, beautiful lines and the truths they relay are moving and abiding. The lyrics were written two years before they were set to music. And while the tune is memorable and befits the text and advent season, the words hold their own. It is not surprising to see that references to the singing of this hymn have peppered the historical and fictional accounts of the Christmas Truce of 1914, when German and British troops set down their weapons and celebrated in peace together the birth of the Savior. It is a picture of the power of the gospel of peace and joy which penetrates the circumstances of this broken world and brings salvation.

Too often we take holidays for granted, They become such a part of our annual routines that we simply loose sight of their significance. Thanksgiving is no exception. We are inundated with new recipes, hints for hosting, parade coverage and Christmas shopping. The solemn and celebratory idea of setting aside a day for simply being thankful is smothered. But President Lincoln, in the midst of the Civil War was moved by a letter from a woman who had been campaigning for such a day for more than a decade. And with this proclamation from 1863, he set down for us the practice and tradition of giving thanks, as a nation. Not a bad idea.

The absence of civic courage is a dangerous thing in free society. We cannot give way to the temptation to see our freedom as permission for the individual to pursue their own whims apart from higher purpose. We must want the best we can muster for ourselves, our children, our country, and. the human race. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn gave the commencement address at Harvard in 1978. It was entitled A World Split Apart. And although it is over 40 years old, it is timeless in its potency. We would do well to reacquaint ourselves with him and his works. It can be found in its entirety at www.solzhenitsyncenter.org 

The Wright Brothers, Lindbergh, Earhart, Tuskegee Airmen, Yeager, Glenn, Armstrong and the rest. Americans have a rich aviation heritage. In 1941, nineteen year-old pilot John Gillespie Magee wrote a simple poem that made a greater impact on Americans than he could ever have imagined. From inspiring test pilots to astronauts, from the moon landing to the Challenger disaster, Magee's "High Flight" has been there.

The Declaration of Independence is a remarkable document. The history of it, the process of its formation, the drama, the politics, are all captivating. But its purpose is singular and inspiring: to express the American mind. It outlines what we believe to be true about humanity, human affairs, government. But we too often forget the nobility of the American founding, forget the eloquence and wisdom of the founders, forget the ideas and principles upon which our democracy is built. Perhaps hearing these words again might not only reacquaint us with these things but inspire us to recommit ourselves to them.

The Valley of Vision is a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions. They are rich, powerful, honest and biblical. There isn't a dud in the whole book. This prayer is the first in the collection and a fitting way to introduce the prayers contained here. It is a prayer of perspective and paradox that challenges our contemporary circumstantial way of judging and evaluating our lives personally and life in the larger sense. It is worth repeating. 

Kipling's "If" was an often memorized poem that is not heard of much today. It is considered an example of Victorian Stoicism. It is dated and paternalistic. But both my son and my daughter memorized it when they were kids and discussed its expressed ideas. It served them well. The poem is brief, proverbial, and power-packed, outing the virtues of manhood and maturity. It is worth repeating.

On June 6, 1944 as the allied invasion of Europe was underway, President Roosevelt took to the airwaves and led the nation in prayer. The greatest amphibious assault in history would begin the long, hard push to victory over the dark forces of fascism. Everything was at stake. And the nation prayed. 

Dr. Todd Williams reads from the Heidelberg Catechism. The first two questions and their answers of this important work from 1563 are powerful in their simplicity and profound in their implications for our thinking and living in this world today.

Dr. Todd J. Williams shares a Memorial Day reading of Abraham Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby. Freedom is not free and neglecting to remember the cost of it, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for it, leads to taking it for granted and holding it too cheaply.