Got troubles?

There are things about government and the progress of nations that intimidate, even overwhelm us.

We forget that liberty is right and good, but not free for the taking.  Most folks have no such luxury as to expect to be treated fairly. Most of the world, in fact, has no voice in government, no right to petition for redress of grievance.  Justice isn't a given.  We're fortunate, but it requires our participation to continue.

Trouble, as I was reminded by my wife; when teenaged government troops break into your house and kill members of your family and cut off your hands and rape the girls, then you've got troubles.  By comparison, when someone at work hurts your feelings or when someone in the community doesn't acknowledge your contribution, those aren't troubles.  They're not significant, not worth the days of anger and bitterness they're often given, and not an adequate basis for life decisions.  They're small stuff, and so are we if that's what occupies our thinking.  Real troubles are things that interfere in the larger context with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, perhaps.

Can we tackle the big problems?

So then, are we swept along by big business, by big government, by the world order?  Or do we establish ourselves with understanding in a place which we can in good conscience defend?  Then, with clear thinking and good courage, we too can dedicate our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to that which is good, and not just for ourselves and our families, but for mankind.

Can you tackle the NSA issues, the FBI's misbehavior, and Congress?  Can you make your faith relevant? Of course you can, and it's worth a cautionary note that going along with the media hype is inadequate.  Is there risk?  Of course there is, and a price tag as well.

"We can win no laurels in a war for independence," Webster acknowledged in 1825. "Earlier and worthier hands have gathered them all. Nor are there places for us ... [as] the founders of states. Our fathers have filled them. But there remains to us a great duty of defense and preservation."