Aren't we supposed to preserve our Freedom?

Question: Does President Obama know what he's doing? Or is he purposfully trying to destroy America?
Answer: "If I wanted America to fail" video;

History test; Part One

     I recently finished watching the HBO miniseries "John Adams" a few days ago. It was very well done and I enjoyed it immensely. (There were some adult content and nudity, so...not a teen or child movie) Near the end of the series, John Adams speaks of his fear of us forgetting what our freedom cost. Here's the quote. If I try saying it in my own words, it'll bomb;
     "Oh posterity! You will never know how much it cost us to preserve your freedom. I hope that you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it."(Youtube)
     And that got me thinking; have we forgotten? Have we forgotten what our freedom cost our forefathers? Have we forgotten what they went through to preserve our freedom? 

*cough cough* Obama *cough*

    
     This made me stop and think for a moment. See, I'm studying for a history test (CLEP...blaugh) so I thought I might do a little extra research and study some early American history.

     Take a look at this two dollar bill:

     Nothing wrong with the front, let’s take a look at the back:

     Unbeknownst to most, the artist John Trumbull, had taken a few creative liberties with his painting. First off, what does this picture portray? Doesn't it make you think everyone in the room signed the Declaration  and were all for Independence? In reality, not everyone fancied the idea of leaving good ol' jolly England.

     "The delegates were not unanimous, nor did they vote as one for independence," writes Gil Klein of History.org, "A substantial portion of the delegates believed America was fighting a defensive war against an overreaching Parliament grasping for power and taxes,(William) Hogeland said. Led by Dickinson, they argued that declaring independence would mean a long, destructive, and bloody offensive war against the greatest power on earth."(Klein, history.org)

     And it wasn't just the tranquility of the scene that was false, it was the people in the picture;

     "...historian John H. Hazelton found four likenesses of people who had not signed: Robert Livingston, standing behind Jefferson as one of the five drafting committee members, George Clinton, Thomas Willing, and John Dickinson. Nine signers didn’t make the painting: John Morton, James Smith, George Taylor, George Ross, John Penn, Thomas Stone, Thomas Nelson, Francis Lightfoot Lee, and Carter Braxton."(Klein, history.org)

     Was this merely for the sake of not having enough space? Did Trumbull not see this was an important piece of information that needed to be included?

     And another thing, why did Trumbull choose to paint the scene of the delegates stepping towards John Hancock (The Presentation) when no such event occurred?

     "Historians say no such scene of the whole committee approaching Hancock to present the draft ever happened. Franklin may not have been present.(Robert) Livingston, who opposed independence, for sure was not there."(Klein, history.org)

     And last, but not least, the date; The Declaration of Independence was not signed on July 4th. It was signed on July 2nd.

     "The committee delivered its draft June 28, and it lay on the table while the delegates debated something more important—whether to vote for independence. Declaring the result would come after. Congress voted for independence July 2, not July 4. True, it approved the Declaration on the fourth. But that was not the main event. The independence vote was separate from the vote to approve the Declaration."(Klein, history.org)

     As I sat on the couch, reading these articles, my mind began shooting out question after question after question; why was this scene changed and depicted differently then what really happened? What was Trumbull thinking when he altered "history"? How much more of our American history has been altered and changed to fit our standards of "noble" and "poetic"? If this little piece of history, (that seems somewhat trivial in the grand scheme of things) has been altered, how much more of our past has been changed? Just thinking about it gives me the shivers. Am I hearing the whole truth or just parts people want me to hear?

     “Do not let our posterity be deluded with fictions under the guise of poetical or graphical license.” John Adams (Stern, hnn.us)

Bibliography

John Adams Ending. Perf. Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney. 2010. Youtube

Klein, Gil. "Colonial Williamsburg." Whatâs Wrong With This Picture? : The Official History Site. History.org, 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter11/painting.cfm

Stern, Jeremy. "What's Wrong with HBO's Dramatization of John Adams's Story." HNN.com. Oct.-Nov. 2008. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://hnn.us/articles/56155.html>

"It's the new me!"

Oh no! It changed! Yes, ladies and gentleman. I have changed the blog look. Truth is, the last design was hurting my eyes. This new design doesn't technically fit the "fire" part of the blog, but at least it isn't "burning" my eyes. ;)

Tears

     My tears fall down,

Falling slowly  to the ground,

My heart,

Aches and burns,

My mind is blank, it yearns,

It yearns to know.

     I raise my eyes,

Looking high up to the skies,

My soul,

Cries to you,

My trust, it fails, in you,

In you it doubts.

     All these years,

I’ve had these fears,

And now I cry,

Tears.

    Something pulls my heart to cry,

Lord, I truly want to try,

To understand your will, your ways,

My visions blurred; I’m in a haze,

Later, I won’t want to know but now I’m asking,

     Why must I, Lord, feel this pain?

Why must I stand in the rain?

Why must I, Lord, stand and cry,

While looking, Father, at your sky?

Holy Father,

I know you’re God,

But,

I don’t understand.

     My life feels sore,

I can’t take this anymore,

My pain,

Fills my heart,

It tears my soul apart,

Apart, in two.

     My spirit aches,

Soon, I think that it will break,

My eyes,

Fill with pain,

It overwhelms my mind,

My soul, it pains.

     All these years, I’ve had fears,

And now I cry,

Tears.

     I know I do not need to understand,

No matter how much I demand,

I wish I saw the good in your plan,

Even though I’m just flawed man,

Help me to trust in your hand,

Though I cannot understand.

     Hold me close, hold me tight,

Protect me, God, with all your might,

Holy God, who reigns above,

Please don’t let me forget your love.

     I know I must feel this pain,

I know I must stand in the rain,

I know I will stand and cry,

While looking, Father, at your sky,

Holy Father,

I don’t understand,

But,

I know you are God.

     All these years, I’ve cried tears,

But now I have no fears.

    In memory of Joshua Saxon; Rest in peace. We shall see you again.:)

"Happy Birthday" and other thoughts about growing old...

     Today is kind of a big day for me. It’s my 19^th birthday. As the years have passed and I have grown, I have become more and more aware of my actions and words and how they affect others. What I say and what I do affects how people look at me. Then I began to think; what do people think when they see me? A little girl trapped in an adult’s body? Or a woman ready to face the unexpected?

      What is maturity? Is there a standard or do we just guess by how “adult” someone is? The answer came to me by way of a friend. We got together a couple of months ago to shop and chat. Being a few years older then I, I expected her to be somewhat “sophisticated”. Was I in for a big surprise. She was the sweetest person I have ever met. She was very caring and kind and would strike up conversations with complete strangers. She just struck me as a little girl with a big heart…but who knew exactly what she was doing.

      After much thought on the subject (and my day shopping) I came to the conclusion that maturity had to do mainly with responsibility.

     Responsibility: a form of trustworthiness; the trait of being answerable to someone for something or being responsible for one's conduct.

     As I grew older, I was given more and more things I was expected to do, like chores. It was now my responsibility to make sure that shower was cleaned, the dishes were done, and my bed was made. If the shower was not cleaned, I was then answerable to my mother for my poor work. I was pretty good with fulfilling my obligations and finishing my chores, but as I got older, I began to forget how important responsibility was. I began to lag in my responsibilities…which meant privileges were revoked. This was to teach me what would happen in real life if I try to avoid doing what must be done; I will lose things that are important to me. If I skip work, I will lose my job. If I ignore my family, I will lose them. If I’m don’t take care of my money, I will spiral downward into debt. Skimping on responsibility isn’t fun for anybody. Problems arise and so do ill-will, as the story, “Anybody, Nobody, Somebody and Everybody”;

     An important job had to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. (Thought Renewal, BlogSpot)

     Too often, we shirk our duties in the hopes that somebody will do it for us. Ever since the beginning of time, we have thrown off the cloak of responsibility and blamed someone else for our mistakes.

     Genesis 3:12-13, “And the man said, The woman whom though gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”(KJV)

     Ever since the beginning, we have been pointing fingers at others, hoping people will take our word for it. But nothing has ever come of it except trouble.

     Genesis 3:16-19, “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and they conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of they wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt though eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and though shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”(KJV)

     God does no take lightly to disobedience OR finger-pointing. He wants us to be responsible for our actions, words and thoughts. He COMMANDS us to do so.

     Galatians 6:5, “For every man shall bear his own burden.”(KJV)

     Several times in the bible, we are told that every man is responsible for his actions and shall be condemned for those he does not fulfill. We are each in charge of our selves, no one else. Of course, we can help others if they have trouble fulfilling their duties through encouragement and prayer, but we cannot take their place nor do their work for them. I tell this often to my siblings and the kids I babysit.

"Don't pay attention to them," I say, pointing at the victim of the tattle-telling, "You pay attention to yourself. You can tell them that they aren't supposed to do that, but don't get upset with what they do. They are in charge of what they do, not you."

     Deuteronomy 24:16, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.”(KJV)

     People view our maturity mostly by how responsibly we act in situations, whether we finish our job or toss our work. That’s another way we can share the gospel. By fulfilling our responsibility to God (spreading the Gospel and his love) we are spreading the truth and being a living, breathing testimony to the world…and being a better person too. We are required by God to do many things; take care of the earth, love our brethren, spread the Gospel, train up our children to follow Christ, serve him in everything we do, etc…we have so many duties we are commanded to complete.

   We are given duties, obligations, and responsibilities. We are required, by God, to fulfill our duties to Him and our fellow brethren. No one appreciates free loaders…nobody. And they definantly won’t be rewarded for their laziness at the pearly gates.

     "We must instill a sense of duty in our children; every right implies a responsibility, every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty." John D. Rockefeller Jr. (Raising Children to be Rich)

Bibliography

Perry, Lynn. "Thought Renewal." Thought Renewal. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. http://thoughtrenewal.blogspot.com/.

"Teaching Your Children What Is Responsibility and Self Responsibility." What Is Responsibility? N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. <http://www.raising-children-to-be-rich.com/what-is-responsibility.html>.