Drinking From Wells We Didn't Dig
Posted by Martha & Greg Singleton , Friday, November 16, 2007 11:10 AM
If you’re suffering from a low level of patriotism, let me prescribe a generous dose of Philadelphia.
While Martha was collecting her accolades at all the dinners and the events last week at the National Journalism Educators convention, I managed to plot a schedule that would allow us to visit many of the historical sites in the City of Brotherly Love.
Equipped with some good walking shoes and warm coats to fend off temperatures in the low 30’s, we made our way through the streets of downtown Philadelphia into buildings that made history books come alive – Independence Hall, where our nation was born, Carpenter’s Hall where the First Continental Congress met in secret, Christ Church, which counted The Benjamin Franklin family and George and Martha Washington among its members, Betsy Ross’ home, and the City Tavern where the founding fathers met to discuss the day’s current events. Not one of these buildings, in itself, was impressive by its design or decor. They were small buildings, made up of small rooms. But big ideas found their roots there.
A flood of emotion surged through me as I considered the commitments that were made in those places. The signers of the Declaration of Independence promised that, “for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” And that was the price most of them had to pay in order to secure the liberty that we enjoy today.
Do we teach our kids today that there are some things worth giving everything, even our lives for? I read a speech by Christian sociologist and professor Tony Campolo that really made me think.
He said, “Here is what the Bible says, ‘And when the young no longer have dreams and the old no longer have visions, people perish.’ I spend most of my time on university campuses. Sometimes it upsets me because as I talk with the children, your children, they have no dreams—they have no visions. Let me tell what you have told them. You told them to be happy. ‘Mom, what do you think I ought to be?’ I ask any father, any mother. Every mother and father in America answers the same way. ‘I really don’t care as long as you’re happy.’ It kind of makes you sick, doesn’t it?"
There is something more important than possessions, status, or even happiness. That is the realization that life and liberty themselves are of the greatest value of all. We must teach our children that preserving those things that others have paid for is worth everything. The freedom that our founding fathers sacrificed to give us is priceless. And the salvation that Christ gave us through His own blood is worth everything.
“When God, your God, ushers you into the land he promised through your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you, you're going to walk into large, bustling cities you didn't build, well-furnished houses you didn't buy, come upon wells you didn't dig, vineyards and olive orchards you didn't plant. When you take it all in and settle down, pleased and content, make sure you don't forget how you got there—God brought you out of slavery in Egypt.”
Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (The Message)
