Today, let us harken to the timeless words of Thomas Paine, in his immortal work, The Crisis, published on December 24, 1776, when the war of the Revolution was not going well, and the patriots needed to be reminded of what matters most. Let his words burn into your soul, and let them ignite a fire of resolve within you: THESE are the times that try mens souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. I once felt all that kind of anger, which a man ought to feel, against the mean principles that are held by the Tories: a noted one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I ever saw, and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought was prudent, finished with this unfatherly expression, Well! give me peace in my day. Not a man lives on the continent but fully believes that a separation must some time or other finally take place, and a generous parent should have said, If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace; and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty. Thomas Paine had a gift for articulating timeless truths that always apply to the struggle for liberty, in any age. Let his words awaken you to your duty in this New Year, and may you set aside your regrets, your fears, your should-haves from the past, and instead start anew, with a renewed commitment and resolve to defending liberty for your childrens sake, with courage, strength, and honor. Lets make our forefathers proud, so that they will know that their hard work and sacrifice was not for nothing - that we deserved the liberty they won for us. And let us show this by our actions each moment of each day. In all we do, our first question must be what is right? And once we know what is right, it then becomes our duty to do it. Duty is ours. Results are Gods. Let 2015 be a year we can look back on as a year we fulfilled our duty. For the Republic, Stewart Rhodes, Founder, President of Oath Keepers
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 03:40:11 +0000
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