We Hold These Truths

By Marty Norman –

Believe it or not, back in my former life and younger years, I taught American and world history. To me, settling in among the pages of history was one of the most exciting adventures in life—it still is. To relive and re-look at the brave men and women who have molded this country, it doesn’t get any better than that.This July 4^th, we celebrate that two hundred and thirty-four years ago, fifty-four men signed the declaration of independence which proclaimed that “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” These words are in every history textbook in America and all over the Internet. But there is more to the Declaration of Independence than that. Encapsulated in these thoughts and ideas are depths of truth that to meditate and study upon can take a lifetime. Suffice it to say that our founders, in their wisdom, believed in the individual rights of men to be free to speak, write, worship, defend, and vote, and that these rights were given by a merciful and loving God.

The words of these early documents surely were divinely inspired. As you read the lives of these fifty-four, the founding fathers of a nation, you will find that most were Christians and strong believers in divine providence and divine destiny.

The Lord certainly works in mysterious ways.  But there is no denying that holding these truths close to our hearts and our minds is imperative if we are to protect and defend the rights our founders fought so long and hard to procure.

Reviewing historical facts and the lives of these men is a must, and passing down this knowledge to the next generation is even more important. I see this as a call that we must heed as Christians and Americans, if we have any hope of maintaining and preserving the freedoms that we have.

For the past year, I have been on a historical study binge, rereading, researching, and reviewing history, from the Revolutionary War to the rise of Stalin and Nazi Germany.  There is much to be learned here and certainly much pause for thought.

I encourage each of you, as mothers and grandmothers, to do the same.  Go through your bookshelves, collect history books from the library of your parents. Look at documents and books fifty to one hundred and fifty years ago. Compare them to the textbooks that our children are learning from today and see the difference. I am appalled.

Recently I started gathering together a collection of Jim’s and my old books and those of our parents. This is so that my children and grandchildren will have a frame of reference after I am gone. Refusing to throw away any book that is 30 years or older, I am keeping them for posterity. When I am gone, they can at least look at my bookshelves and see a library of historical truth, if they choose open their eyes and see. I hope I am leaving a footprint of truth behind. Why, I’ve even kept my Encylcopedia Britanica from 1972.  Think how much had not yet occurred and is missing from those pages: the Irag and Afphganistan wars, the shuttle, computers, Ipods, cell phones. The list goes on, but the history is there and that is what is important.

So this July 4^th, let us remember the Revolution and our founding fathers who sacrificed so much for us. Let us not let their sacrifice be in vain, but rather let us keep the dream alive by being vocal, informed, knowledgeable, and ready with an answer should anyone bring up the subject. Biblically, we are told to speak the truth in love and to share the hope that is in us, so that is our mission—to keep the truth of history and scripture alive and well, and working on all cylinders.

I may be too old to teach in the classroom and too out of practice for its discipline, but I’m not too old to know the truth. And when untruth hits me full force in the face, I plan to be prepared with an answer—the truth of who and what we and this amazing United States of America are and continue to be.

Please join me in keeping the truth of our spiritual and physical independence alive in the hearts of our children and grandchildren. There is no better legacy to leave than that.

Marty Norman is a wife, mother, and grandmother of five, who lives in Fort Worth, Texas.  She is the author of “Generation G – Advice for Savvy Grandmothers Who Will Never Go Gray.” You can learn more about her at:   www.martynorman.com, http://martynorman.blogspot.com, http://savvygrandmothers.blogspot.com.