Master of My Destiny: Installment 3

I think of the adage, "Time flies when you're having fun" to describe this summer term.  I've been in such a flurry of activity with my classes that I haven't found the chance to sit down and do an update yet.

This summer term, I'm getting beyond the required core classes and more in-depth with library studies.  The three classes I have are Library User Instruction, Collection Management, and Government Information Resources.  The second two are with the same professor, one face-to-face, and the other one mostly online, though we did meet in-person once.  My two professors are both adjunct, and they have jobs elsewhere, and they bring with them the sense of what it's like being out in the field doing this work.  And I enjoy hearing their perspectives and working with them.

We've had the opportunity for some great discussions in class--especially the first class sessions back in May--and the assignments involve very practical work, like instructional presentations and building a library collection.  I've also had fun surfing around government websites looking for information like 1790 census information and the President's Daily Schedule.

Upon the conclusion of the term, I'll give a more detailed update, with more about all the fun I've been having.

Patriotic Greetings 2015: Their Work in 1776 and Ours Today

Patriotic Greetings!

It's always meaningful for me to celebrate the Independence of the United States at this time each year, because it is an opportunity to recall the story of how this country came into existence, those momentous days in 1776.

After the end of conflict between Britain and France in 1763, tensions escalated between Britain and her North American colonies, as the British government moved to restrict the liberties and activities of the colonies, prompting protests.  Tensions broke out in violence in Massachusetts at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.  As King George and the British government continued moving forcefully to restrain the American colonies, sentiments grew increasingly in favor of independence.

On June 7, 1776, in a session of the Continental Congress, Richard Henry Lee proposed the following resolution: "Resolved.  That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.  That they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown.  And that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

The delegates took the next three weeks to consider this proposal of great consequence.  Then, on July 1, they held a debate.  The next day, July 2, the colonies gathered in Congress gave unanimous approval to the resolution on independence, and the colonies then became the United States of America.  The delegates then spent the next couple of days finalizing the draft of a declaration of independence, written by Thomas Jefferson throughout the month of June, which made the case for the colonies' independence.  They approved the Declaration on July 4, and it was then distributed throughout the newly minted states.  And, according to the account of most historians, on August 2, the majority of the Declaration's signers placed their signatures on it.  After years of war, Britain officially recognized the independence of the United States with the Treaty of Paris finalized on September 3, 1783.

The story of these events is not just about something that happened years ago, but is a reality that remains with us:  What happened in those momentous days in 1776, and throughout the time period of the American Revolution, has shaped this country, and who we are as a people, and so is ever present to us now.

The Founding Fathers and the Continental Congress delegates who voted for independence, and those who signed the Declaration, sensed that the matter before them was so important because it would have an impact far into the future on the “millions yet unborn”, a phrase used a number of times:  in a speech given by Dr. Joseph Warren, a patriot in Boston, who was among the earlier casualties during the war, and in the letters of John Adams, and his cousin Samuel Adams, who then inspired William Paca (Pay-kah), a Maryland delegate to the Continental Congress.

Reflecting on the vote for independence on July 2 in a letter to his wife, John Adams wrote, "The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.  I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” 

But John Adams wrote those words, he continued, recognizing the sober reality at hand: “You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. -- I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. -- Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not."

(These words are the basis for a song in the musical 1776 that John Adams sings, in which he talks of seeing the future, when Americans celebrate and are free.  Except for the unessential usage of profanity, it's a movie I recommend, as it tells the story of the momentous days in Congress leading to America's independence.)

Although they would have difficulties to face, John Adams knew there was a glorious aim to achieve.  The Founding Fathers put in the effort to do something for generations to come—even for us Americans today.  They gave us a model of the effort we should exert in being citizens of this country, supporting the principles presented in the Declaration.

I couldn’t help but think of this as I read through the US Government Manual for my Government Information Resources class for graduate school.  It’s an almost 600-page book providing information on the agencies of the US government.

Toward the beginning of this book is the text of the Declaration of Independence.  It's fitting to have it there because it lays the foundation of the rights and liberties we have as people of the United States, which forms the basis for the US Constitution, whose text is provided next in the manual, which provides the basis for the inordinate number of government agencies that are described in the rest of the book.

It's really something to take stock of how many government agencies there are, and how extensive the bureaucracy of the government is.  Yet I see principles of liberty at work in the midst of all of it.

For example, the Department of Defense section is by far the one part of the executive branch that has the largest structure with numerous agencies.  Yet having so many civilian government officials running the Department of Defense, with the President as Commander-in-Chief, ensures that the military answers to us the people of this country, and doesn’t take power into its own hands and control the country, and the people.  There is often great instability in countries where this has happened.  Actually, one of the grievances in the Declaration speaks to how, under King George III, the military became “independent of, and superior to, the civil power”.  Having this structure in place ensures that our liberties are safeguarded, and the military serves our country, and not the other way around.

When members of the armed forces are honorably discharged, agencies in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs offer services for them, and even for their families, especially healthcare, and a final resting place.

Other government agencies work to keep us safe, whether it be from terrorist threats, or unsafe products.  I then even think of the National Park Service, which preserves places of ecological and historical significance, so that generations of Americans can appreciate the beauty of the land, and continue to behold the history that has made us who we are today.  So while the bureaucracy is extensive, there are many important services that these government agencies provide.

It’s all part of the work that we Americans do to continue making this country great, upholding those high ideals instituted at our country’s founding.  The members of the military certainly sacrifice much for this country.  As civilians and citizens, it’s also our work to give of ourselves.

I have embraced the role I play in being a citizen, even in my own community.  I have made the effort to not only vote in each election, but to also do research on the candidates so I can be an informed voter, ever since the first election I voted in, which was for local community boards and offices.  I go out to forums to meet these candidates, taking the time to get to know them.  And I get involved in other ways for the greater good.  It’s a government that’s about the people, and so I consider it my duty to act like it.

Furthermore, this work takes us beyond ourselves, and puts us in tune with the higher purposes that our country represents, and calling us to ensure that this country continues to be a place where all may experience fully our God-given natural freedoms, rights, and liberties.  Let us not become weary in these efforts, because of the glorious purposes they point to, which John Adams could foresee in those significant days back in 1776.

That’s what makes these days celebrating the Independence of the United States so meaningful, because it takes us back to what first brought this nation into existence, and renews us in the spirit the Founding Fathers had to create a whole new nation dedicated to principles of freedom and liberty, so that we can go forth, day in and day out, to engage in upholding those principles, for the good of this country and its people.

In the midst of the celebrations you have in these days, may you be inspired and encouraged in the way you fulfill your part in making great the United States of America.

I salute the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of the United States,

Paul

 

Left: I am standing outside the D.C. Office of U.S. Representative Danny K. Davis (D-IL-7)

Right: I am at the 2014 March for Life Chicago

P.S. This is my annual Patriotic Greetings note, which is now in its 3^rd year in digital form, after having been mailed out in paper form for a few years.  Please feel free to share this with others.  And if you’d like a paper copy of this note, please contact me to let me know where I should send it.