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Blog Header - June 30, 2010

I took this header photo at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor when we visited Baltimore for an Oriole’s game and a day of touring the Harbor. We saw the Titanic exhibit, complete with artifacts from the actual Titanic, we visited the Baltimore Children’s Museum where Kim and David got to lie down on a bed of nails, and we walked all around the Harbor taking pictures. It was a great day full of fond memories.

An Independence Day message from ourFounding Fathers

Okay—this may not be an actual historically accurate jam session from our founding fathers, but it’s pretty funny. No offense intended to my British friends.

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Signing the Declaration

J

uly 4^th is one of my favorite holidays. Our family has always enjoyed participating in events that honor our nation and its heritage.

When we lived along the Route 95 corridor in Northern Virginia, we regularly visited Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County Virginia. Stratford Hall is probably not one of the primary targets for tourism for most people. In fact, the Northern Neck of Virginia may very well be the lightest traveled portion of Virginia no matter what time of year it is.

Stratford Hall

But we love visiting there.

Kim and David at Stratford Hall
July 4, 2006

Stratford Hall was the birthplace of some men who had a strong impact on our nation. One of those men is a personal hero to my wife and to me—Robert E. Lee, head of the Confederate forces during the War Between the States. He’s also the man who liberated the town we now live in (Front Royal, Virginia) from occupying Yankee forces. But when we began visiting Stratford Hall we found out that there were other very important people born in that house—people who had a strong impact on the course of our nation during its founding and early years.

Francis Lightfoot Lee and Richard Henry Lee were born at Stratford Hall when we were an English colony. These brothers were the only brothers to sign the Declaration of Independence. And they had a tremendous impact on the local Virginia area as well as the fledgling nation.

The following passage is from The Signers of the Declaration of Independence. It is a short biographical sketch of Francis Lightfoot Lee—one of Virginia’s favored sons.

Francis Lightfoot Lee

Virginia

No less a patriot than his dynamic elder brother Richard Henry and his gifted younger brothers Arthur and William, Francis Lightfoot Lee preferred the uneventful life of a country squire to the public spotlight and chose to follow rather than to lead. Despite his shyness and weakness as a speaker, he exercised extensive political influence, took an active part in the Revolution, and signed both the Declaration and the Articles of Confederation

Lee, a member of one of the most famous families in Virginia and U.S. history and the sixth son and eighth child of planter Thomas Lee, was born in 1734 at the family estate, Stratford Hall, in Westmoreland County, Va. He was educated by a private tutor and never attended college. In 1750, upon the death of his father, he inherited Coton, an estate in Fairfax County. Seven years later, newly created Loudoun County absorbed Coton. At that time, the colonial legislature nominated him as Loudoun lieutenant. The next year, he moved to Coton and became trustee of the newly incorporated village of Leesburg, named after him or his brother Philip Ludwell, both local landowners. For the next decade, Francis Lightfoot represented the county in the House of Burgesses.

In 1769 Lee married socialite Rebecca Tayloe of Richmond County. The newlyweds resided at Mount Airy estate with Rebecca’s parents for a few months until Menokin, a new home that Colonel Tayloe was building nearby for them, was completed. From then until 1774, Lee sat again with the burgesses.

Lee had joined the Revolutionary movement at an early date. From the time of the Stamp Act (1765) until the outbreak of war a decade later, he participated in most of the Virginia protests and assemblies. He rarely debated on the floor in Congress (1775–79), but often opposed the position of his brother Richard Henry, and served on the military and marine committees as well as that charged with drafting the Articles of Confederation.

In 1779, weary of office and longing for the peace and quiet of Menokin, Lee left Congress. Except for a few years in the State legislature, he abandoned public service altogether and lived quietly. In 1797, only a few months after the death of his childless wife, at the age of 62 he succumbed. Burial took place in the Tayloe family graveyard at Mount Airy.

 

Libertarian by design

An Image of Limited Government

I have thought in a Libertarian fashion essentially all my life. I highly value personal freedom and recognize the great societal benefits to granting freedom to the people. Coercive behavior control has always struck me as wrong, especially when it happens within the church.

Galatians 5:1

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

When Martin Luther came to grips with the concept Paul described in Galatians 5:1—the freedom Christ purchased for us with his blood—he threw off the shackles of the medieval Roman church, got married, and began preaching the word of God to the people. Luther advised Christians to flaunt their freedom in the face of those who would seek to bind them outside of the mandates of scripture.

The difficult thing about freedom, at least for those who have a degree of authority in society (or in the church), is that you must trust the people to make the right decision or to own up to the consequences of a bad decision. You cannot simply tell them what they must do. You must allow them to decide for themselves.

This is the Libertarian paradigm. It is thoroughly Libertarian. It is thoroughly biblical. And it is thoroughly American. At least it was thoroughly American at the founding of our nation.

I am currently reading What It Means to be a Libertarian by Charles Murray (currently $12.82 at Amazon.com)—an outstanding explanation of Libertarian thought and philosophy. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in what Libertarianism is or for anyone who would like to gain an insight into the thinking of our founding fathers.

To whet your appetite for this outstanding book, the following is an excerpt from the first chapter of the book—The Framework:

An Image of Limited Government

What is it, precisely, that libertarians have in mind when they speak of limited government? Privatized roads? Privatized police forces? A world in which every personal obligation has to be in the form of a written contract? A society of Ayn Rand characters?

A few do have this kind of world in mind. Libertarian visions of the ideal society are as various as socialist visions, and some of them are extreme. Most are not, however. The country has moved so far from its origins that it is hard for mainstream libertarians to get across how close our politics are to the politics of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Their vision of the role of government is essentially the role we see. The size and importance of the official Washington, D.C., they hoped would develop resembles the Washington, D.C., we have in mind. The rights of property and economic freedom that they upheld are the rights we uphold. Limited government is a traditional American concept, not a utopian one.

I encourage you to get a copy of this book and read it. Consider the current state of our nation and what it would mean to our nation were we to espouse a Libertarian point of view and institute a Libertarian form of government.

And in November—vote your conscience.

 

Thomas Jefferson – Patriot and Genius

O

ftentimes we look on the people of prior generations with contempt. Perhaps it makes us feel better to think that we have arrived at a higher state of enlightenment than those who came before us. So we apply today’s societal standards to those who did not live in our time; we take those people’s actions out of their context and we force them into our own context—and then claim that we know better than they.

It may make us feel better, but it is not true and it is not fair. It will, at best, allow us to ignore the areas where we need to pursue personal growth and, much the greater harm, it is slanderous.

Thomas Jefferson

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

Traveling in primarily Christian circles, I have often heard disparaging statements made against some of our nation’s founding fathers. Rather than taking the time to read the actual writings of our founding fathers, many folks fall for the Secularist’s line that our founding fathers were all Deists. This is simply not even close to the truth. One of our recognized founding fathers was a proclaimed Deist (Ben Franklin), but most of the others would be described as Christian based on their writings and their statement of personal belief. That does not mean that they all had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Some of them, who fully accepted the social teachings of Christianity did not bow to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. So while they were Christians in belief, they were not of the “househhold of faith.”

One such founding father was U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson recognized the societal benefits of adherence to the teachings of Christ, but he did not like the concept of Christ having to die to reconcile man to God. So in Christian circles it is well-known that he physically removed references to the blood of Christ from his personal bible. He also cut out some of the miracles from the bible.

Thomas Jefferson

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

This is not a good thing, and a disbelief in the sanctifying and reconciling blood of Christ clearly places Thomas Jefferson in an unbelieving stance with regard to Christianity.

However, we do our children and each other a disservice when we paint Jefferson as a bad man. He was wrong with regard to the blood of Christ, but he was an absolute genius with regard to human liberty, politics, and government. And, after all, that is what he should be known for as one of our founding fathers.

President Thomas Jefferson (1801 – 1809)

So as we approach the celebration of the United State’s Independence Day, here are a few quotes from one of my heroes—our third president, Thomas Jefferson:

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property—until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.

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When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.

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It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.

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My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.

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No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

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The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

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To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.

Wow! We need a president like that again.

Happy Independence Day, my fellow Americans. Never forget the efforts and the sacrifices of our founding fathers and the generations that have preceded ours. We owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude.

Happy birthday, America!

 

Steel Town

H

ere is another installment of the photos-from-the-past series. I hope it isn’t boring for everyone else, but I have really enjoyed seeing these photos again after a few years. The photos in this post are from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

A few years ago, my wife conducted support groups for adoptive families. Most people don’t realize the unique and difficult issues that many adoptive families deal with on a daily basis. These issues range from medical-related situations the adopted child may have to behavior fall-out from the adoption process to being ostracized from general society because the family makeup is different than the “norm.” The non-acceptance from others seems to be worse in the church than it is among the general public, which strikes me as odd since adoption is presented in the bible as the way we Christians are brought into the family of God.

The dome at the old Pittsburgh train depot

So Kim worked with the United Methodist Family Services under the faith based non-profit organization Adoptive Family Preservation. She conducted support groups to help folks navigate the often strange and complicated paths surrounding medical, education, and church integration of the adopted children. She attended IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meetings with parents who needed help through that process. She counseled families on how to figure out the needed lingo to communicate with doctors who are looking for code words rather than diagnosing the child on their own. And she counseled families on many other diverse issues.

Night view from the top of the Duquesne Incline
The stadium is lit for a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game

All this counseling and support required training. So Adoptive Family Preservation sent Kim to regular training sessions. And as a family-oriented group, they invited folks to attend these training seminars as whole families.

The training seminars in Pittsburgh were huge. Hundreds of counselors attended the training and the trainers offered myriad choices of topical training. It was an amazing week-long seminar.

Another view from the Incline

They also provided a camp-type atmosphere for the children, with events, games, touring, and all kinds of fun activities. That kept David busy for the week.

Kim and David kissing Pittsburgh goodbye

All this left me with the opportunity to walk all over Pittsburgh with my camera in hand. I found wonderful places, unique public art work, and some great restaurants, markets, and an amazing cheese shop. And our family found Pittsburgh to be a delightful city. David even became a solid Pittsburgh Steelers fan as a result of our visit. His bedroom is now decorated in Steelers memorabilia.

 

Blog Header - June 27, 2010

I took this photo at the recent Front Royal Celtic Festival. I just liked this woman’s western look, which seemed to totally not fit in with the theme of the festival. Of course, she was at the coffee shop and may not have intended to be a festival attendee at all. However, the camera on the table in front of her seems to indicate otherwise.

Baltimore Inner Harbor

I

have been going through some of my photos from the past four years or so and quite a few are jumping out at me and waving their hands for recognition. So I thought I’d post a few of them to the blog.

This first group is from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. That’s in Maryland, for any of you who are not familiar with the east coast of the United States. Baltimore’s Inner Harbor had fallen into disrepair a few decades ago and the city decided to fix it up as part of a community restoration project. The project also included the fabulous Camden Yards Stadium, home of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team. Camden Yards is just a few blocks away from the Inner Harbor. The whole area is a wonderful place to visit now.

I loved the look of the large sailing vessels docked in the Harbor. I took this first photo to give context to the ship. It’s not often that you see a ship like this in front of an obvious cityscape.

Inner Harbor – Baltimore, Maryland

Another view of the Inner Harbor at night

As God has moved us around from place to place over the past few years, we have noticed that enjoyment of any locality is dependent upon your ability to notice what the place has to offer. Every location has its own unique beauty. Every location has its own history, legends, and stories. We just have to get out and find them.

One of the ships at night

 

Blast from the past

I

love photographs! I guess everyone probably already realizes that, so I’m not giving you a whole lot of new information here. But I was reminded of my love for photographs yesterday.

My work computer has run out of hard drive space, so yesterday I purchased an external hard drive and spent some time moving things over to that drive to free up space on my primary drive. Some of the things I moved were photos from recent years. As I moved the photos from Occoquan Bible Church (OBC) over the external drive, I noticed a few of my wife Kim. We attended OBC just before we moved to Lynchburg. In terms of activities and opportunities to forge friendships, OBC was the antithesis to the church we attended in Lynchburg. I have never seen such a busy church. There were always things happening, and the people involved took great efforts to do it all with quality and professionalism.

This photo of Kim is from the FestiFall event—a harvest festival of sorts that was first launched the year that the church moved into its first building. The intention of the event was to provide an opportunity for the people of the community to get to know our church’s people. They had pony rides, moon bounces, crafts, games, and loads of food—all free for the folks of the community.

I also found this photo of David and me from about the same time. This was at Prince William Park—the park where my sister got married. And we were visiting the park with my sister and her family when Kim took this picture of David and me.

Great stuff. And I’m glad I found these photos to remind me of those days.