“The condition
upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance”
John Philpot Curran, July 10, 1790
On September 30, 1727, David Martin walked off
the ship Molly with a heavy heart. The 36-year-old
had witnessed the death and sea burial of his wife Anna during the crossing. His father, Christian Martin, was still in
prison in Europe having been jailed for his faith. Making his way from Philadelphia to East Earl
Township, he commenced farming the 370 acre plot he acquired from the family of
William Penn for the sum of 57 pounds, 7 shillings. In 1748, reunited with his father in Pennsylvania,
it was written of them, “With him was also their father, still living, an old
man of 79 years. Especially the old man and
his son David loving toward us.”
Born in Bern, Switzerland around 1691, David
knew a life of persecution. Born into
the heretical tradition of the Mennonites, he would enter the unfortunate
designation of being a “Poor Palatine” – a term given to the Swiss German
religious outcast migrants from the region of southwestern Germany. Precisely how he and 300 people made it to
Rotterdam, Holland to get to John Hodgeson’s ship is not clear. But it’s reasonable to expect that the trip
through war infested, Catholic / Lutheran conflict filled lands was not an easy
exercise. And then, there’s the matter
of crossing the Atlantic Ocean during the late summer months – not the best
time to travel! So, albeit bittersweet,
I’m certain that the planks on the dock in Philadelphia offered the percussion
of a song of liberty that ignited considerable relief.
I’m deeply grateful for the meticulous records
I have of my family. I love the stories
of David’s father bringing a German scythe to the “new world” so that he could
help his sons harvest the abundant wheat that grew along the Blue Ball
Run. I love the records of my family’s
friend writing to George Washington pleading for clemency for my ancestors who
provided food to British soldiers with their reference to the Biblical mandate,
“If thine enemy hungers, feed him.” And I’m
grateful to Amos Hoover, Raymond and Elizabeth Martin and countless others who preserved
the relics of our family so that I could hold them today.
On this July 4th, 2021, I find it
fascinating that a nation celebrates “Independence” when the previous 20 months
have completely indicted the dereliction thereof. This land, defined by the mercantile
patronage of industry, is more enslaved today than it was in 1776. Then we had a monarch. Now we have CEOs and their anonymous funders
who tax far more than the fruits of our lands.
Then we had philosopher statesmen who were articulate, learned, and
capable of debate. Now we have
Twitter-feed censorship curated by men who crafted utilities solely designed to
indenture and addict. After 245 years,
we’re less capable to consider Liberty than when migrants boarded ships in Europe
to begin life in America.
How few of us actually read the Declaration’s
most critical and sober section?
“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long
established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and
accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to
suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the
forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce
them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw
off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
Living, as we are, under an alleged State of Emergency
that has persisted for 18 months, with neither evidence nor criteria for an
exit, it is manifestly evident that, even granting the presence of the scourge
of plague that gave rise to the present condition, we no longer maintain the illusion
thereof. Notwithstanding the evidence,
we find ourselves subjected to “abuses and usurpations” and efforts to reduce
society under “absolute Despotism”. Most
recently, and without a single piece of evidence, we’ve been advised that the
healthy pose a risk of mutagenicity that the acquiescent do not. In point of fact, a January 28, 2021 article
stated that, though the efficacy of gene therapy interventions “is not strictly
proven, most… researchers believe,” that S-protein intervention works. HOWEVER, in this study, they report concern
that variants may in fact arise from the very technology being used. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2776039.
On this day, we celebrate the acquiescence of
47.8% of the population to kneel at the macabre mass served by Presidential and
Papal Bull$#1+. But, in the spirit of
this Land of Liberty, the song that should be growing across the land is not
the celebration of the monarchs and tyrants.
Rather it is the song of the 51.2% - the song of We The People – who,
while coerced, threatened, and belittled, will not offer quarter to the enemy
that is FEAR, COERCION, and DESPOTISM.
So, on this July 4th, find a link
to the song from Broadway’s Les Miserables and play it loudly…
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the songs of angry men?
It is the music of the people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!
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