Last Full Measure

Wake Up Call

"When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant."

Deuteronomy 31:20 (NKJV)

Today many of us searching for a stronger more steadfast faith try to spend more and more time in the Word of God- the Holy Bible, and some, like this writer, have come to believe that our America, as settled by the original pilgrims, is our time's "Promised Land". It is not an original idea. In a 1952 commencement address Ronald Reagan said, "I, in my own mind, have always thought of America as a place in the divine scheme of things that was set aside as a promised land."  We the citizens of the United States, well, we are Israel.  This extraordinary continent of North America is same as the Old Testament's  "land flowing with milk and honey."  Any southerner will tell you that south of the Mason-Dixon line one will find the richest of buttermilk biscuits and sweetest of golden Tupelo honey. 

As a child born of parents, one from Connecticut and one from Pennsylvania, I can find scant a lineal link to the Great South that stands behind the confederate flag. Furthermore my early childhood developmental years were spent between Akron, Ohio and Miami, Florida.  There was not much authentic southern influence in the personality development of this young boy.  Overalls and four wheelers were replaced by skateboards and Bermuda shorts until my father died and it was decided that the brothers Bosworth were shipping off to Tennessee to boarding school.  The kinder softer description was aka a "Prep School" until  we first awoke to a bugle born reveille calling us to fall-in and realized we were at military school.

One of the great blessings of my life was becoming an adopted son of one of those "Great South" local families. I guess my personality was such that I made friends with the day students of which in my class there were two brothers, Jim and Paul. It just so happened they played football and I played football. They wrestled and....well I started wrestling in the ninth grade and if there was such a thing in wrestling as a tackling dummy, well I was their tackling dummy.  Jim and Paul were two fifths of a brood surrounded by sisters and raised by two wonderful southern folk with North Carolina ties and heritage whom I knew as "Momma Francis" and  "Doctor Paul". Their's was a house on a hill I will forever affectionately keep in my heart as "The Hillcrest Home."

My adoption into the culture of the old and deep south led me to a college education at the University of Georgia and except for a couple years in Daytona Beach, I have been in this blessed place for my entire life. I go back to Chattanooga routinely and most recently to visit and celebrate another high school classmate (David) and lifelong friend's birthday.  On the way I stopped at Chickamauga Battlefield Park which brings me back to the topic of "a land flowing with milk and honey."

The park at Chickamauga was a sobering spiritual repast on a hot August morning. It made me consider what an astounding miracle and gift from God that this promised land of ours survived and the country became stronger from such a civil war.  I know in my heart we could not survive another.
More importantly one our classmates there to celebrate the aforementioned birthday spoke of his greatgreat grandfather who fought for the Confederacy in that war.  It is in this proximity where one will see many examples of the Stars and Bars flying proudly.   Asking a son of the south  to take down his flag is asking him to deny and disavow his parental lineage. This demand is also condemnation of many- the whole- for responsibility that belongs to a few and the part.  This kind of blanket intolerant conviction comes from the same place as the original sin.

So here we are in a "land flowing with milk and honey." as we were and have always been promised by Abba. And we have two choices as usual and one is to turn back towards God and rely on His direction.  Pray for our Country, please.

“If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.” from: "A Time for Choosing" speech- 1964, Ronald Reagan.

This kinda sums it up:

"The night they drove ole Dixie down."

And some other words of wisdom from some notable patriots:

“And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.” 

 John F. Kennedy 1961

“The struggle now going on for the world will never be decided by bombs or rockets, by armies or military might. The real crisis we face today is a spiritual one; at root, it is a test of moral will and faith.”  

 Ronald Reagan 1983

“God who gave us life gave us Liberty.

 Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?”

 Thomas Jefferson 1774

Amen America

Bradford Bosworth

August, 2016