Thomas Paine - Common Sense: These Are the Times That Try Men's Souls.

 

Working on Older Video Tapes - Vimeo and Zoom

 

Art by Norma Boeckler

 

I looked through the computer video tapes for past efforts that fit the liturgical calendar. I tried searching for denominational Lutheran efforts, which cling to Rome, ELCA, and LCMS, but The Lutheran Hymnal seemed much better.

Readers and listeners should note that everything is changing at once, so there is a constant challenge with each effort. I am going to experiment with some and see how that works and sounds.  

 

The Sunday after New Year's - Copied from 2023

 The Sunday Communion Service Starts at 10 AM Central - Click on the Link Below.

The Sunday after New Year's - Vimeo - Holy Communion - 2023

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This is how the service was written, 2023.

The Hymn #125     The Old Year Now Has Passed Away           

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual       

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #128           Brightest and Best  - Bishop Heber

 Suffering and Suffering-Together

The Communion Hymn #307          Draw Nigh and Take the Body of the Lord        

The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #657            Beautiful Savior    

Prayers and Announcements

• Doc Lito, Pastor K, Kermit Way, Alicia, Lorie.

1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. 16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Matthew 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: 15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. 19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. 21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

Suffering and Suffering-Together

1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

Peter wrote this letter after Nero turned on the Christians as the scapegoat for the burning of Rome. Many at the time thought Nero was the arsonist, setting fires so he could build a grander city and glory for himself. The Emperor Nero was one of the most evil, corrupt, and vain rulers of the Roman Empire, though picking the worst one is a difficult matter. Scholars are divided.

The Christian Faith was suspect, because it thrived as a tiny minority. Judaism had an official status; the Christians were considered related but not approved. Therefore, there were many who opposed the Christians, not realizing that persecution spread the Faith across the Empire. 

Rome built a temple to all the gods - the Pantheon - and it is still standing. The religions of that age were completely corrupt and base, so Christianity seemed especially irritating to the masses.

As Jesus taught Peter and the disciples, unbelievers would hate and punish the little flocks of Christians. They were like sheep led to the slaughter. Since they had the Gospels and the Apostles, the early Christians were convinced of the Resurrection of Christ. They had the truth from the Apostles and the witnesses of the Resurrection of Christ.

The symbol of the fish comes from this era. If strangers met along the road, a Christian would draw half of a fish to see if the other one finished the drawing. If the second person drew it, the figure would indicate a message in the Greek initials IXTHUS - Jesus, the Son of God Savior.

Since they were suspect, it was not surprising that persecution could be unleashed on them. Likewise, today we should not be surprised that a pagan America hates the Christian faith and the unborn. Everything is seen in the opposite of our Constitution and religious heritage - evil is now good, and the only religion is all religions except Christianity.

13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Sympathy literally means "suffering (pathos) with (sym)". Moreover, partakers of Christ means fellowshipping with Christ and His terrible trials and death. That is part of our early history of the English Bible. Tyndale had to work outside of England to print Bibles. It was the King's law that anyone translating the Bible into English would be killed. Tyndale was killed by a false friend and then burned at the stake to terrify anyone who might offend Henry VIII, the King of England.

When Tyndale learned of his Bible being burned, he said, "Maybe they will burn me, too." And yet, he never stopped his work. King James ordered a new English Bible because he hated the Geneva Bible (from Switzerland). The greatest language experts completed the task in seven years or less, and that KJV was almost completely Tyndale's work. Tyndale exemplified the early Christian motto - "the more you mow us down, the faster we grow." The more delicate version is "the blood of the martyrs is the sed of the Church."

What comes from eternity - the Son of God - will also remain throughout eternity. The Gospel spread throughout of the world through preaching and persecution both.

14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 

I often quote Lenski, who taught at the seminary in Columbus, Ohio. His commentaries and some of his books still circulate. However, he was replaced by a Biblical professor who opposed inerrancy and taught the students error and apostasy.

Lenski is described by the current WELS seminarians as "wrong on justification," as though Justification by Faith were something evil. 

What mankind vilifies, God glorifies because it belongs to God. At any moment, it seems to be easy and good to go along with the gang. In the long run, eternal truths will always belong to God and last forever. That is why we give the same Bible to everyone, because it has the same truth and is most accurate. The King James does not play with words to satisfy the errors of heretics.

The Greek New Testament text of the newest Bibles (the Evil Four - RSV, NRSV, ESV, NIV) is almost exactly the same as the furtive, secretive Westcott-Hort, published 160 years ago). This makes me laugh - the secret Westcott-Hort, created for the failed KJV Revision - is constantly "improved" to get the precisely the same results!

15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.

Peter warns his flock not to use persecution as an excuse to become lawless. That is the sure sign of apostasy. If one group is not happy, they begin fighting over minor matters because the basic doctrines are too scary. Pettiness leads to all kinds of useless stress. The model in the earliest days was to gather and sort out the truths from the Word alone. Chemnitz has a moving passage where he described the leaders walking around with the manuscripts, saying "These are only sources. When the water is muddy, go to the source of the spring, where it is clearest."

16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Almost daily we read of giant churches where the leadership work against the Scriptures to be more glorious. Fuller Seminary deals with students who deny the ordination of women and repudiate the inerrancy of the Bible. Willow Creek in Chicago would not purchase Bibles unless they were feminist, even though the founder was chasing women. 

The time has come, as Peter warned.

18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

A large number of the faithful will replicate the faith in the believers. If everyone adopts an Anything Goes attitude, apostasy will spread and become absolutely against the Christian Faith.

We have a faithful revelation of God's truth. Some of us were aware when the Virgin Birth was denied by the RSV. Much more has happened since. Faith means believing what God has passed on down through the ages.

Does Psalm 91 Dominate the Savior's Verses?

 

91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

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GJ - Many teaching opportunities for online students made me emphasize 1) the Holy Trinity and 2) the Savior from the very beginning, Genesis 1:1-3. If God the Father commanded light, then there had to be the object of that comment - Light. 

The same is true of John 1:1-2, which is even clearer concerning the Father and the Son. "The same" is emphatic in Greek, more like HE was in the beginning with God! 

Many believers in the online classroom tended to make the Old Testament God the Father with relatively little about God the Son. But look at how Jesus-centered the Fourth Gospel is -

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

The last century did its best to remove the divinity of Christ and the Two Natures of Christ. Lacking the always-helping Holy Spirit, the great theologians little more than Barth, Rahner, Tillich (har!) and worse. 

So much more can be said, so I would emphasize the need to increase the emphasis of the divinity of the Savior and His tender mercy. Psalm 91 is especially moving and kindly toward us fumbling, awkward, and fragile souls. 

Grand Central Station in New York - Before the Large Buildings Blocked the Sun

 

We might also consider the amount of tobacco smoke in the air.

Let's make this the last iconic anything so people stop using the term altogether.

OK, I feel better already.

Why Can't We Have Sub-Zero Weather, Persistent Ice and Blankets of Snow Like Sauk Rapids, MN?

 

Look! Holding a leftover from Schwan's!

Words of Faith - Beautiful Verses from St. John's Revelation

Note = These KJV quotations from Revelation are a means to find these universally known passages and make them even more familiar. 

John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

1:6 - The prince of the kings of the earth.

1:8 - I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending...

3.8 - I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

3.9 Behold I will make them of the synagogue of Satan...

3.20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock...

4.11 Thou art worth, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

5.12 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come: and who shall be able to stand.

7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them into living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

8:11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

10.1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet, and his feet as pillars of fire:

10:11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

11.15 The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the Ark of his Testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

12.5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

13.17 and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works to follow them.

15. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of god, and the son of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are their works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

16.16 And they gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

17.14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

18.18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! [Babylon]

18.24 And in her was found the blood of the prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

19.7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

19.16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS , AND LORD OF LORDS.

21.1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and there was no more sea.

21.2 And I john saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.

21.4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

22.5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever and ever. 

22.16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning start.

22.20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. The grace of God be with you all. Amen.

 https://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2025/12/familiar-words-of-faith-from-this-book.html

Forever Young.

 Matthew 23: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem...

Going through some framed photos (glass and metal included), one person opined, "Save the young pix, old people are not looking for the heavy frames we have seen forever."

We can have thousands of photos on the computer or somewhere out in cyber-storage, but nothing compares to one's arms reaching the nearby framed photos of children's faces casually being delighted. Best if the children have already ignored the camera and gestures.

I would gladly place bets on the best outcome, not in money but in seeing those forever young expressions.

This is the Bible we protect.

 This is the Bible we carry and study.

America! America! God shed His grace on thee. And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!

 

I recall the time when the British had to surrender to the American forces. The English had all the power, ships, money, rifles, and global resources. How could the British lose?

There were several turning points for the patriots. Going back to the pivotal English mistakes, America won when the colonies had just enough going for their victories. Sometimes I go over those points and wonder how that could have happened, building a global power and establishing freedom.

One of those patriots has been traced to our family (on my mother's side) and that makes the old textbooks especially worthwhile. Christina had to read the entire American History textbook for her class at Augustana College. I asked for it on my own. She said, "That is required! Nobody likes required textbooks!" I read the big book anyway, from cover to cover and enjoyed every page. 

I was especially pleased because the book was not a half-to but a want-to. Christina's dorm friends were bewildered! She got even by taking Greek and by requiring German (her major) for me. 

America is definitely at a turning point. Rush Limbaugh saw that and spoke about it often.

RUSH INTRODUCTION: My father, Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr., delivered this oft-requested address locally a number of times, but it had never before appeared in print until it was published in The Limbaugh Letter. My dad was renowned for his oratory skills and for his original mind; this speech is, I think, a superb demonstration of both. I will always be grateful to him for instilling in me a passion for the ideas and lives of America's Founders, as well as a deep appreciation for the inspirational power of words, which you will see evidenced here:

Rush Limbaugh, Senior

"Our Lives, Our Fortunes, Our Sacred Honor"

It was a glorious morning. The sun was shining and the wind was from the Southeast. Up especially early, a tall bony, redheaded young Virginian found time to buy a new thermometer, for which he paid three pounds, fifteen shillings. He also bought gloves for Martha, his wife, who was ill at home.

Thomas Jefferson arrived early at the statehouse. The temperature was 72.5 degrees and the horseflies weren't nearly so bad at that hour. It was a lovely room, very large, with gleaming white walls. The chairs were comfortable. Facing the single door were two brass fireplaces, but they would not be used today.

The moment the door was shut, and it was always kept locked, the room became an oven. The tall windows were shut, so that loud quarreling voices could not be heard by passersby. Small openings atop the windows allowed a slight stir of air, and also a large number of horseflies. Jefferson records that "the horseflies were dexterous in finding necks, and the silk of stockings was nothing to them." All discussing was punctuated by the slap of hands on necks.

On the wall at the back, facing the president's desk, was a panoply -- consisting of a drum, swords, and banners seized from Fort Ticonderoga the previous year. Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had captured the place, shouting that they were taking it "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!"

Now Congress got to work, promptly taking up an emergency measure about which there was discussion but no dissension. "Resolved: That an application be made to the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania for a supply of flints for the troops at New York."

Then Congress transformed itself into a committee of the whole. The Declaration of Independence was read aloud once more, and debate resumed. Though Jefferson was the best writer of all of them, he had been somewhat verbose. Congress hacked the excess away. They did a good job, as a side-by-side comparison of the rough draft and the final text shows. They cut the phrase "by a self-assumed power." "Climb" was replaced by "must read," then "must" was eliminated, then the whole sentence, and soon the whole paragraph was cut. Jefferson groaned as they continued what he later called "their depredations." "Inherent and inalienable rights" came out "certain unalienable rights," and to this day no one knows who suggested the elegant change.

A total of 86 alterations were made. Almost 500 words were eliminated, leaving 1,337. At last, after three days of wrangling, the document was put to a vote.

Here in this hall Patrick Henry had once thundered: "I am no longer a Virginian, sir, but an American." But today the loud, sometimes bitter argument stilled, and without fanfare the vote was taken from north to south by colonies, as was the custom. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

There were no trumpets blown. No one stood on his chair and cheered. The afternoon was waning and Congress had no thought of delaying the full calendar of routine business on its hands. For several hours they worked on many other problems before adjourning for the day.

Much To Lose

What kind of men were the 56 signers who adopted the Declaration of Independence and who, by their signing, committed an act of treason against the crown? To each of you, the names Franklin, Adams, Hancock and Jefferson are almost as familiar as household words. Most of us, however, know nothing of the other signers. Who were they? What happened to them?

I imagine that many of you are somewhat surprised at the names not there: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry. All were elsewhere.

Ben Franklin was the only really old man. Eighteen were under 40; three were in their 20s. Of the 56 almost half - 24 - were judges and lawyers. Eleven were merchants, nine were landowners and farmers, and the remaining 12 were doctors, ministers, and politicians.

With only a few exceptions, such as Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, these were men of substantial property. All but two had families. The vast majority were men of education and standing in their communities. They had economic security as few men had in the 18th Century.

Each had more to lose from revolution than he had to gain by it. John Hancock, one of the richest men in America, already had a price of 500 pounds on his head. He signed in enormous letters so that his Majesty could now read his name without glasses and could now double the reward. Ben Franklin wryly noted: "Indeed we must all hang together, otherwise we shall most assuredly hang separately."

Fat Benjamin Harrison of Virginia told tiny Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts: "With me it will all be over in a minute, but you, you will be dancing on air an hour after I am gone."

These men knew what they risked. The penalty for treason was death by hanging. And remember, a great British fleet was already at anchor in New York Harbor.

They were sober men. There were no dreamy-eyed intellectuals or draft card burners here. They were far from hot-eyed fanatics yammering for an explosion. They simply asked for the status quo. It was change they resisted. It was equality with the mother country they desired. It was taxation with representation they sought. They were all conservatives, yet they rebelled.

It was principle, not property, that had brought these men to Philadelphia. Two of them became presidents of the United States. Seven of them became state governors. One died in office as vice president of the United States. Several would go on to be US Senators. One, the richest man in America, in 1828 founded the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. One, a delegate from Philadelphia, was the only real poet, musician and philosopher of the signers. (It was he, Francis Hopkinson not Betsy Ross who designed the United States flag.)

Richard Henry Lee, a delegate from Virginia, had introduced the resolution to adopt the Declaration of Independence in June of 1776. He was prophetic in his concluding remarks: "Why then sir, why do we longer delay? Why still deliberate? Let this happy day give birth to an American Republic. Let her arise not to devastate and to conquer but to reestablish the reign of peace and law.

"The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us. She demands of us a living example of freedom that may exhibit a contrast in the felicity of the citizen to the ever-increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted repost.

"If we are not this day wanting in our duty, the names of the American Legislatures of 1776 will be placed by posterity at the side of all of those whose memory has been and ever will be dear to virtuous men and good citizens."

Though the resolution was formally adopted July 4, it was not until July 8 that two of the states authorized their delegates to sign, and it was not until August 2 that the signers met at Philadelphia to actually put their names to the Declaration.

William Ellery, delegate from Rhode Island, was curious to see the signers' faces as they committed this supreme act of personal courage. He saw some men sign quickly, "but in no face was he able to discern real fear." Stephan Hopkins, Ellery's colleague from Rhode Island, was a man past 60. As he signed with a shaking pen, he declared: "My hand trembles, but my heart does not."

"Most Glorious Service"

Even before the list was published, the British marked down every member of Congress suspected of having put his name to treason. All of them became the objects of vicious manhunts. Some were taken. Some, like Jefferson, had narrow escapes. All who had property or families near British strongholds suffered.

• Francis Lewis, New York delegate saw his home plundered -- and his estates in what is now Harlem -- completely destroyed by British Soldiers. Mrs. Lewis was captured and treated with great brutality. Though she was later exchanged for two British prisoners through the efforts of Congress, she died from the effects of her abuse.

• William Floyd, another New York delegate, was able to escape with his wife and children across Long Island Sound to Connecticut, where they lived as refugees without income for seven years. When they came home they found a devastated ruin.

• Philips Livingstone had all his great holdings in New York confiscated and his family driven out of their home. Livingstone died in 1778 still working in Congress for the cause.

• Louis Morris, the fourth New York delegate, saw all his timber, crops, and livestock taken. For seven years he was barred from his home and family.

• John Hart of Trenton, New Jersey, risked his life to return home to see his dying wife. Hessian soldiers rode after him, and he escaped in the woods. While his wife lay on her deathbed, the soldiers ruined his farm and wrecked his homestead. Hart, 65, slept in caves and woods as he was hunted across the countryside. When at long last, emaciated by hardship, he was able to sneak home, he found his wife had already been buried, and his 13 children taken away. He never saw them again. He died a broken man in 1779, without ever finding his family.

• Dr. John Witherspoon, signer, was president of the College of New Jersey, later called Princeton. The British occupied the town of Princeton, and billeted troops in the college. They trampled and burned the finest college library in the country.

• Judge Richard Stockton, another New Jersey delegate signer, had rushed back to his estate in an effort to evacuate his wife and children. The family found refuge with friends, but a Tory sympathizer betrayed them. Judge Stockton was pulled from bed in the night and brutally beaten by the arresting soldiers. Thrown into a common jail, he was deliberately starved. Congress finally arranged for Stockton's parole, but his health was ruined. The judge was released as an invalid, when he could no longer harm the British cause.He returned home to find his estate looted and did not live to see the triumph of the Revolution. His family was forced to live off charity.

• Robert Morris, merchant prince of Philadelphia, delegate and signer, met Washington's appeals and pleas for money year after year. He made and raised arms and provisions which made it possible for Washington to cross the Delaware at Trenton. In the process he lost 150 ships at sea, bleeding his own fortune and credit almost dry.

• George Clymer, Pennsylvania signer, escaped with his family from their home, but their property was completely destroyed by the British in the Germantown and Brandywine campaigns.

• Dr. Benjamin Rush, also from Pennsylvania, was forced to flee to Maryland. As a heroic surgeon with the army, Rush had several narrow escapes.

• John Martin, a Tory in his views previous to the debate, lived in a strongly loyalist area of Pennsylvania. When he came out for independence, most of his neighbors and even some of his relatives ostracized him. He was a sensitive and troubled man, and many believed this action killed him. When he died in 1777, his last words to his tormentors were: "Tell them that they will live to see the hour when they shall acknowledge it [the signing] to have been the most glorious service that I have ever rendered to my country."

• William Ellery, Rhode Island delegate, saw his property and home burned to the ground.

• Thomas Lynch, Jr., South Carolina delegate, had his health broken from privation and exposures while serving as a company commander in the military. His doctors ordered him to seek a cure in the West Indies and on the voyage, he and his young bride were drowned at sea.

• Edward Rutledge, Arthur Middleton, and Thomas Heyward, Jr., the other three South Carolina signers, were taken by the British in the siege of Charleston. They were carried as prisoners of war to St. Augustine, Florida, where they were singled out for indignities. They were exchanged at the end of the war, the British in the meantime having completely devastated their large landholdings and estates.

• Thomas Nelson, signer of Virginia, was at the front in command of the Virginia military forces. With British General Charles Cornwallis in Yorktown, fire from 70 heavy American guns began to destroy Yorktown piece by piece. Lord Cornwallis and his staff moved their headquarters into Nelson's palatial home. While American cannonballs were making a shambles of the town, the house of Governor Nelson remained untouched. Nelson turned in rage to the American gunners and asked, "Why do you spare my home?"They replied, "Sir, out of respect to you." Nelson cried, "Give me the cannon!" and fired on his magnificent home himself, smashing it to bits. But Nelson's sacrifice was not quite over. He had raised $2 million for the Revolutionary cause by pledging his own estates. When the loans came due, a newer peacetime Congress refused to honor them, and Nelson's property was forfeited. He was never reimbursed. He died, impoverished, a few years later at the age of 50.

Lives, Fortunes, Honor

Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons or entire families. One lost his 13 children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Yet not one defected or went back on his pledged word. Their honor, and the nation they sacrificed so much to create is still intact.

And, finally, there is the New Jersey signer, Abraham Clark.

He gave two sons to the officer corps in the Revolutionary Army. They were captured and sent to that infamous British prison hulk afloat in New York Harbor known as the hell ship Jersey, where 11,000 American captives were to die. The younger Clarks were treated with a special brutality because of their father. One was put in solitary and given no food. With the end almost in sight, with the war almost won, no one could have blamed Abraham Clark for acceding to the British request when they offered him his sons' lives if he would recant and come out for the King and Parliament. The utter despair in this man's heart, the anguish in his very soul, must reach out to each one of us down through 200 years with his answer: "No."

The 56 signers of the Declaration Of Independence proved by their every deed that they made no idle boast when they composed the most magnificent curtain line in history. "And for the support of this Declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

RUSH EPILOGUE: My friends, I know you have a copy of the Declaration of Independence somewhere around the house - in an old history book (newer ones may well omit it), an encyclopedia, or one of those artificially aged "parchments" we all got in school years ago. I suggest that each of you take the time this month to read through the text of the Declaration, one of the most noble and beautiful political documents in human history.

There is no more profound sentence than this: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness..."

These are far more than mere poetic words. The underlying ideas that infuse every sentence of this treatise have sustained this nation for more than two centuries. They were forged in the crucible of great sacrifice. They are living words that spring from and satisfy the deepest cries for liberty in the human spirit.

"Sacred honor" isn't a phrase we use much these days, but every American life is touched by the bounty of this, the Founders' legacy. It is freedom, tested by blood, and watered with tears.

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/pages/static/my_father_s_speech

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!