Preamble US Constitution

On this Constitution Day I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on the preamble of the US Constitution.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.


This statement tells us about the purpose of the Government of the United States.


1. Form a more perfect Union: Not that it will be perfect but more perfect than the Articles of Confederation that was then in effect. We have been perfecting and sometimes defecting our union for over two hundred years. It is an ongoing process as you can see from the number of amendments thus far.


2. Establish Justice: Our rights are protected and we have a system to correct wrongs.


3. Insure Domestic Tranquility:  This is keeping the peace between peoples in the country. Law and Order.


4. Provide for the Common Defence: Our Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force and in war time Coast Guard. 


5. Promote the General Welfare: A lot of people forget that welfare in in the constitution. Food stamps, Social Security, health care, jobs programs, are all constitutional under this clause.


6. Secure the blessings of liberty:  Personal liberty for every US Citizen is perhaps one of the  most important elements of our constitution. 


I invite you to dwell on these thoughts today and give thanks that we have our wonderful 224 year old Constitution of the United States of America. 

Constitution Day

September 17, is Constitution Day: the anniversary of the agreement on the U.S. Constitution by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787.

"The value of a constitution is that it binds government and prevents pure majority rule. Without it, government tends to grow without bounds as political majorities find ways to constrain and take rights from political minorities.

Fortunately, the American Founders were well aware of this problem. They created a Constitution to limit the federal government's powers to just a few narrow its functions.

Over the last 224 years it has been the respect of the constitution that has kept our rights secure and our country safe.  

By respecting the Constitution, America's future is bright.

Shame Shame Shame

Gomer Pile of the Andy Griffith Show would encounter a situation that was not quite on the up and up and he would say, "SHAME!, SHAME!, SHAME!"  I remember as a boy how we use to shout, "Shame on you!" when some one did something naughty. Today people see as common place on TV actions that not so long ago were things to be ashamed of.

The uncle of a teen-age girl was watching her friends dance.

"I'll bet that you never saw dancing like that," she said, "back when you were a young man."

"Once," said her uncle, "but the place was raided."

There are people on TV talk shows that brag about doing things that only a few years ago would have been cause for digging a deep hole and crawling in it. And the language they use to do it is even worse. Shame, shame, shame.

There are all kinds of reasons for people to feel shame. Sadly many people today are shameless - they live in a shameful manner and walk about like the famous emperor with no clothes.

Single-Minded ???

Nehemiah was a man dedicated to a single purpose of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Like Nehemiah I am very single minded but I am also highly distractible. While working on something I am often so focused that I do not pay attention to others around me. But once distracted it may be days or longer before I refocus on that project.

Frustration is often the result of a distraction when I later come across the abandon project waiting to be completed. Try as I may a solution to this problem eludes me. I leave note to myself and long “To-Do” list but reading them is also a part of the condition of my mental organization.

I find that the older I get the more pronounced the effects of this condition. Though I can not blame it on age for I have always been this way. I do get things done eventually. 

Ten Years Ago Today

Ten years ago I remember clearly watching the TV in utter shock as the twin towers were struck and then fell. I still feel the pain.



How could anyone do that? How could young men go against their own religion and kill themselves and so many innocent people?  It was beyond belief and understanding and we are still striving to comprehend the enormity of it all. Since then it got us into two wars with many thousands more dead. The memory still carries a lot of pain and will for decades to come. Like the news of Pearl Harbor for my parents I will always remember that moment when the world changed.


So much has happened since then and because of those attacks. We were right to go after those who did the deed in Afghanistan but it was stupid to divert funds and troops from that effort to attack Iraq. Now we are still in both places and spending trillions of much needed dollars over t here.
 We need to find ways to quell the anger and seek peace. I Pray for peace in our world every day.