Saturday, November 18, 2006 "The way a tree grows"

Saturday, November 18, 2006

"The way a tree grows"

From Julie's Keyboard:



"An Attitude of Gratitude"
Throughout the epistles written through the hand of Paul, you'll continuously find a thankful heart displayed from the life of Paul.
He was always speaking of things to show his gratitude to the Father, God. He left some instruction in the 4th chapter of Philippians which I have chosen to base these thoughts on for today.

"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."Philippians 4:4-7
As we read on, we see that he gives us even the things our minds should dwell upon that will help us to maintain this "attitude of gratitude."
When it comes right down to it, with all circumstances and ill advised thoughts aside, aren't we indeed a blessed people?

As we approach this season recognized as a time for thankful and giving practices, may we consider just as our Pastor told us recently, that this is a life style of living and not only a seasonaly observance.

Happy Thanksgiving folks! May it be a great reminder of Whom we should always model our pattern of living and express our greatest gratitude.

Have a blessed week....

Julie

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."I Thessalonians 5:18______________________________

"The Way A Tree Grows"

Personal Note: Have you ever heard the story of the little frog in the pot of water? It is said if you drop a frog in a hot pot of water he will jump out, but if you put him in a warm pot and turn the heat up slowly he will stay there till he cooks! I don’t know if that is true, but it details the deception of slow change.

I took noticed the other day at work of a large tree growing beside one of our phone pedestals, it has got so large that it would be difficult now to get the lid off the pedestal. I was working for the telephone company when that cable and pedestal was installed, yet I can’t remember a time when that tree was not there. It grow so slowly it escaped not only my notice, but it’s significance.

As a sprout it could have just be pulled up, but it was just a sprout, it didn‘t hurt anything! As a small bush it could it have been broken over and removed, but it was just a small bush, it didn‘t hurt anything! As a small tree it could have been cut down with a hand saw without much effort and thrown aside, but it was just a small tree, it didn‘t hurt anything! Now it will have to be sawed down and cut up and hauled away, much more work, now it’s a tree and in way! Someday, either it or the pedestal will have to go, they will come a day when they cannot exist together!

Ok David, what does the way a tree grows have to do with us and the Founding Fathers? We’ll, I think you already see where I am going. Things have sprouted so slowly among our Constitution, culture, and society in general that we failed to recognize their significance. Well, they were just sprouts! Yes they were, but now they are trees, and very soon they both can’t exist together and we will be left with something we did not plant.

NOAH WEBSTER (1758-1843)Was among the first to call for the Constitutional Convention and was responsible for the copyright and patent protection clause found in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. Furthermore, Webster was a master of word usage, learning over twenty languages and compiling America’s first dictionary that defined some 70,000 words.

Webster explained: "In the lapse of two or three centuries, changes have taken place which in particular passages . . . obscure the sense of the original languages . . . The effect of these changes is that some words are . . . being now used in a sense different from that which they had . . . and thus present wrong signification or false ideas. Whenever words are understood in a sense different from that which they had when introduced . . . mistakes may be very injurious. "Noah Webster, The Holy Bible . . . With Amendments of the Language (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1883), p. iii.

_____________________________

THOMAS JEFFERSON

Thomas Jefferson admonished Supreme Court Justice William Johnson: "On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." Thomas Jefferson, Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, From the papers of Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, editor (Boston: Gray and Bowen, 1830), Vol IV, p. 373, to Judge William Johnson on June 12 1823.

____________________________

JAMES MADISON

James Madison also declared: I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution. And if that be not the guide in expounding it, there can be no security for a consistent and stable, more than for a faithful, exercise of its powers . . . What a metamorphosis would be produced in the code of law if all its ancient phraseology were to be taken in its modern sense." James Madison, The Writings of James Madison, Gaillard Hunt, editor (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1910), Vol. IX, p. 191, to Henry Lee on June 25, 1824.

_____________________________

JUSTICE JAMES WILSON (1742-1798)

James Wilson was a distinguished Founder; he was on of only six who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; he was the second most active member of the Constitutional Convention, speaking 168 times on the floor of the Convention; he was a law professor; he was nominated by President George Washington as an original Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court; and in 1792 he was co-author of America’s first legal commentaries on the Constitutional

Justice James Wilson explained: "The first and governing maxim in the interpretation of a statute is to discover the meaning of those who made it." James Wilson, The works of the Honorable James Wilson, Bird Wilson , editor (Philadelphia: Bronson and Chauncey, 1804), Vol. I, p. 14, from "Lectrues on Law Delivered in the College of Philadelphia; Introductory Lecture: Of the study of the Law in the United States."

________________________________

JUSTICE JOSEPH STORY (1779-1845)

Joseph Story was the son of one of the "Indians" at the Boston Tea Party"; was the founder of Harvard Law School; was called the "foremost of American legal writers" and was nominated to the Supreme Court by President James Madison.

Justice Joseph Story explained: "The first and fundamental rule in the interpretation of all instruments [documents] is to construe them according to the sense of the terms and the intention of the parties." Joseph story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (Boston: Hilliard, Gray, and Company, 1833), Vol. III, p. 383, 400.
House and Senate Judiciary Committee
(1853-1854)

_______________________________

At the time of the adoption of the Constitution and the amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged, not any one sect [denomination]. Any attempt to level and discard all religion would have been viewed with universal indignation . . . It [religion] must be considered as the foundation on which the whole structure rests. In this age there can be no substitute for Christianity; that, in its general principles, is the great conservative element on which we must rely for the purity and permanence of free institutions. That was the religion of the founders of the republic, and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants. Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives Made During the first Session of the Thirty-Third Congress (Washington: A. O. P. Nicholson, 1854), pp. 1, 6, 8-9.

_____________________________

BUT THE TREE IS GROWING!

A verbal prayer offered in a school is unconstitutional, even if that prayer is both voluntary and denominationally neutral. ENGEL v.VITALE, 1962; ABINGTON v. SCHEMPP, 1963; COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION v. SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF LEYDEN, 1971.

Freedoms of speech and press are guaranteed to students and teachers, unless the topic is religious, at which time such speech becomes unconstitutional. STEIN v. OSHINSKY, 1967; COLLINS v. CHANDLER UNIFIED SCHOOL DIST., 1981; BISHOP v. ARONOV, 1991; DURAN v NITSCHE, 1991.

It is unconstitutional for students to see the Ten Commandments since they might read, meditate upon, respect, or obey them. STONE v. GRAHAM, 1980; RING v. GRAND FORKS PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST., 1980; LANNER v. WIMMER, 1981.

If a student prays over his lunch, it is unconstitutional for him to pray aloud. REED v. VAN HOVEN, 1965

It is unconstitutional for a public cemetery to have a planter in the shape of a cross, for if someone were to view that cross, it could cause "emotional distress" and thus constitute an "injury-in-fact." WARSAW v. TEHAACHAPI, 1990.

Even though the wording may be constitutionally acceptable, a bill becomes unconstitutional if the legislator who introduced the bill had a religious activity in his mind when it was authored. WALLACE v. JAFFREE, 1985.

It is unconstitutional for a classroom library to contain books which deal with Christianity, or for a teacher to be seen with a personal copy of the Bible at school. ROBERTS v. MADIGAN, 1990.
It is unconstitutional for a Board of Education to use or refer to the word "God" in any of its official writings. OHIO v. WHISNER, 1976.

In a city seal composed of numerous symbols representing various aspects of the community (e.g., industry, its commerce, its history, its flora, its schools, etc.), it is unconstitutional for any of those symbols to depict the religious heritage of any religious element of the community. ROBINSON v. CITY OF EDMOND, 1995; HARRIS v. CITY OF ZION, 1991; KUHN v. CITY OF ROLLING MEADOWS, 1991; FRIEDMAN v. BOARD

The tree is growing, it is obvious that very soon both religious expression in our public square and our Constitution, culture, and society cannot exist together. Are we going to take notice, or like the little frog, be cooked in the pot?

May God bless each of you,