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by Mike McHugh
The seed of the best patriotism is in the love that a man has for the home he inhabits, for the soil and trees he cultivates, and for the precious family members who greet him on his doorstep. The love of home is rooted in the soul of man by the creator God who fashioned the human heart.
This love has the power to blur the eyes of the dying soldier with the vision of an old homestead amid green fields and clustering trees. The memory of home follows the busy man through the clamoring world, and at last draws his tired feet from the highway and leads him through shady lanes and familiar pathways until he is once again at home --- safe and secure. Citizens who have a safe place of warmth and rest, a place they can call their own, are the backbone of our Republic. Such people will endure great hardships and still eagerly defend their cherished place of rest and joy. Little wonder why the battle cry of the American War for Independence was for life, liberty, and property.
We often consider the barracks of our standing army with their fluttering flags and high-tech weapons to be our primary source of strength and protection. But the citizen standing in the doorway of his home, contented on his threshold with his family gathered around him, shall provide the better defense when the barracks are empty and when technology fails to scatter our nation’s enemies. The true strength of the United States lies in the fact that many households are armed and ready to defend their families, homes, and freedoms. The cry of each American patriot must always be, "long live the citizen army --- long live the Militia!”
This principle of patriotism is not without Scriptural support as well. Nehemiah, the great servant of God, encouraged the children of Israel to rebuild Jerusalem and restore their nation after they returned from captivity. Nehemiah had the wisdom to organize the people by families and tribes because he realized that as the Jews began to rebuild their city, they would surely have to endure threats and persecution. The book of Nehemiah, chapter four, records the inspiring words of this great and godly leader as he admonished the people to: “…Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
All Americans must realize that the home God has permitted them to rest in is their castle, and that freedom and political sovereignty come from no human agency. We must inspire our fellow citizens to be vigilant, self-governed under God’s Law, and responsible. In practical terms, this means that we must encourage people to lean on the state for nothing that their own arm can do, and on the federal government for nothing that his state can do. Our neighbors must be encouraged to cultivate a dependence upon God and the Bible to the point of sacrifice, and to recognize that humble things with unbartered liberty are better then splendors bought with its price.
The love of home and family in the heart of man is the means by which God often chooses to preserve nations and cultures. True men will summon the courage to fight for the things that matter most in life --- and home and family are of primary importance in every generation. Let each citizen endeavor to labor by the sweat of his brow and by God’s grace to build a strong household. Such a place will ever be the birthplace and bedrock of America’s liberty.
Copyright 2007 Michael J. McHugh
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