Happy Birthday America!

On this day that we celebrate our freedoms and independence, it seemed fitting to consider the words of wisdom from a great American and arguably our finest President….Abraham Lincoln.  There is a bounty of quotes attributed to our 16th Commander in Chief, each of them wise and profound in it’s own way.
 As we are struggling as a nation on many fronts, perhaps something here will strike a chord in you and give you a renewed sense of hope and patriotism.  We’re not sure it is politically correct to talk about patriotism anymore, but then we aren’t too worried about being politically correct.  Your Two Chums are just striving to be filled to the fullest measure with love, joy and abundant living.  That isn’t just a slogan to us, it is truly our hearts’ desire for you and for ourselves.  We are blessed to live in a country, where from the beginning, we have been given the freedom and the right to pursue  these qualities.  But we are also given the responsibility to remember that they came at a cost and to protect them  and to teach them to our children.  So read through these quotes from Mr. Lincoln and consider their wisdom:

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

“I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.”

“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.”

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

“Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.”

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

“He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.”

“I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end… I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.”

“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.”

“I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.”

“I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day.”

“Important principles may, and must, be inflexible.”

“Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.”

“My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.”

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”

“The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep’s throat for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty. Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of liberty.

“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”

“To sin by silence when they should protest, makes cowards of men.”

“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”

“You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative and independence.”

“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

and the quote which we began with…

“The strength of a nation, lies in the homes of it’s people.”

As we celebrate our freedom and independence today, may we remember that our strength, and ability to make significant changes in our nation lies not in the White House, but in our house.  May we strive to be on God’s side and may God continue to bless America, our home sweet home.