AN APPLE A DAY - DAY 104 - LEARNING A LESSON FROM SOME MONKS

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

365 DAYS TO A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE:

So in my quest to maintain my body as a healthy temple for God’s Holy Spirit to live within me; I set out to discover what seems to be working for others who are in similar pursuit.  

One day I stumbled across some articles about the Orthodox monks living at Mount Athos.  In this small section of Greece, prayers have been offered up continually for more than one thousand years!  Can you imagine?  Perhaps that fact alone is the reason that these Monks have exceptional health and live long disease-free lives.  If that is what has caused their good fortune and developed their apparent extremely good health, I’m sure the rest of us may find immitating that avenue to be a bit impossible!  Prayers might have been offered up on the plot of ground where I live for over a thousand years too (for all I know, though doubtful) but it is that “continuously” part that wipes out the hope of my little plot of ground ever being so holy that it aids God in healing people.  I’m sure that isn’t true where I live. There have been long lapses of time between the many prayers we have humbly offered!

Hopefully, we can find some other reason (due to God’s mercy) that these people seem to live such long lives and maintain such healthy bodies!   What is there in their daily lifestyle; besides their constant devotion to Christ that makes them fare so well?

Some people think it is the tea they consume.  That is a local custom.  I'll discuss this part of the story in another article.

Some people think it is the wine the consume.  That is produced and grown locally and it is also a custom familiar to their community and the surrounding areas.  I'll take that up in another article also.  We will simply take a look at the whole picture of the devoted lives of these men first.

To begin with; we cannot pass that constant devotion to Christ off so easily.  That may actually be the whole sum of the equation.  The first and most important part of maintaining a healthy body is to maintain a healthy soul.  If we constantly practice the presence of God in our days and direct our minds toward Him, we will begin to find the first key toward maintaining life from within.

Life is how our body survives.  Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life."  God is The Creator and the true source of all life.  If our minds stay focused on returning to God just as the needle of a compass constantly returns to the north; God will stay the pole star of our inward being and we will achieve the first step in maintaining whole health.  These monks have the first step and the first priority of life in order.  That is the main thing.  Nothing else that affects their health and well being could come to fruition without that first step.  

We know from reading the holy scriptures that David observed this practice of the presence of God almost every day of his life.  These monks and David knew the secret of using this vital first step, and we can read evidence of this in the holy scriptures from Psalm 16:8-9;  “I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely.”  

These monks who keep the LORD set constantly before them in their daily routines have flesh that dwells securely.  Knowing and believing that God is right beside you always will solve a lot of temptations that bring on bad health.  Consulting Him with every decision of your day as He walks with you would make this even stronger.  Hence it is easy to see that the first step to good health is practicing the presence of God all the time.  These monks are very serious about carrying this practice out, and I have no doubt that without it; nothing else they do that is healthy would be the same. 

Now that we have considered the most important thing they do; what else do we know these monks do that creates such good health in their physical bodies?  

Let’s look at their diet first.  

What we put into our bodies is important.  Long ago I learned a lot about computer programming.  One of the first phrases we had to commit to memory was "garbage in equals garbage out."  It is the same with our bodies.  How we eat determines how we live.  These men alternate their diets between moderate eating, days of partial fasts and feasting.  Every other day they alternate between using olive oil for cooking and eating and not using olive oil for cooking and eating.  They leave off the olive oil when they are on a fast day.  They consistently eat lots of plant proteins.

  

In observing the meals at Athos scientists have noticed they eat simple meals at regular intervals.  They eat two meals a day.  The first meal lasts ten minutes and the second meal lasts ten minutes.  This would certainly keep you from overeating!  If you only eat at the table and you must leave in ten minutes, you do not have time to overeat!  These two meals apparently occur consistently at the same time every day, every time; once in the morning and once in the evening.  There is no meat, except that fish is sometimes served on feast days; and there is no dinner table conversation either.  The only sound during their meals is a monk reading a meditative passage from the holy scriptures while they eat.  I suppose if you only have ten minutes to enjoy your food twice a day; you probably do not want that time to be interrupted by conversation.  I know I would not want it, and I normally LOVE to chat with others. 

By following this pattern of eating, these monks have maintained exceptional health and longevity.  It is suspected that this diet plays a big part of that accomplishment.  Very few men have developed cancer or heart disease or diabetes.  Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson's disease do not even exist here.  You do not hear any of the usual chronic complaints normally experienced by most people who do physical labor day-in and day-out.  No aches and pains or headaches!  No digestive problems!

Many observers have compared the meal preparations for the Monks to the Mediterranean Diet where you eat mostly fruit and vegetables, use herbs instead of salt for seasoning; avoid red meats and use fish and lean poultry, use olive oil instead of butter, and drink moderately using only red wines.  Much of the Mount Athos food is the same.  

All of their food is fresh and unprocessed.  Most everything is grown right on their own soil by their very own hands.  They do not count calories; they simply eat normal portions at set times.  These healthy men also have the regular practice of fasting where they drastically lower their calorie intake in order to clear their minds.  It would seem logical that even though they are "clearing their minds" by fasting; they are also allowing their food longer periods of time to digest between meals.  Perhaps this plays into the achievement of better health.  There may be something to this specific pattern of eating once in the morning and once in the evening.  I've decided to find out for myself.

The minds of these humble monks may also remain clear for other reasons.  They have no wives or children; hence they also experience very low complications from relationships.  This, coupled with the same uncomplicated and structured schedule every day, would probably eliminate a lot of stress.  Stress factors heavily into how our cells renew and maintain health. This fact of leading a life mostly filled with solitude (even being quiet around others) might also, on the other hand, eliminate a lot of joy too.  We who maintain normal relationships in normal family settings should take note and try to maintain healthy relationship skills instead of bad relational practices that bring on stress.  There ARE relationships to deal with here; don't get the wrong picture.  These monks have learned to live in community with harmony.  They have mastered the traits of humility and of putting others before themselves.  They honor the summary Jesus gave us of keeping the commandmentss by loving God and loving others.  We should be doing the same within our families as well as within our surrounding communities.  People living in peace and harmony eliminates stress.  Yet another secret step to good health.

So the scientists of the world were fascinated as they studied the exercise routines of these men.  They do no formal exercise routines, but they are very active all day long with lots of physical labor such as picking fruit from the gardens, clearing brush and hauling building materials through the mountains via mules.  They walk everywhere they go.  They do not use cars.  Often they are walking up steep mountains.  Those studying them had trouble keeping up with their pace.  They work as long as there is daylight and do not have TVs or radios or newspapers to entertain themselves in the evenings.  Except for meal times, sleeping and praying, they are on their feet and moving all day long.  That would certainly keep you in shape and help burn off any extra calories lingering around the waist.  It is always healthier not to be sedentary.  Those of us confined to a desk for our professions must work hard at keeping a balance in this area.      

The "no diseases" factor is very strong with this fortunate group of men, and the length of their life span is on average said to be at least ten years more than others living in Greece.  They are all slim and trim and healthy looking and this has caused many to take notice and try to imitate whatever it is they are doing right.  

Some well-known authors of nutrition, who have been partial to writing about the Mediterranean Diet, took note of these amazing monks and devised and published a whole new diet plan based on their diets.  They call their diet book The Mount Athos Diet.  I am speaking of Lottie Storey, Richard Storey and Sue Todd.  They have incorporated the same form of fasting that the monks use into the diet plan they devised.   Basically they follow a pattern where you eat moderately for three days, fast for 3 days and feast for one day each week.  You can arrange your days in any way you wish to fit your own lifestyle.  These are not the first to write about the eating habits of the monks, and they are also not the only people to come up with new healthy eating plans based on the eating patterns of these men. 
   

In the previously mentioned diet plan, they lay out the way you eat as being as important as the food you ingest.  It makes sense to me.  On the fast days you stick to what is essentially a low-fat vegan diet.  On these three days you eat no dairy, no meat, no fish, no eggs, no chips, fried foods or pastries, no prepared snack foods, no sweets, chocolate or confectionery foods, no sugar or sugary drinks, no alcohol, no oils, fats, mayonnaise or fatty salad dressings. 

You can have a good portion of vegetables, fruits, herbal teas, spices, herbs and peppers.  You may have very moderate amounts of pasta, bread, seeds, nuts and honey,  I haven't read the book yet, and I am wondering if they encourage soups on these days too.  I suspect they do.

On the 3 moderate days you must maintain moderate portions but you may add bread (wholemeal), potatoes, avocados, fruit juice, olives and olive oil, honey, Greek yogurt, skimmed milk, cheese, small amounts of butter, eggs, seafood, chicken, alcohol (preferably just limited amounts of red wine), dried fruits and salt.

On a feast day you may indulge in whatever you want as long as you don’t go overboard and consume too much of everything.   You basically have 3 moderate days, 3 fast days and one feast day each week.  

Hmmmmm…..so how can I incorporate some of these things into my life to make it healthier?

I’ll start by breaking down and simplifying this diet just a bit.  I’ll just say for three days a week I will eat only fruits and vegetables and for three days a week I will add fish or chicken and dairy products to those fruits and vegetables.  I will use olive oil for cooking and flavoring in place of butter or any other oils, and I will keep my portions within reason.  One day a week I will feast on whatever I want; within reason. 

I too will take my meals at the same time every day (I don’t know why, but that is what the monks do, and they are being successful!  I suspect it has a lot to do with aiding good digestion.)  I’ll limit the time to linger at the table to no longer than 30 minutes. (I'm used to an hour now.)   I’ll leave out the sugar every day, and unlike the monks I am going to chose to leave off bread with leaven and starches every day too.  I have found this works better for me. They do eat bread, potatoes, rice and pasta, but I am not going to do that, even on moderate days.  

I think there is a lot to be said for limiting the meals on 3 days a week and keeping the meals down to two a day.   It allows you more time to actually digest less food.  I think the plan to eat only twice a day is wise, but it will take some getting used to!   This flies in the face of the current trends to eat small healthy meals continuously spaced out all day long.  Though that would keep your metabolism working all the time; it also would not allow enough time for digested food to clear your system before consuming again.  I think we've missed the boat here; and I'm opting to go with the monks.  I've tried the little healthy meals all day long with absolutely no results.  I will have to start cooking breakfast again on the week days, because that early morning meal seems to be important since there will be no meal in the middle of the day.  No pain - no gain!

My breakfast time will be 6 a.m. and my dinner time will be 6:30 p.m.  That just works with my lifestyle.  I'm not sure when the monks eat, I only know it is once in the morning and once in the evening.  This will be close enough.  I will take a hot tea to drink during lunch break at work.  I'll use some of the Altos recipes.  I'll sip on water all day at my desk.  That will help me to make it through skipping that meal in the middle of the day.  I'll also use that time to take a quick walk around the building, adding it into my two walks I already am taking in the mornings and in the afternoons.  That will fill my time with more physical activity and keep me distracted from the fact that my stomach is trained to eat in the middle of the day.  It will be nowhere near the physical activity that these monks get; but at least it will be MORE than I am used to doing now.   The skipping lunch part will be hard until my body becomes accustomed to it.  I’m sure  that reducing my calorie intake this way will help a lot.   The added exercise will make that go even further.

I’ll alternate the 3 days without meat with the three days of meat.   I'll only eat lean chicken and fish with no red meats.   I’ll make Saturdays my feast day.  I’ll eat anything I want on that day, even red meat and sugar, but only two meals with reasonable portions.  I MIGHT allow a snack on Saturdays too, if I skip desserts on each of the meals. 

So here goes folks; the start of my new diet plan that has been inspired by some very godly men from Greece!  I hope it works for me as well as it worked for them.  Please pray for my success.  If you want to join me, I will be praying for you too.  This diet and lifestyle change is as much for health reasons as for simply losing weight.  I’ve lost a little weight already by not eating fast foods or pre-packaged foods, and leaving off the starches and the sugars.  I’m hoping this takes me further toward more success.  

If you decide to do this with me – I would love to hear of your results.  My main goal is simply to have a healthy body.  I'm not trying to be a supermodel.  I don't worry about growing old, I simply want to wear my age like a crown.  I want my physical abilities to line up with whatever spiritual tasks God sends my way; and this means not having to worry about chronic health problems, and having enough energy and vitality to endure whatever God puts before me to do for the day.  

Not a bad idea, huh?  Well, this new diet plan is simply a trial I'm trying.  I'll give it six months and see it if affects me the way it has affected those healthy monks.  If it does, I'll keep the plan going on.    I have no idea how the outcome will be and I’m basing everything I’m doing on the facts I’ve learned from reading about the Monks at Athos.   This is MY VERSION of the diet.  Nothing scientific about it, not a medical recommendation, just sharing with you what I’m trying to do to get healthy in my own life.   I have no clue what the real outcome will be; God's will be done.

In pondering all of these facts about food and eating patterns, it occurs to me that I want to learn much more of the nutritional value of each of the fruits and vegetables I’m going to be using on this diet.  I've already discussed the value of eating apples in another article of this blog; and I know there are other foods that are great for good, nutritional eating.  I think variety will make a huge difference in sticking to this eating plan.  Stay tuned next Friday to learn more about my findings on some of the nutritional food choices I want to prepare with this diet.  I'll try to divide them up between moderate days, fast days and feast days.  I'll also be sharing some recipes to go along with these new choices of food.  If you have recipes that would relate to this diet plan – I would love to hear from you. 

The whole main focus of all of this is to stay tuned in to the presence of God and His will for me as I go through my days and as I go through my life.  Keeping my body physically fit, such as Esther and Daniel and his friends did when they were living in a culture that did otherwise, is just one part of this lifestyle.  There are a lot more pieces to this puzzle, but this is a good start.  I only wish I had known thirty years ago what I am lerning today.  Life is a process though.  

Each week I want to share a  scripture that I have found inspiring on this journey of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  I’ll leave you now with this one from 3 John 1:2:  “Dear friend, I pray you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.”

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 125 - HOW GOD INSTITUTED PASSOVER AND THE FESTIVAL OF UNLEAVENED BREAD

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Soon the Egyptians noticed that they were affected by the plagues, but the people of Israel were not; and they gained a deeper respect for the Israelites because of how their God protected them.  These pagan people were seeing that SOME God had favor on the Israelites.  They began to treat the Israelites nicer.  Moses was greatly respected by Pharaoh’s men, and secretly they honored him even though they were still Pharaoh’s officials.  They were afraid not to; the fear of the God of Moses had come to Egypt.

God had another plan for one more plague.  Before He sent that plague He told the people to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.  Since the Egyptians were favorably disposed toward the people by now, they quickly gave them what they asked for; being afraid that their God would return vengeance upon them if they did not.  When the Israelites had received the gold and silver from the Egyptians; God once again spoke to Moses:

“I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt.  After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely.”

So Moses told the people:  “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt.  Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all of the firstborn of the cattle as well.  There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt – worse than there has ever been or ever will be again.  But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.  Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.  All of these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, “Go, you and all the people who follow you!  After that I will leave.”

Remember Moses had been told never to return before Pharaoh?  Moses must have returned ONLY because God had given him this word; but Pharaoh refused to see him.  Moses hot with anger, left without seeing Pharaoh, just as God had predicted would happen.  Moses must have proclaimed the word of God to Pharaoh’s officials instead of the stuborn Pharaoh.  The message was delivered even if it was delivered indirectly, and the time was set for every firstborn son in the land, from the lowest to the highest to sleep the sleep of death at midnight.  Everyone would be affected except the Israelites.  God had warned that no harm would come to them.

Note that God is very slow to wrath.  He could have easily killed every single Egyptian right from the start of this story; but instead He sent warnings in the form of plagues.  He gave the Egyptians time to repent, acknowledge that He was the One and Only God and he allowed plenty of time for them to treat the Israelites differently.  All the Egyptians had to do to escape these plagues was to obey God.  

Even when God did show his wrath, it was limited to only what was needed for the occasion.  He sent the death angel only to the firstborn sons; not the whole community.  God is always merciful.  He is always waiting on us to truly turn and follow Him and mend our broken ways. 

Today Christians must act as bravely and boldly as Moses did.  

Moses’ faith is remembered in the New Testament writings in Hebrews 11:27 and it says; by faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the kings anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.  Are we persevering in leaving the things of the world behind and following the ways of God?  We have known Him who is invisible and we have believed.  We must gather ourselves together and have the faith of Moses and come out of the Egypt of the world. 

Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, just as God had told Moses would happen.  God had warned him; and all Pharaoh’s people could do was prepare for the worst.  

At the same time that God warned the Egyptians, He also was lovingly preparing his people Israel.

God spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave the instructions for the very first Passover:  “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.  Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.  If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are.  You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.  The animals you choose must be year old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.  Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.  Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs.  That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.  Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire – with the head, legs and internal organs.  Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.  This is how you are to eat it:  with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand.  Eat it in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.   On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt.  I am the LORD.  The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.  No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.  This is a day you are to commemorate, for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD – a lasting ordinance.  For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast.  On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.  On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day.  Do not work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat that is all you may do.  Celebrate the festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt.  Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.  In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day.  For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses.  And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel.  Eat nothing made with yeast.  Where ever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”

Did you grasp those words from God speaking to His people?  Are we not His people today? Our Savior Jesus Christ has made us acceptable unto God and adopted sons of The Family of God.  Yes these instructions given so long ago have been fulfilled in Christ as our Passover Lamb, but did we forget what God originally instructed?   Did he not say this would be a lasting ordinance?  Did God not say to keep the seven day festival of unleavened bread and to remove the yeast from our homes before it started?  Yes it is all symbolic to us now of how the story has been fulfilled in Christ; but did God not give that command that it would be kept throughout ALL generations?  Do you not think He wanted us to do this so that we would NEVER forget how He showed us He was the One and ONLY GOD?  Do you celebrate Passover and keep the 7 day festival of Unleavened Bread?

Can we not have the faith of Moses and keep the feast in remembrance of how God by giving his firstborn son has given us freedom from bondage, first from physical bondage to false gods, and second from spiritual bondage from our own sins, and from Satan and his demons?  Surely we can keep a festival before God and remember as He commanded us to do so long ago!  Are we hard-hearted like Pharaoh?  

Each man must be accountable to God.  If someone is telling you none of this is important and it has all passed away; that person will not be standing before God in your place.  YOU are accountable to God for what you do in your own life; just as Pharaoh was accountable to God for making his country believe in false idols.     

One thing has changed in this observance and it's fulfillment.  Our hearts have been circumcised with the blood of Jesus.  The blood that the Israelites used to cover their door posts symbolizes the blood of Jesus that covers our hearts and blots our sins out so that God will not see them or remember them anymore.  They are no longer written down in the book of remembrance for those who have come to trust in Christ as their Passover lamb.  Praise God we are free at last!  Let us keep the festivals of freedom that God has decreed for us to honor Him with just as the Israelites kept them when they first gained their physical freedom.  

We now have spiritual freedom!  It is much greater and we have so much more to honor God with at our annual festivals now.  Let us honor Him with our whole heart by keeping his word and following his instructions; totally opposite to the Egyptians who did not listen to God’s instructions to Moses.  Let us not turn a deaf ear; but let us be hearing and doing!

Let us remove the leaven for seven days; just as God instructed in Exodus 12: 17-20!  Let us observe the Passover annually and remember that it is our God through Christ His Son who gives us freedom!  Whether we physically act this out or not; we will be just as saved because Christ died for our sins and if we are trusting and believing on Him we are forgiven.  However, it is the difference in cherishing and obeying what God has done and taking it for granted.  

So it was that Moses summoned the elders of Israel and said to them; “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb.  Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the door frame.  None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning.  When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the door frame and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.  Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants.  When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony.  And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?  Then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians."

After Moses spoke this, the people bowed down before God and worshiped.  The Israelites did just as God had commanded Moses and Aaron. 

Midnight arrived.  God struck down the firstborn of all of Egypt, from the house of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as the firstborn of all of the Egyptian livestock that survived the plagues.  Pharaoh and his officials woke up during the night to the sound of loud wailing throughout Egypt.  There was not one house without someone dead, including Pharaoh's beloved firstborn son.

SEASONS - WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE "INDEPENDENT" IN 2016?

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf) 

We are well into summer now, and my mind is beginning to focus on the 4^th of July, America's Independence Day.  

I have some great ideas for celebrating the holiday this year, and have stashed a few great recipes to share in other articles of this same blog. 

However; those of you who know me well realize that I do not celebrate any holiday without first digging into the facts and realizing why I am celebrating.  My patriotism has been stirred all through this summer season.   After all, we have enjoyed several national holidays since the first days of summer.  We began with Memorial Day when we remembered those who died fighting for our freedom.  Next came Flag Day, and we stopped to think of all the things that beautiful star spangled banner represents.  In honor of this, my house stayed decked out in red white and blue with many areas proudly displaying the flag of our nation as we took a day out to honor our great fathers, including our founding fathers who wrote The Constitution and The Declaration of Independence.

Now we have come to a time in which we stop and remember the signing of that awesome old document that has carried our nation through many tough situations.  We come to Independence Day!  Just what has that old document come to stand for in America over the years?  Is it still good for us?  Is it still valid?  Bold leaders go charging through the public square asking those same questions, causing people to wonder, to doubt, to consider whether or not it still matters.  Has The Declaration of Independence served it's purpose now?  Have we evolved to a place and time where it is no longer needed in our government?  These are questions that should all be answered clearly, because these are questions that really matter for the future of our nation.  
One must understand the difference between The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution in order to perceive the proper logic for this subject.  These two documents are not one and the same, but they are intrinsically tied to one another.  The first, The

Declaration of Independence (the one we celebrate on July 4th every year), is merely a statement of purpose, it holds no legal power whatsoever.  It was written and signed in 1776 in order to spell out the crimes committed by King George of England and to declare the people's independence from him and British rule.  It is The Constitution that actually holds the legal power of The United States of America.  The Declaration provides the ideological and philosophical logic of the people who formed the Constitution.  It sets the tone to introduce this desired way of life in beautiful and thought provoking language.  The Constitution was written and signed on September 17, 1787, and this drier, more exact document, became the charter of government ratified by the states.  Today it continues to be the Supreme Law Of The Land; meaning that the legal power of all laws in the country spring from this one document.  It is the foundation of America's legal system.   Both of these two important documents were signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Each document played a part in bringing The United States of America into existence, The Declaration of Independence spelled out the reasons for this action and The Constitution actually set up the rules for the new government.  True independence hinges from the words and concepts of both documents.    Theses two documents do not contradict one another and they work beautifully together as the founding documents of our nation.

An old statement from John Adams seems to provide thought and some answers to our

questions about independence.  John Adams said:  "Our Constitution is made only for a moral and religious people."  In the beginning America was moral and America believed in the providence of God for our nation.  The first colonist were very religious in carrying out these beliefs.  They incorporated their passion for their God and their country into every aspect of their daily lives.  

That was then; today our government pushes the erosion of the values of the Judeo/Christian people who are left in the nation.  Freedom of religion for this particular group of people is quickly going away.   Just ask Hobby Lobby or EWTN or Kim Davis what happens now in America if you try to live by religious liberty and make decisions on what you feel God has mandated and you are a Judeo/Christian group or individual.  If you don't stand up and fight you are run over by a truck called "too much government control."  Ironically the same rules and practices don't seem important or even to apply if you are atheist, agnostic, homosexual,  secular, Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim.   I live in the deep south where we are said to have so much racial strife among the people.  Living here in reality, my thoughts are different.  I can see where the people that I know and live around have come a LONG way toward accepting each other and living together in peace and harmony.  I see the white/black hate slowly healing and I see good people both black and white deciding to forgive and forget and move forward with their lives in a new day; but as this gives me hope, at the same time I look around and see yet another type of discrimination taking its place.  The black people have not been in slavery for many generations now; but there is a different type of slavery coming about.  It doesn't care what color your skin is; it only cares what color your heart is.  This is the worst kind of discrimination known to mankind.  There are a lot of Judeo/Christian people (both black and white) losing their rights and freedoms even though they are just as much citizens of this country as the ones who wish to discriminate against them and their beliefs.  This is the new form of slavery and discrimination I see across the land.  It is religious discrimination against Christians that takes away their ability to worship freely.  This is shameful and disgraceful and would be appalling to our founding fathers who set up the original United States of America.  It is sneaky and plotting in the ways it is happening, very deceptive in nature and not always easily seen or detected for what it truly is.
Those carefully thought out laws about freedom of religion by our founders only seem to apply to special interest groups today.    They don't seem to be for everyone any more.  Independence in this area of our lives is slowly turning into a type of bondage that funds a government which no longer stands for any of our values.  Liberal progressives have worked hard to bring about new laws slanted toward a more secular socialist state.  Radical Muslim activist who are pushing Sharia law are taking total advantage of this situation.  Any time our nation is divided they move in and help to divide it even more, hoping for us to grow weaker and weaker.  It is an old ancient technique.  These two movements within our walls are changing the landscape of our country quickly.  The thoughts and ideas of our nations's original founders would be polar opposites to the way these new leaders think.  

The Department of Justice better known among my peers as "The Department of Injustice" has crushed and defeated individual states where the ever diligent Judeo/Christian Americans have stood up for their beliefs and tried to incorporate laws within their own states that would help to counteract the corruption and evil of big federal governing bodies that no longer seem to have their best interest in mind.  The DOJ is all about grabbing federal power and using it for gun control, the destruction of the world's most advanced healthcare systems, the demoralization of our military, the normalization of deviant lifestyles, the establishment of taxpayer funded abortions, and the promotion of crippling policies that are likely to destroy our economic systems.  The word "justice" should not even be in this title any more.  There is no real justice from this government body.  The salt has lost its flavor and it has become useless for its original purposes.

Irregardless of the above facts, everyone is well aware that we Americans traditionally

celebrate the 4^th of July to remember the day of our nation’s signing of The Declaration of Independence and to remember what our nation went through in order to obtain the freedom we were all created to enjoy in life.   It is good at least to stop now and remember the documents and what they stood for.  Perhaps this will help some of us to awaken from our stupor and move into action.  This document was drafted to protect us from all of the corruption of governing powers that do similar things to those I've mentioned above.  For years and years patriots have fought to defend individual rights and the right to worship, work and provide a decent life for their families. These veterans now stand in long lines to see doctors for fatal illnesses.  Large numbers of them have died in the process.  Instead of being first on the list for proper medical treatment, they have been overlooked, pushed back and ignored.  They are denied decent healthcare while immigrants who are here illegally are granted a free ride compliments of our government.    

Ironically enough, when these same guys; the Veterans, meet to celebrate The Declaration of Independence it isn't just about 

 BBQ and picnics and fireworks.  They REALLY know the cost of independence and they have paid dearly for it.  They are quickly waking up to the reality that they may no longer have this precious gift that they have held sacred over the years and have given life and limb and family time to defend.  I have to ask you; are we still independent?  
What of the social welfare systems of some hospitals that allow a young teenager to be taken from the safety and care of her parents and home for no logical reason at all and kept against her will for their medical experiments for almost a whole year?  Who will address the freedom and independence of these citizens?

What sacred words were used so long ago in The Declaration of Independence that would help us regain independence in our country today?  What written thoughts and ideas could begin to protect us from the scandal after national scandal that our liberal governing bodies have done without consulting the people? When will the American Citizens once more have a say in what is said and  done in the good name of America?  

Let's pick out a few phrases from the Declaration of Independence:

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

Have Americans now become so divided between the left and the right, the red and the blue,  that we must now declare why we cannot live with one another's government AGAIN?   There is much debate about the word "indivisible" in our pledge of allegiance.  Are we not now a country divided in thought so much like the British and the Colonial Americans were before?   We simply have no oceans between us and no mapped out boundaries, but we are worlds apart in direction, ideals, philosophy and basic desires for our nation.  What has divided us up this way?  Was it caused by a man, a group of people, a set of rules, a disagreement of ideals?  Is it the truths that we believe in and hold dear to our hearts?  Are two groups of people completely loyal to two totally opposite ways of thinking and life?   Are there those living among us now that simply do not hold to the truth of those old words written back in 1776?

"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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. ?

Does our government still derive its power from "the consent of the governed?"  Does this echo from the past not scream out at you as you read it?  Have we not reached a place in America that our government has become destructive?  Is it not our right as the people who are governed to abolish it and start over?  Dare we begin to institute a new government that would once again begin to effect our own safety and happiness?  I wonder.  Do we really care about such things anymore, or do we just want our government to hand out a daily bowl and keep us enslaved in our own laziness forever?   Should we not write a Declaration of Independence that will proclaim our freedom from abusive government again?  

 Have we become numb to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?  Do we even remember the true definition of these things anymore?  Some people seem to have a confused definition.  Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in this old document did not mean stay drunk, high and totally immoral whenever possible. It also did not mean go home from a long day at work, cover your head and sink into a land that is dictated to you by a screen on the wall.   Nor did it mean if you have enough cash you can buy whatever you want and if you don't have a penny you have no value to offer to others.  No!  These wise old leaders believed in an orderly and decent nation and a happy nation full of life and pleasant activity for all.   

Perhaps there are one or two generations living today who have never really known or experienced these things in their fullness.  They would not even know what they were fighting for if they decided to  join the cause.  Shame on those who have lived differently for not teaching them!  Of course why would they join our cause when the pied piper is out there playing lovely music into their ears?  Our systems of liberal education have taught them to enjoy their slavery.  They have somehow convinced them that their ideas are intelligent and the ideas of others are dumb.  The common man with common sense is looked down on as if he were not capable of thinking simply because he did not attend an ivy league institute of learning.  These days should Benjamin Franklin walk across the square and speak his mind he would be run out of town.  Common sense does not prevail at all!   Never mind what the common man has learned from the experience of the world, of knowing and acting among other human beings, of making a living and raising children and having true values.  These things are irrelevant to those of the world of higher education these days.  They live on a different plane.  They have taught their students not to weigh out the matters for themselves as our founding fathers did, but to follow those who carry pedigrees, even if they are worthless and useless and destructive for the common good.  They do not truly understand freedom and independence, except in a very limited and rebellious, twisted way.  We have failed to teach them the truth in our own homes from the cradle and the world has done our job for us.   Have you shared The Declaration of Independence's meaning with your children or did they study it in school?   We have let our children become brainwashed in our laziness while we enjoyed the fat of the land.  Now the world is changing and the fat has turned to lean and the little children can vote.  We have created this green-eyed monster ourselves.  We have not been prudent with our independence.

"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world."

Well, yes!  Let the facts be submitted to a candid world!  Are we not today living in the SAME Despotism?  Is it not still our right and our duty to throw this off and provide guards for our own future security?  I ask you should any people have to endure the invasion of privacy our own government has forced upon it's people against their will?  Should a federal agency like the IRS be able to single out certain groups and play favorites?  Should special interest groups be allowed to use the power of federal agencies to achieve their political agendas that clearly go against the needs and desires of the majority of the common people?  Should we stand by and let politicians play dangerous games with our world security?

Let's just look at this list where The Declaration of Independence spelled out how King George went wrong back in the colonial days:

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.  

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. 

Is this not the same theory behind our current president's arrogance as he proudly takes his magic pen, shakes it in our faces and proceeds to write new laws into effect that go against everything that the common people want and need? Has the Supreme Court not done the same?  Where have we given those who are set up to enforce the current laws the power to CHANGE the current laws without consulting the majority of the people?   Has the one who initiates such things not arrogantly proclaimed it himself with a big wide smile on his face as he takes pen in hand?  Why do we not question these things like those brave colonist who wrote the Declaration of Independence so long ago?  Are we blind, stupid, uncaring, lazy, afraid?  Have we lost our passion for what is right and what is wrong?  Have we become over-educated idiots?   Have we not let appointed civil servants take over positions that should be voted on by the majority of the people?  Is it fair for a president to appoint biased people with agenda's to office without the consent of the people and to use them as pawns in his chess game?

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

Is this not the similar to governing powers overlooking Benghazi?   Not only have we overlooked the tragic circumstances, we have put the main character in the committing of the crime in a position to make decisions for our whole nation!   Now even committees who are experts have examined the circumstances and found her guilty but it doesn't even make headline news.  Were the legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable and distant back in those days not comparable to the operations of the Department of Justice today?   Are certain people in certain offices going to be right every time even when they are truly dead wrong?   How many things can people get away with?  How many smoke screens can be thrown in the path of the truth for a diversion to prevent correction and action among the people?  What about these things have anything to do with independence?  They are to do with blind slavery and injustice.  They are to do with murder and lies and deception  Independence is never maintained with such destructive tools.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

Let's talk about illegal immigrants.  Are these poor innocent people of today not being used by greedy and deceiving  political parties for political reasons?  Do you honestly think our government has their best interest at heart?   They are pawns in a chess game too.  This body that wants to bring them into the country without properly preparing them for honest citizenship will only use them first and abuse them later.  They are sheep led to the slaughter, only they will take already legal people down with them as they go.  It is all about numbers in elections.  It is all about using the ignorance of others to achieve the evil of unscrupulous rulers.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences  For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty; perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

Okay, that covered a lot of crimes that can be committed by an unworthy leader.  Look at the words very close.  Almost every sentence can be applied in some way or another to some scheme of our government today.  It is almost like they took The Declaration of Independence and said, how can we create the situations before the writing of this document all over again?  

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 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. 

And the old and sacred words of this Declaration of Independence, along with the words of our Constitution, my friends, are the definition of "true independence."  So much wisdom is all contained in this one document and it applies correctly to anyone willing to read and understand.  Now, maybe even without realizing it, you have read it again for yourselves.  Let us remember.  The next question is:  What do you want to do about it?

                May God bless America by bringing it back!