By David M. Bradford
From his Keynote Address at the 135th Anniversary of the Forefather’s Monument
August 3, 2024
Part 3 of 3
So, What Do We Do?
Both restoration and reconciliation start with an honest self-examination and personal commitment by individual people of this country (that is you and me) to embrace for ourselves the reality of objective truth and the ideals embodied within our Constitution. The underlying principles of freedom, virtue, and faith are the birthright of every American. They also declare the values that every citizen can admire, accept, and be willing to model as well as teach to their children. And we can demand these truths be taught in schools across the nation. As President Abraham Lincoln rightly observed long ago, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”
Equally important to our personal commitment is that we must insist our elected leaders join in this restoration effort. Their oath of office obligates their allegiance and obedience to the principles of “God, liberty, and justice for all” demanded by our Constitution. Only when we can trust that our values and principles are shared by our political opponents (as well as our political allies) will we be able to restore the mutual respect and collegiality necessary to govern. This is not only the promise of America, but the pledge and commitment we must make and re-affirm to each other as citizens; Just as the Pilgrims did when they signed their names to the Mayflower Compact in 1620 and our founding fathers mutually pledged to each other in their 1776 Declaration of Independence along with their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.” We can do no less!
Pursue “Happiness” and Live in Truth
The one thing that unifies and binds us together as a people is our identity as Americans. This identity is spelled out in the Declaration of Independence where it declares the self-evident truth that “all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” However, our pursuit of happiness does not refer simply to those temporal things that bring us brief or fleeting pleasures. Our nation’s founders knew these rights extend to our pursuit of those most precious and priceless joys of life that deliver transcendent meaning and soul-satisfying significance and, ultimately, reconciliation and peace with God. These rights are constrained only by conscience and the laws established by men whereby we punish those that unjustly harm others (tort law) or violate binding commitments made with others (contract law). And always remember, Truth is the great liberator. It is the lie that enslaves, but it is the truth that sets us free. But beware of the half-truth. As Alfred Lord Tennyson warned, “A lie that is half-truth is the darkest of all lies.”
“A lie that is half-truth is the darkest of all lies.”
Alfred Lord Tennyson
I have sought to offer a prescription for restoring and keeping alive the secret to our national prosperity and happiness as a nation and as individual Americans. As our founders declared, it is freedom exercised by a virtuous people in faith that will prevail through politically divisive times and heal our troubled land. Building relationships by showing God’s love to one another despite our differences (like Pilgrim Edward Winslow and Massasoit Ousamequin showed us) forges deep and abiding friendships that can last a lifetime, weather any storm, and in the end, allow us to be the blessing to our world that God intends for us to be.
Now more than ever, as we navigate uncertain days ahead, we must be prepared to remind our fellow citizens of the power we each possess to demonstrate that same faith, resilience, charity and hope that the Pilgrims displayed to their world 400 years ago. Perhaps Bradford’s most famous quote is famous for this very reason when he declared,
“Thus, out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation. Let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise.”
Perhaps, in so doing, their example will once again become that one small candle that lights and inspires a new generation and brings healing to our land. Remember: The light shines brightest when the times are darkest. We are facing what may appear to us as desperate days ahead. No doubt about that. The choice is yours, but the consequences will rest with your children and grandchildren.
Not far from here, just down the road on Burial Hill, stands the grave marker of my ancestor Governor William Bradford. And on that stone is engraved a Latin phrase whose admonition has never been more timely or apt for us living today. It reads, “Qua patres difficillime adepti sunt nolite turpiter relinquere.”
Which translated means, “What our forefathers with such difficulty attained, do not shamefully abandon.”
May each of us gathered here today remain faithful to remember and remind our fellow citizens, in this moment and for years to come, what God did here, on this ground, through our Pilgrim forefathers. Amen!
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