Controlling Our Anger

                    Most of us have been angry at one time or another or have been around someone else that became angry.  Many of us have seen or heard of the results of groups of people becoming angry.  Many people in the world have the understanding that anger is an acceptable reaction to situations we do not like and that violence and revenge are acceptable ways of dealing with anger.  I am writing this essay in the hopes that all of us can learn better ways to recognize and overcome our angry feelings.  We all must learn to control these powerful emotions in order to enter God's kingdom.

                    The scriptures teach us that the Lord does not approve of anger.  The Apostle Paul taught, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

                    "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:31-32).

                    Jesus Christ taught the Nephites, "For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another

                    "Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away" (3 Nephi 11:29-30).

                    President Howard W. Hunter, fourteenth President of the Church, said:  "We need to be slower to anger and more prompt to help.  We need to extend the hand of friendship and resist the hand of retribution.  In short, we need to love one another with the pure love of Christ … for that is the way God loves us" (Ensign, May 1992, 61). 

                    Anger is a natural human response, but it can be harmful to us physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  We must learn to overcome anger in order to become like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

Imagine a world where there is no anger.  In such a world we would see disagreements being solved more easily.  We would see people enjoying more peace and spiritual strength.  We would find happier families and neighborhoods, fewer violent crimes, less abuse, little or no divorce, no riots, and possibly no wars.

In learning to control our angry feelings, we must remember that anger is a secondary emotion.  We feel something else before we feel anger.  We might feel embarrassment.  We might feel that we have been treated unfairly.  We might be upset because we are not getting our own way.  We might be confused or misunderstand the situation.

                    The important thing that we must understand about anger is that we have a choice on how we will respond to anything.  No matter what the reason is that we become angry, we can control how we will act or react.

                    The scriptures give us counsel about handling anger.  "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." (Proverbs 16:32).

 "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth" (Colossians 3:8). 

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.

"For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God" (James 1:19-20).

There are several possible ways of dealing with anger.  1) We can choose to wait before we say or do anything.  We can count to ten or one hundred or higher if necessary.  We can take ourselves out of the area.  This gives us an opportunity to think about the situation and possible reasons why something happened.  It also gives us an opportunity to calm down.  2)  We can talk it out with someone.  If we are angry with a person, we should talk with that person if at all possible.  We should stay calm but direct.  3) We can pray and ask Heavenly Father to help us deal with the situation.  We can also ask him to take away our anger and help us forgive the person or people who have hurt us.  I remember a time when I took a problem to the Lord, and the Lord replied with these words, "Think about how _____ feels."  4) We can exercise.  Doing a physical activity releases the tension that comes from anger.  I remember vigorously vacuuming when angry and feeling great by the time I finished.

                    One important point that we must remember is that we will gain more satisfaction from controlling our anger that we would seeking revenge or expressing anger in other negative ways.  We are each responsible to control our own behavior, and we should let the Lord take care of those who have wronged us.

                    We can help other people control their anger when we control our own anger.   "A soft answer turneth away wrath:  but grievous words stir up anger" (Proverbs 15:1).

                    We must learn to overcome our anger if we want to be more like Jesus Christ.  The first step is learning to control our actions when we get angry; the ultimate goal is to learn not to become angry in the first place.

                    Some people justify their anger by saying that even God becomes angry.  The scriptures speak of the wrath or anger of God.  Other scripture tells us that Christ was angry when He drove the money changers out of the temple (see Mark 11:15-17).  The Lord was totally in control of himself; He did not show any hostility or seek revenge.  God's "anger" is sometimes called "righteous anger," and its purpose is to bless God's children, manifest truth, and destroy wickedness.

                    Jesus Christ is the perfect example of how to act when faced with a difficult situation.  Elder ElRay L. Christiansen, who was an Assistant to the Twelve Apostles, stated:  "Jesus set the example in personal conduct regarding anger when, although he had been falsely accused and made the subject of railings and mockery, he stood majestically and completely composed before the perplexed Pontius Pilate.  He did not retaliate in anger.  Rather, he stood erect, poised, unmoved.  His conduct was divine.  What an example for all of us!

                    "Listen to these marvelous words of the Savior, the master teacher: 

                    "`Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

                    "`But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.'  (Matt. 5:43-44.)" (in Ensign, June 1971, 38).

                    The words to the hymn entitled "School Thy Feelings" (Hymns, no. 336) were written in 1869 by Charles W. Penrose, who later became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  Elder Penrose had been serving in the presidency of the Birmingham (England) Conference of the Church, and he had brought his own furniture to use in the office.  When he was released from the calling and took his furniture home, he was accused by another Church member of stealing furniture belonging to the Church.  This accusation hurt Elder Penrose's feelings and made him angry toward the other man.  Elder Penrose initially wanted to get back at the man, but instead he wrote the words to this hymn to help himself calm down and control his anger.   The words of this hymn can assist us in learning to control our own angry feelings. (See George D. Pyper, Stories of Latter-day Saint Hymns [1939], 158-60; see also Orson F. Whitney, `A Hymn with a History,' Improvement Era, Oct. 1924, 1109-12.)

                                        School thy feelings, O my brother; Train thy warm, impulsive soul.

                                        Do not its emotions smother, But let wisdom's voice control.

                                        School thy feelings; there is power In the cool, collected mind.

                                        Passion shatters reason's tower, Makes the clearest vision blind.

                                        Chorus:  School thy feelings, O my brother; Train thy warm, impulsive soul.

                                        Do not its emotions smother, But let wisdom's voice control.

                                        School thy feelings; condemnation Never pass on friend or foe,

                                        Though the tide of accusation Like a flood of truth may flow.

                                        Hear defense before deciding, And a ray of light may gleam.

                                        Showing thee what filth is hiding Underneath the shallow stream.

                                        Should affliction's acrid vial Burst o'er thy unsheltered head,

                                        School thy feelings to the trial; Half its bitterness hath fled,

                                        Art thou falsely, basely, slandered?  Does the world begin to frown?

                                        Gauge thy wrath by wisdom's standard; Keep thy rising anger down.

                                        Rest thyself on this assurance:  Time's a friend to innocence,

                                        And the patient, calm endurance Wins respect and aids defense.

                                        Noblest minds have finest feelings; Quiv'ring strings a breath can move;

                                        And the gospel's sweet revealings Tune them with the key of love.

                                        Hearts so sensitively molded Strongly fortified should be,

                                        Trained to firmness and enfolded In a calm tranquility.

                                        Wound not willfully another; Conquer haste with reason's might;

                                        School thy feelings, sister, brother; Train them in the path of right.

                    I know that we must learn to overcome anger if we want to mature spiritually and become more like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  I know that we can pray for Heavenly Father's help in overcoming anger.  I encourage all of us to use positive responses the next time we feel angry.

Freedom Is Not Free!

                    Families, communities, and nations are strengthened when we as members, residents, and citizens realize that freedom comes at great cost.  This week we celebrated 236 years of freedom, independence, and liberty since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  The Signers pledged their Lives, their Fortunes and their sacred Honor in order that they, their countrymen, and their posterity could live without tyranny.  Many of them lost their fortunes, some of them lost their lives, and others lost family members because they signed the Declaration, but all of them are honored for their courage and their integrity.

                    The greatest freedoms given to mankind - freedom from sin and freedom from death - were paid by the Atonement of Jesus Christ.   Our Savior suffered great pain and anguish in order to bring us these freedoms.  We should at least recognize the great price the Lord paid that we might be eternally free as well as the price our Heavenly Father paid in allowing His Beloved Son to thus suffer.  Freedom is not free!

                    For more than 236 years men and women in the military have stood between Americans and our enemies.  They were there during many wars, including the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War, two wars in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan.  Thousands of men and women paid the ultimate price by giving their lives for their countrymen; thousands of others paid the price in loss of health or loss of family.   Freedom is not free!

                    One of my nieces posted the following poem on Facebook a few days ago.  I do not know the author, but I felt it was very fitting for her to remind all of us about the cost of freedom.  She is a former member of the military, and her husband is currently serving in the military.  She clearly understands that freedom is not free!

                    As parents, grandparents, leaders, and teachers, we must instill in the rising generation that we all enjoy freedom, independence, and liberty because someone else paid the price for us to do so.  Our families, communities, and nations will be stronger when we all remember that freedom is not free.

                    I watched the flag pass by one day.

                    It fluttered in the breeze.

                    A young Marine saluted it,

                    And then he stood at ease.

                    I looked at him in uniform,

                    So young, so tall, so proud.

                    With hair cut square and eyes alert,

                    He'd stand out in any crowd.

                    I thought how many men like him

                    Had fallen through the years.

                    How many died on foreign soil;

                    How many mothers' tears?

                    How many pilots' planes shot down?

                    How many died at sea?

                    How many foxholes were soldier's graves?

                    NO, FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!

                    I heard the sound of Taps one night,

                    When everything was still.

                    I listened to the bugler play

                    And felt a sudden chill.

                    I wondered just how many times

                    That Taps had meant `Amen.'

                    When a flag had draped a coffin

                    Of a brother or a friend.

                    I thought of all the children,

                    Of the mothers and the wives,

                    Of fathers, sons and husbands

                    With interrupted lives.

                    I thought about a graveyard

                    At the bottom of the sea.

                    Of unmarked graves in Arlington.

                    NO FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!

Good Laws

                    The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is the fact that laws can be found constitutional without being considered to be good laws and good, well-intentioned laws can be found unconstitutional. 

The United States Supreme Court found the Affordable Care Act health care law (known as Obamacare) to be constitutional by a 5-4 vote; however, when Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, he wrote:  "We do not consider whether the Act embodies sound policies.  That judgment is entrusted to the Nation's elected leaders.  We ask only whether Congress has the power under the Constitution to enact the challenged provisions."

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney stated this fact very clearly.  "What the Court did not do on its last day in session, I will do on my first day if elected president of the United States, and that is, I will act to repeal Obamacare.  Let's make clear that we understand what the Court did and did not do.  What the Court did today was say that Obamacare does not violate the Constitution.  What they did not do was say that Obamacare is a good law or that it's good policy."

Romney also declared, "Obamacare was bad law yesterday.  It's bad law today."

Leaders of the United States House of Representatives have scheduled a vote to repeal the entire Obamacare law on July 11, 2012.  Now that the Supreme Court has deemed the mandate constitutional only as a tax, members of Congress will be forced to go on record as to whether to keep or repeal the largest tax increase in the history of our nation.

The fallout from the Supreme Court's decision about Obamacare will continue to be discussed and debated, but true understanding of the Act may never fully come.   I believe that Obamacare is a bad law even though it was found to be constitutional.

Declaration of Independence

                    The United States Declaration of Independence was an announcement that the thirteen American colonies "regarded themselves as independent states and no longer part of the British Empire."  The document was "ultimately a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain."  The Americans declared independence more than a year after the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired.

The responsibility for drafting the Declaration was given to a committee, but "John Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document, which congress would edit to produce the final version."  The wording was perfected over a period of time before being approved and adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.  John Hancock signed the handwritten paper and sent it to the printing shop of John Dunlap, who worked through the night to print about 200 copies for distribution.  The Declaration was read to audiences and reprinted in newspapers. 

John Hancock sent one copy to General George Washington with instructions for Washington to "have it proclaimed" "at the Head of the Army in the way you shall think it most proper."  The troops were at that time in New York City - not far from the British forces.  Washington and Congress "hoped that the Declaration would inspire the soldiers, and encourage others to join the army."  The document was read to the colonial troops on July 9.  I am convinced that the Declaration had a great effect on the soldiers as it caused their fellow Americans to tear down and destroy "signs or statues representing royalty.  An equestrian statue of King George in New York City was pulled down and the lead used to make musket balls." 

"The most famous version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is usually regarded as the Declaration of Independence, is displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.  Although the wording of the Declaration was approved on July 4, the date of its signing was August 2.  The original July 4 United States Declaration of Independence manuscript was lost while all other copies have been derived from this original document."

The preamble to the Declaration begins "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."  "This has been called `one of the best-known sentences in the English language," containing `the most potent and consequential words in American history.'  The passage came to represent a moral standard to which the United States should strive.  This view was notably promoted by Abraham Lincoln, who considered the Declaration to be the foundation of his political philosophy, and argued that the Declaration is a statement of principles through which the United States Constitution should be interpreted.  It has inspired work for the rights of marginalized people throughout the world."

The Declaration is essentially divided into five sections.  The first sentence states that natural law is the foundation upon which any group of people assumes political independence.  The second section is known as the Preamble and includes the ideas, ideals, and principles upon which independence was declared.  The third section contains a list of colonial grievances and charges against King George III and the attempts made by the colonists to solve the problems. The fourth section explains the disappointment that the attempts were not successful.  The last section declares that the colonists had no choice but to declare independence because of the conditions caused by the King.

                    Every American citizen should read or hear the entire Declaration of Independence at least once each year.  Independence Day is an ideal occasion for reviewing why the United States of America came to be; therefore, I am including a copy of the Declaration of Independence in my post today.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteenunited States of America

                    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 power 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.

                    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.  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.

                    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.

                    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.

                    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.

                    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 harass 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 benefit 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.

                    In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms:  Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.  A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

                    Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren.  We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us.  We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here.  We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence.  They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.  We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

                    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 out 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.

New Hampshire:  Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:  John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:  Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:  Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:  William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:  Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:  Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:  Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:  Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:  George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:  William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:  Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:  Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Happy Birthday, America!

                    Tomorrow we will celebrate the birthday of our great nation.  Last year I wrote about the difference between celebrating Independence Day or just observing the Fourth of July.  This year I feel a need to write about the men who performed extra-ordinary deeds in discovering, founding, and organizing the United States of America.  I believe that our younger generations have not been taught properly the importance of these men - and the women who supported them - and the events they shared.  I believe that each of these men became great because they were led by God in the best performances of their lives.  They each exhibited great "human virtues such as courage, reason, and strength of character" in their roles in the establishment of the United States of America.

                    I want to start with Christopher Columbus because he played a very important role in what eventually became the establishment of our great nation.  Columbus was a God-fearing man as well as a "scientifically-oriented" sailor.   People in the time of Columbus called the Atlantic Ocean "the Sea of Darkness" because they "believed that huge, dangerous sea-dragons lived there."  They also believed that the ocean sloped downward and that people could go so far down the "hill" that it would be impossible to go back to the top.  The people considered the sea to be a "dangerous and terrifying place."

                    Columbus was convinced that the world was a sphere and that he could find a shortcut to Asia in order to avoid traveling through country controlled by the Ottoman Turks.  After many years of searching for sponsors for his mission, he finally convinced Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain to fund and support his journey.    Columbus eventually acquired three ships - the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria - and crews for the ships. 

Columbus, an Italian, captained the Santa Maria while two Spanish brothers captained the other two ships.  The crews of all three ships were Spanish.  The ships left Spain on August 3, 1492, and about one month later the Spanish sailors (approximately ninety) became anxious because they had been at sea so long without finding land.   Columbus did not disclose to the men how far the ships had traveled, but the men continued to become more anxious.  "Threatened with mutiny by his crew, Columbus was forced to promise his captains on October 9 that if they failed to sight land within three days, they would all turn about and head back to Spain" (Bennett, America, p 4). 

                    The sailors soon started to see land-based birds, coastal seaweed, and other signs of land.  The three ships landed on an island in the Caribbean Sea (named San Salvador - Spanish for Holy Savior) on October 12, 1492, - the date we now celebrate as Columbus Day (Lunenfeld, World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, 860).

                    Why did Columbus choose three days?  Why didn't he choose two days or five days?  Was he simply guessing or did he have divine knowledge?  I believe that he was being guided by divine revelation.  "And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land" (Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 1 Nephi 13:12).

                    We know that the Spirit of God does not interact with wicked men; therefore, we know that Christopher Columbus was a good man.  We also know that Columbus had a great impact on the history of the Western Hemisphere.  His search for a westward route to Asia changed the ideas of Europeans about the world and led to contact - good and bad - between Europe and America.  The Native Americans were freedom-loving people who exhibited personal liberty, and this new idea of man governing himself formed the foundation of the American Revolution and influenced the structure of the government for the future United States of America.

                    The Puritans and Pilgrims were also led to the Americas by the Spirit of God in order to enjoy freedom of religion.  "And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters.

                    "And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise" (Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 1 Nephi 13:13-14).

                    The people who came to the Americas worshipped God, and God continued to bless them.  "And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance; ….

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles who had gone forth out of captivity did humble themselves before the Lord; and the power of the Lord was with them.

                    "And I beheld that their mother Gentiles were gathered together upon the waters, and upon the land also, to battle against them.

                    "And I beheld that the power of God was with them, and also that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together against them to battle.

                    "And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles that had gone out of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations.

                    "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that they did prosper in the land…." (Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 1 Nephi 13:15-20).

                    There were many brave and courageous men and women who played major roles in the fight for American independence, and there were hundreds, maybe thousands, more who played minor but important roles.  I consider George Washington to have been the star performer. He was raised up by God and chosen by his peers to lead the colonial army because the people trusted him and would follow him.  He led the American army - a bunch of volunteers dressed in rags - against the strongest and best-equipped navy and army forces in the world at the time and won.  This was no small achievement!  In fact, I consider it to be a grand miracle!  There were times when General Washington placed his life in danger while leading his men.  There are reports that he had two horses shot out from under him and that he had bullet holes through his hat and his jacket but was not hurt.  He was offered the opportunity to be the king of this new nation, but forcefully rejected the idea.  [This is particularly interesting because Nephi prophesied hundreds of years previously that "this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land" (Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 2 Nephi 10:11).]  The Constitutional Convention happened because George Washington was willing to attend it and later became the "president" of it.  He was unanimously elected to be the first President of the United States of America.  He was a great man who was surrounded by other great and honorable men and women.

                    Several miracles happened to help the Americans win the battle for independence.  When the Americans were trapped in New York, fog rolled in and covered their retreat across the river to safety.  The Americans crossed an ice-choked river and surprised the enemy on Christmas Day.  When the British army was cornered at Yorktown, weather conditions arose that kept the navy from rescuing them and thus causing them to surrender.

                    Heavenly Father raised up George Washington and his associates in order that they could establish independence and liberty in this land; He also inspired the writers of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution to prepare the land and its people for the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  God decreed that America would be His latter-day base of operations for His church.  Nearly two thousand years before the founding of the United States of America, our Savior Jesus Christ visited this promised land and told the ancient inhabitants of the land:  "For it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this land, and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father, that these things might come forth" (Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 3 Nephi 21:4).

                     We know that our Founding Fathers believed and trusted in God because the Declaration of Independence affirms this knowledge.  "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."

                    God inspired the Prophet Joseph Smith to write:  "We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life" (Doctrine and Covenants 134:2).  The three great gifts of God to mankind were decreed by God:  life, liberty, and property (the pursuit of happiness).

                    Thomas Jefferson and his associates concluded the Declaration of Independence with these words:  "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."  The Signers knew that their Declaration would demand great sacrifice, but they signed it any way.

                     Nephi recorded that the Founders "were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations" (Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 1 Nephi 13:19).  The Prophet Joseph Smith recorded the following words of the Lord:  "And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood" (Doctrine and Covenants 101:80).

                    The years between 1783 and 1787 were not easy years due to the fact that the Articles of Confederation were not adequate to govern the new nation.  Delegates were appointed to attend the Constitutional Convention, and the attendees spent four hot, miserable months in Philadelphia before the new Constitution was completed.  Nearly ten more months passed before the required nine states ratified it.

The new document was described by Gladstone as being "the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man" (William Gladstone, North American Review, Sept.-Oct. 1878, p. 185).

The Prophet Joseph Smith called it "a glorious standard … a heavenly banner" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, 1938, p. 147).

The delegates understood that they had been the recipients of heavenly inspiration.  James Madison - known as the father of the Constitution - wrote:  "It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution" (The Federalist, no. 37).

                    Alexander Hamilton, originator of The Federalist papers and author of fifty-one of the essays, said:  "For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system, which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interest" (Essays on the Constitution of the United States, ed. Paul L. Ford, 1892, pp 251-252).

                    In his first inaugural address in 1789, President George Washington said, "No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States.  Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency" (First Inaugural Address, 30 April 1789).

                    The new Constitution received the approval of God.  When the Kirtland (Ohio) Temple was dedicated, the Prophet Joseph Smith gave the dedicatory prayer - previously dictated by the Lord:  "May those principles, which were so honorably and nobly defended, namely, the Constitution of our land, by our fathers, be established forever" (Doctrine and Covenants 109:54).

                    The men and women who discovered, founded, and established our nation were good and honorable people.  We know that they were great people for two different reasons:  1) Nephi saw them in vision and saw them following the Spirit of God; and 

2) They recognized the importance of temple work and wanted their work to be done.

                    President Ezra Taft Benson  shared the following experience.  "Shortly after President Spencer W. Kimball became President of the Church [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints], he assigned me to go into the vault of the St. George Temple and check the early records.  As I did so, I realized the fulfillment of a dream I had had ever since learning of the visit of the Founding Fathers to the St. George Temple.  I saw with my own eyes the record of the work which was done for the Founding Fathers of this great nation, beginning with George Washington. 

                    "Think of it:  the Founding Fathers of this nation, those great men, appeared within those sacred walls and had their vicarious work done for them."

                    The Founding Fathers appeared to President Wilford Woodruff, and he shared his experience with these words quoted by President Benson:  "Before I left St. George, the spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them.  Said they, `You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us.  We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and were faithful to God'" (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, sel. G. Homer Durham, p. 160).

                    President Woodruff spoke about his experience in General Conference in the Fall of 1877 and stated:  "Two weeks before I left St. George, the spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them.  … These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and they waited on me for two days and two nights.  … I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon Brother McAllister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and others."

                   The following is another version of President Woodruff's experience: "These were the Founding Fathers, and they waited on me for two days and two nights.  I thought it very singular, that notwithstanding so much work had been done, and yet nothing had been done for them.  The thought never entered my heart, from the fact, I suppose, that heretofore our minds were reaching after our more immediate friends and relatives.  I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon brother McCallister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and others; I then baptized him for every President of the United States, except three; and when their cause is just, somebody will do the work for them" (source unknown).

                    After President Woodruff became the President of the Church, he declared that "those men who laid the foundation of this American government were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth.  They were choice spirits … [and] were inspired of the Lord" (in Conference Report, April 1898, p. 89).

                    After relating the words of President Wilford Woodruff, President Benson added:  "Unfortunately, we as a nation have apostatized in various degrees from different Constitutional principles as proclaimed by the inspired founders.  We are fast approaching that moment prophesied by Joseph Smith when he said:  `Even this nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground, and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean, and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction' (19 July 1840, as recorded by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray; ms. in Church Historian's Office, Salt Lake City).

                    "For centuries our forefathers suffered and sacrificed that we might be the recipients of the blessings of freedom.  If they were willing to sacrifice so much to establish us as a free people, should we not be willing to do the same to maintain that freedom for ourselves and for future generations?

                    "Only in this foreordained land, under its God-inspired Constitution and the resulting environment of freedom, was it possible to have established the restored church.  It is our responsibility to see that this freedom is perpetuated so that the Church may more easily flourish in the future."

                    The Lord said, "Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land" (Doctrine and Covenants 98:6).

                    The men and women who labored over hundreds of years to discover, found, and organize our nation were choice people who followed inspiration from God.  We should honor them for their extra-ordinary accomplishments.  They are the reason why we can celebrate the founding of America.  We can thank them for their efforts by protecting and defending the nation they founded as well as truly celebrating Independence Day.  My hope and prayer is that the United States of America can always remain "the land of the free and the home of the brave."  Happy Birthday, America!

                   

                                

Greatness of John Hancock

                    John Hancock can be considered great for several reasons.  He inherited a "profitable shipping business from his uncle" and became "one of the wealthiest men in the American Colonies before the American Revolutionary War."  He served as the president of the Second Continental Congress and also as the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

                    Hancock became active in politics in Boston with the help of Samuel Adams, an "influential local politician."  Hancock used his wealth to support the colonial independence effort and was very popular in Massachusetts - particularly after his sloop named Liberty was confiscated by the British and he was charged with smuggling.  He was one of the leading Bostonians during the crisis that set off the American Revolution.

                    John Hancock's main claim to fame is the fact that he was serving as president of Congress when the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed.  As president, he was the first to sign the new document and is best remembered for his "large, flamboyant signature."  His name later became "an informal synonym for signature."  I remember many times hearing the term or being told to sign my "John Hancock."  "According to legend, Hancock signed his name largely and clearly so that King George could read it without his spectacles, but this fanciful story did not appear until many years later."

                    The Signer has the distinction of having many places and things in the United States named in his honor.  The U.S. Navy named two vessels after him:  USS Hancock and USS John Hancock.  A third ship was named Liberty in his honor during World War II.  There are ten states that have a Hancock County named in his honor.  There are also the following places with his name:  Hancock, Massachusetts; Hancock, Michigan; Hancock, New York; and Mount Hancock in New Hampshire.  Although it has no connection to his business, the John Hancock Insurance company was founded in Boston in 1862.  The insurance company passed his name on to famous office buildings:  the John Hancock Tower in Boston, the John Hancock Center in Chicago, and the John Hancock Student Village at Boston University. 

                   

No State Wars

                    The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article I, Section 10, Clause 3:  "No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, … engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay."  This Constitutional provision guarantees to the people that no state will unilaterally start a war and thus draw the entire nation into a war that was never declared by Congress.

                    "The history of the nation illustrates the heated disputes which may develop between states or with neighboring countries.  Several border states have carried on perpetual feuds with Mexico over disputed land or law-enforcement policies.  Many states have also approached open warfare in their earlier history because of disputes concerning water, boundaries, extraditions, and cattle drives" (W. Cleon Skousen in The Making of America - The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p. 504).