What Kind of Patriot Are You?

“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”
“The American Crisis” by Thomas Paine
– December 23, 1776

So, what do we do now?

Well, I think we have to go back to the beginning. Start from scratch. We should go back and take in the sermons given during the first Great Awakening that led to the American Revolution. Re-read Thomas Paine. We are at the brink of a crisis in this country every bit as dire as the American revolutionary cause was in during that cold December of 1776 when the war effort was in shambles and the American people were filled with despair.

We need to stop. We need to recognize what happened. We need to understand what it means. And then we need to focus on how to learn from it and soldier on with stout hearts and lessons learned. We need to remember that no one who labors in God’s cause labors in vain. We need to address this turn of events with complete sobriety of thought, willing to look at ourselves critically, with a willingness to see this cause and our place in it differently.

But above all, we cannot abandon what is right. God raised up a righteous people in this land and when His righteous people followed His prompting and proclaimed liberty throughout this country He did not fail us. Through unimaginable trials and brutal hardships, He led our forefathers through to blissful freedom, a freedom that was all the more precious for the price paid to win it! Heaven DOES know how to fix a proper price upon its goods and the whole foundation of modern conservatism is that what we obtain too cheap we esteem too lightly. Is that not what we say is the core flaw in the welfare programs? It applies to us, as well!

It pains me to say this, but on the whole we have not done what is necessary to redeem this great nation to its former glory. And why? Because it’s hard? Because it takes time? Because it costs money? Is it that it requires too much dedication? Is it too uncomfortable to talk to friends and neighbors?

In my county alone there are about 1,750 members of about four tea party groups, maybe even more. And you want to know about how many show up? Maybe 60 on a good day. If it’s to work an event, then that falls to about 10, but oh, if there’s free food on offer, well then you can get close to 300! And THESE are the patriots? THESE are the people upon which the future of our republic rests? If this is so, we may as well give up now. I mean it. If this is the best we can manage, we’re done and the progressives have won.

So, in these next four years as conditions grow increasingly dark and we begin to really feel the pain of these progressive policies take as they hold and squeeze the lifeblood of liberty from our daily existence; when we have to work even harder and have less time available to us to do what needs doing and we wish we could turn back the clock to 2011 and 2012 and beg the Almighty for a chance to do it all again, begging that this time we’ll do what it takes to avoid the agony of tyranny as it holds us frozen in its icy grip, the task before us will be immense and the price we’ll have to pay will be painfully high.

But pay it we must, for there is no other course but servitude.

These ARE the times that try men’s souls. Liberty, again, is at a crossroads and it is for certain that we have esteemed it too lightly. We have been sunshine patriots, most of us. I know I could have done more. I’ve not given enough. I’ve not worked hard enough. I’ve not done everything I could do; and I know I am far from alone. So many of us could have done more and should have.

It’s time for us, the sunshine patriots, to wake up to the real cost of liberty.  We must soberly accept that this will require sacrifice – hard, bitter sacrifice. By starting sooner we can make our burden a little lighter, but that is not the way of human nature. It is our nature, instead, to endure injuries to our freedom and liberty for as long as we can bear them, only giving it our all when the oppression in our lives can no longer be endured. But in the end we must struggle and work for this cause, rendering faithful service to God and to country, to toil in the righteous effort to preserve the sweet gift of liberty. It is either this or accept the chains of slavery.

After taking stock of myself I feel admonished that I did not do more and I have resolved to live or die as a free man. I will no longer allow myself to fall short of what I can do. If I have money, I will give it. Every moment of time I have, I will use it. I will do everything I am capable of doing, not just what’s convenient. Not just what’s comfortable. Not just doing what comes at an easy price. I will work hard, doing things I don’t like, sacrificing time I would rather spend in leisure. The burden that has fallen upon our generation is every bit as noble and as critical to our survival as a free people as the burden our grandparents had to bear during WWII and our forefathers had to bear during the American Revolution, and we simply can’t afford to just do a little or just what’s convenient; and I will not be a sunshine patriot anymore.

What about all of you? Where do you stand? What are you willing to do?

What kind of patriot are you?