History Unfolds

What does it mean to have history unfolding? With what has been going on recently in Egypt it is hard to say that the events are not significant. But what is it that makes something history?  I would say that to qualify something as history it would have to be written down. And so, since so much has been written down and recorded about the events in Egypt it is indeed history unfolding before our eyes and being written by our hands.  So what does this mean for us?  What is our perspective on what is happening in Egypt? This is where I make a plug (and confession) for personal journals.  If we record our perspective on what is going on around us in the world and add our interpretation of it our family that comes after us will have a unique record with which the can understand what was going on in the world around us during our time and see how it affected our everyday lives.  Now for my confession.  I haven't been keeping a regular journal very good at all.  For one thing it is so much easier for me to type then it is for me to write but what do I do with a bunch of files if I do type out my journal (whichI have tried to do in the past).  Do I print them out and then try and bind them into something that might be a little more permanent than a three ring binder?  It is more practical in the long run to hand write my journal but then out comes the lazy bug in me saying it is too hard to take the time to write something down.  Well, it's kick in the pants time.  Time for me to get a little (very little) more serious about writing in my journal.

Are We Law Abiding

When you look at our society (America) and try to pinpoint what it is about us that makes us stand out from the rest of the world you come up with several differences.  First, we are the longest surviving self governing nation in the world.  That has not come about by chance.  To be a self governing nation there is a built in need that the citizens of this nation uphold and respect the laws.  The righteous purpose of government is to setup a system of laws that will serve to protect the nation and its people from those who would do harm.  This system of laws will serve no purpose if the citizens of the nation do not agree to submit themselves to those laws.  It is much easier to submit oneself to a system of laws in which the people have a means of setting the laws themselves, or through representatives that they themselves appoint, and to change the laws should the need arrise.  This system which we as Americans have so long enjoyed can only be upheld if we respect the laws of the land.  This crucial characteristic of the citizenry of this nation is eroding over time.

As our society loses the moral foundation upon which it has thrived for so long then one of the symptoms of this moral rot is a disrespect of the law and an unwillingness to uphold it.  One of the most simple manifestations of a willingness to uphold the law is in the laws that seem to have little consequence to us personally or the laws that are easy for us to circumvent without a high probability of being caught.  Speeding is a good example.  On almost all roads in our country the speed limit is clearly posted yet there are constantly those who ignore said speed limit and break the law.  There are a million different excuses and very few people who uphold this law religiously (myself not being one of them). This is just a simple example that represents a willingness to break the law instead of uphold it.

Another clear example today is the millions of people who immigrate to this country illegally.  This, of course, is a touchy subject.  I feel sorry for those who find themselves in a desperate enough situation that they feel the need to break a law to support their family.  I know that this country is a land of opportunity and a blessed land and I do wish that all could participate in the blessings this land has to offer but having studied my history I also know that no nation can simply open its borders completely and let all who would enter.  There needs to be order in the immigration system.  Laws need to be respected and the process for becoming a citizen simplified to allow the better life that all Americans enjoy to be more accessible to as many as possible.

As a country, we are not immune to the influx of millions of people who have had to circumvent the law to get here.  The effects of this circumvention are that they must continue to break laws that help keep the order in our society so that they can remain here.  This lawlessness spreads as the children of those who come here illegally are not taught to respect and uphold the law.

This brings us to the question, are we law abiding?  Do we set an example in our lives of upholding and respecting the law?  What if more and more of us rebuilt the moral foundation in our lives, families, and communities by being the people of integrity that our fore bearers were?  Would we be able to reverse the moral decay and the spread of disrespect for the law?  What else can we do but try? This means that we will have to commit to upholding the law even when it might be inconvenient or even when we might easily get away with it should we not uphold the law.  Like speeding, what if we all went the speed limit more often?