If You Can Keep It

I was six months pregnant with my fourth child.
It was our tenth anniversary that particular October.
Our child was to be born in January.
It was the perfect time to get away.

The other three children were home in good hands.
My husband and I went off to Massachusetts to see the amazing fall foliage.
We went to Stockbridge, sat on the front porch of an old inn and drank mulled cider.
We walked around the quaint little town.

We went to the Norman Rockwell Museum.
We had one of the most delightful afternoons.
I had always loved Norman Rockwell.
My mother had a large coffee table book of his paintings.

I perused that book quite often and got very familiar with his work.
In fact that book is still a treasured possession.
My own children looked through it just as much as I did when I was growing up.
They each had their favorites; some of their favorites were my favorites as well.

I walked through the museum and saw Rockwell’s painting process.
He would sometimes use live models dressed the way he wanted them depicted in his painting.
I found his story fascinating.
I found his volume of work representative of American culture.

Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed. (Norman Rockwell)

Rockwell showed the America he observed to others who might not have noticed.
His most prolific period was during the 1930s and 40s.
Rockwell found success early.
He painted his first commission of four Christmas cards before his sixteenth birthday.

In his teens, Rockwell was hired as the art director of Boys’ Life magazine.
It was the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America.
That began his freelance career.
He illustrated many other young people’s publications.

When he was 22, Rockwell painted his first Saturday Evening Post cover.
This magazine was considered Rockwell’s “greatest show window in America.”
Rockwell would paint 321 covers for the Post over a 47 year span.
He also did work for Life, Literary Digest, and Country Gentleman.

Rockwell married a school teacher in 1930.
Together they had three sons.
He moved his family to Arlington, Vermont in 1939.
Rockwell’s work began to reflect small-town American life.

Rockwell was inspired by President Franklin Roosevelt’s address to Congress in 1943.
As a result, he painted the Four Freedoms paintings.
The Saturday Evening Post reproduced them in four consecutive issues.
Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear.

The paintings were incredibly popular.
The exhibition toured the United States.
The exhibition was sponsored by the Post and the U.S. Treasury Department.
Through the sale of war bonds, the paintings raised over $130 million for the war effort.

That same year, fire destroyed Rockwell’s Vermont studio.
He lost many paintings in the fire; he also lost his collection of historical costumes and props.
In 1953, the family moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Six years later Rockwell’s wife died unexpectedly.

In 1961, Rockwell married another school teacher.
He ended his association with the Post and began to work for Look magazine.
For 10 years, Rockwell illustrated many of our country’s deep concerns.
He illustrated America’s war on poverty, civil rights issues, and the exploration of space.

It is Rockwell’s Four Freedoms paintings that I think of on this July 4th.
On July 4, 1776 the thirteen original colonies claimed their independence from England.
This event eventually led to the formation of the United States.
The preamble of the Declaration of Independence began a new era.

A new era where people would govern themselves.
The preamble is only 110 words.
It marked the end of the old way of doing things.
It birthed a republic, if you can keep it, as Ben Franklin aptly said.

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 abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its Foundations on such Principles and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to Them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. (Preamble: Declaration of  Independence)

In a republic, the rule of law governs.
In a republic, elected representatives make the laws.
In a republic, a written constitution limits the majority.
A written constitution provides safeguards for the individual and minorities.

Rockwell depicted the Four Freedoms well.
Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear.
On this July 4th, we must think of the independence the Founders secured.
We must think of the Freedoms we have come to take for granted.

We must do all that we can to secure these freedoms.
If we do not, then this wonderful republic will be something we have failed to keep.
We cannot let that happen.
We cannot let that happen on our watch.

All of these freedoms are being challenged.
All of these freedoms are being whittled away bit by bit.
We cannot sit idly by.
As I heard in a recent Sunday sermon, the only way to make America great again is God alone.

God alone is the securer of our freedoms.
If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)
Jesus is the Great One, the Holy One, the Magnificent One.
The only One who is great is God alone.

True greatness manifests itself in humility.

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-11)

A Republic, if you can keep it.
Can we?
Can we hold fast to the inalienable rights we have been given?
Those inalienable rights are rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws.

Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalm 46:10)

On this 4th of July, let us remember the Freedoms we have been graciously given.
Let us hold fast to the only One who is truly great.
Let us humbly come before Him in repentance.
Let us turn from our wicked ways and turn towards Him.

Can we keep it?
With God’s help, we can.

 

2 responses to “If You Can Keep It”

1. Would you like a slightly used Norman Rockwell coffee table book? It is paper back but in pretty good shape. Thanks for all the reminders… indeed we seem to have lost our way with God and with the country.

   Reply

   • You are right, Al. We have lost our way, but by God’s grace we can find our way again. We have The Way to follow, after all.
     Gina

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