Elder Ezra Taft Benson
During the fifty five years that have passed since this talk was given, the level of propaganda and lies told about America has exponentially grown to the point where our citizens, if they are not rabid anti-americans, they are definitely on the fence about whether or not to feel good about our nation and our Godly heritage.
I know for me, the final bit of ambivalence I had about our history, especially our history around the Viet Nam war, was completely wiped away when I read this interview found at Front Page Magazine. I remember that as I read it for the first time a couple years ago, I was hitting the monitor of my computer, and when I finished it, I rammed my hand down on the computer desk, because I was so floored by what Mr. Pacepa had said.
Here is the interview, followed by Ezra Taft Bensons talk given at General Conference 55 years ago.
Member Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles (Please note, this talk was given in April of 1952 at General Conference)
“Beloved brethren and sisters, in humility I invoke the inspiration of the Lord and seek an interest in your faith and prayers as I stand for a few moments in this pulpit. I should like, if the Lord will bless me, to give vent to some thoughts that have been deeply impressed upon my mind for several weeks now. I hope I shall not be misunderstood. It seems to me that the day in which we live demands a frank and forthright consideration of some of the problems which face us not only as a Church but also as a great Christian nation.
With you I thrilled at the opening address of our great leader, President McKay. As I have thought of his remarks regarding this land of America, its achievements, and its needs, I have felt that I could characterize best what he said in two words: Spiritual Statesmanship. With you I love this land in which we live. I am proud of our heritage; I am grateful for the American tradition; I am thankful that the Lord has given through his prophets information regarding this great nation.
However, it seems to me that there are certain tendencies, trends, and practices which endanger very greatly our way of life and strike at the very foundation of much that we hold dear as a great Christian nation. Of course, the conditions of the world generally give us cause for concern. We seem to live in a world of conflict, insecurity, uncertainty, and almost bewilderment. We appear to be groping blindly, aimlessly, unable to find the way. Were it not for our faith in the prophecies of God I fear sometimes we would almost be tempted to give up.
We are in the midst of continuing international crises. The outlook for world peace and security is dark indeed. The gravity of the world situation, it appears, is increasing almost daily. The United Nations seems unable to settle the troubles of the world. In truth we are faced with the hard fact that the United Nations, it seems, has largely failed in its purpose. Yes, the days ahead are sobering and challenging ones. We might well ask,
America-what of the future?
I never travel across this great land and note its broad, fruitful farms, its humming factories and gleaming cities but what I am impressed with the marvels of this great nation. Yes, we have made unequaled material progress. We have become the greatest and the richest nation in all the world.
This has been done on about 6% of the land area of the world by a relatively small group of people, only 7% of the world’s population. Yet it is reported that this small group of people produce today approximately half of the world’s total wealth in usable form to satisfy human needs.
It is reported that in the year 1950 almost half of the food and fiber of the world was produced here in the United States. Our productivity has increased one-fifth every ten years since 1850. Through the use of machines much of the drudgery and toil so common in many other nations has disappeared.
Our engineers have estimated that the average worker today has the equivalent of 99 mechanical slaves working for him. The Twentieth Century Fud recently predicted that by 1960, 96% of all the energy going into physical work in America would be performed by machines, 1% by horses, and 3% by men. The average American worker has an output per hour six times his output in 1850. Yes, we have made unprecedented achievements in material things.
The prophets of God foreshadowed these achievements when they predicted that this would be a land choice above all other lands and that it would be preserved for a righteous people. Those who were to dwell here, if they served the God of the land, should be free from bondage and captivity.
Lehi, who led the second colony which came to this great land, was told that he was leading that colony to a land of promise and that none should come here save those who would come here under the influence of heaven.
This land would be consecrated unto those whom the Lord would guide here. It would be a land of liberty. Lehi’s son, Jacob, said there should be no kings upon this land, that the God of heaven would be their king that this land would be fortified against all other nations, and that he who would fight against Zion should perish.
Reference has been made by President Young to the coming of Columbus. The scriptures tell us that the Spirit wrought upon Columbus, and upon those who followed him, and that they came here under the inspiration of heaven. Nephi predicted that when they arrived, they would humble themselves before God, that the power of the Lord would be with them, and that they would prosper.
Our history clearly records that the early peoples who did come were humble, God- fearing men and women. Bradford records that their first act upon arriving here upon American soil was to go upon their knees in humble prayer and bless the God of heaven.
The impelling force in their hearts it seems to me, was a love for basic ideals and principles, which were dearer to them than life itself. Among these were their love of God, faith in his divine purposes, their love of freedom industry, thrift, decency, and honor. Yes, this nation had its beginning in a high-minded manner.
The rules of conduct established by the early colonists and our founding fathers were taken from the scriptures. They were embodied in the Decalogue and in the gospel. The Sabbath was set aside as a sacred day. Profanity and other vices were condemned, and gambling was forbidden. People were encouraged to keep good company and to repeat no grievances. They emphasized the spiritual virtues.
Washington but echoed the general feeling of the early colonists when he acknowledged God’s direction and emphasized the importance of spirituality honor, and moral courage. He said:
No people can be found 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.
Then as to the place of religion and morality, the Father of our country stated:
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports . . . Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
His successors spoke in similar vein. Lincoln emphasized the same thought when he acknowledged that “God rules this world,” and that “It is the duty of nations as well as men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow…., ” and then quoting from the scriptures, “and to recognize the sublime truth that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.” Yes, my brethren and sisters, they spoke of self-evident truths-inalienable rights.
When the Prophet Joseph came upon the scene to open a new gospel dispensation, he shed even further light upon the establishment of this great nation and the coming forth of the Constitution, which he stated was a glorious standard, founded in the wisdom of God.
Through revelation the Lord said to him, as was quoted by Brother Moyle yesterday,
Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.
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. (D. & C. 101:79-80.)
We have enjoyed divine favor through much of our history, but what of the future? It seems to me, my brethren and sisters, that the lessons of history, many of them very sobering, ought to be turned to during this hour of our great achievement because I feel in my own heart that during the hour of our success is our greatest danger.
I feel firmly that even during the hour of great prosperity, a nation may sow the seeds of its own destruction. This may happen even during a period of great income, relatively full employment, and high business activity. History reveals that rarely is a great civilization conquered from without until it has weakened or destroyed itself within.
I read recently volume three of that monumental work by Will Durant, The Story of Civilization. This volume entitled Caesar and Christ, covers the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and the coming forth of Christianity. It covers a period of 1125 years, from 800 B.C. to 325 A.D. At the end of this six-hundred-page volume, the author writes an epilogue under the caption “Why Rome Fell.”
It is generally agreed that not infrequently history repeats itself. The author lists the major causes why this great civilization fell apart. I wonder if there is anything in what he says for us to take note of today. As a read this volume I was caused to reflect on the similarity of conditions and practices then and now. May I give you briefly his summary:
The first group of causes he termed biological, and no doubt most fundamental. They had to do with the limitation of families, the deferment and avoidance of marriage, the refusal of men and women to shoulder the great responsibilities, God-ordained, of honorable parenthood.
He mentioned that sexual excesses were indulged in commonly, both in and outside the marriage covenant.
The operation of contraception and abortion was common. This, together with other things, resulted in reduced fertility. Sex ran riot, and moral decay resulted.
He mentioned as another cause of Rome’s decay, the waste of natural resources in mining, deforestation, erosion, the neglect of irrigation canals but most important of all, the negligence of harassed and discouraged men the failure to teach high moral principles so necessary for the building of real character.
Then he lists with great emphasis the rising costs of government because of armies, doles, public works, expanding bureaucracy, a parasitic court, depreciation of currency, absorption of investment capital by confiscatory taxation.
Is there anything suggestive in this summary?
May I give you the following figures on this last grouping particularly, taken from what seem to be reliable sources? According to projected estimates, our federal government will spend during the coming fiscal years, 1952-53, more than the total income of all the people west of the Mississippi River-22 states. The federal payroll in 1952 will top 22 billion-4 billion above last year and 16 times the 1929 total.
Nearly one out of every four adult Americans is receiving regularly federal checks. At the present rate, by 1953 the government will be spending approximately 38% of the national income. During only three of the last twenty years has our federal budget been balanced. It requires today approximately 2 1/2 million civilians to staff the federal bureaucracy.
In the matter of the depreciation of the currency, it is reported that the present dollar is worth only 38 cents compared to the 1913 dollar, and that the dollar today will purchase only about half as much as it did in 1935-39.
As to taxation, the federal government took in taxes during all past administrations up to six years ago-156 years-248 billion dollars.
In the last six years we have taken in taxes 260 billion, and still we seem not to have enough to pay our current bills. With a debt of over one- quarter of a trillion dollars the annual interest payment is 6 billion dollars plus, more than all government expenditures in 1933.
Now, my brethren and sisters this author lists other causes. Political causes, he says, were rooted in one fact that through centralized control and the increasing despotism of the state, the citizens’ civic sense was destroyed and dried up, thus destroying statesmanship at its source.
Men felt powerless to express themselves and lost interest in government. Yet, I presume, Rome has had no equal in the art of government. She achieved a democracy of free men and then destroyed it with corruption and violence.
With you, I love this great land in which we live.
I pray for the chief executive and his cabinet and the legislative and judicial branches, the officials of our states and our cities. But I wonder sometimes, my brethren and sisters, what our founding fathers, our pioneer fathers, would do and say if they were here today.
I’m sure they would give serious reflection to present conditions. I wonder if they would not recognize that our liberties have already been abridged, that there has been too much of a tendency for us to call upon our federal government every time we felt the need for the accomplishment of any particular objective.
I wonder if we haven’t had a tendency to call for help for those things which our forefathers would have done willingly for themselves.
Yes, I presume as a people we are to blame, but I feel that if they were here today, they would apply some very definite tests before any new service or new program were approved. May I just mention three:
First, I think they would ask the question: Can this service, assuming it is needed, be done more efficiently, more effectively by our federal government or should we do it ourselves on the local level? They believed that government is best which governs least.
Government seems to be inherently wasteful and inefficient. Possibly it is because the profit motive and competition-the very life of private enterprise-are largely absent.
Second, How will it affect the morale and the character of the people? This seems to me to be of great importance. They were interested in the building of character. They recognized that character, not wealth or power or position, is of prime consideration.
Third, they would possibly ask: How will it affect our free institutions-the church, the school, the home, and our local form of government?
I believe if they were here, they would look for the answers to the decline of public morals.
As they looked searchingly for the answers, they would probably observe evidence of weak and vacillating leadership in many places, not confined to one group or one party.
They would find a tendency for men in high places to place political expediency ahead of principle. They would be concerned with the alarming growth of a something-for-nothing philosophy, a failure of people to stand on their own feet.
They would probably find bad examples by unscrupulous politicians and by delinquent parents, and possibly a weakening of religious training, and the substitution therefore of a faith-destroying materialism.
I think, my brethren and sisters, as Latter-day Saints, and as American citizens, we need to rouse ourselves to the problems that confront us as a great Christian nation. We need to recognize that these fundamental, basic principles, moral and spiritual, lay at the very foundation of our achievements in the past.
If we are to continue to enjoy our present blessings, we must have a return to these basic and fundamental principles.
Economics and morals are both parts of one inseparable body of truth, and they must be in harmony.
We need to square our actions and our policies with these eternal principles.
I wonder if we have forgotten the counsel of the prophets, the founding fathers, and our great statesmen. Surely we need a nationwide return to these fundamentals. We need a nationwide repentance to rid this land of corruption. We must return to the fundamental virtues that have made this nation great.
There is a force in the universe which no mortal can alter. This nation does have a spiritual foundation. It has been established in keeping with great spiritual and moral principles, but there seems to be a tendency for us to lose our sense of uprightness and to do wilfully those things which we must know to be wrong. This cannot be done with impunity.
God help us to raise our sights beyond the dollar sign, beyond material things. May we have the courage to stand up and be counted, to stand for principle, for those principles and ideals which guided the founding fathers in the establishment of this great land. Thank God for the promises that have been made regarding the future of America.
I hope and pray we shall realize the fulfillment of these promises because we merit their fulfillment.
I am grateful that the Lord has said through his prophets that this nation unto the righteous shall be blessed forever, and that he will be a light unto them forever that hear his words.”
PACEPA INTERVIEW AT FRONT PAGE MAGAZINE
Jenny Hatch
Tag Musings on Motherhood
Oprah Winfreys Autism Show April 5th, 2007 – Vaccines MENTIONED!!!
UPDATE:
More on the World Bank Situation:
From Huff Po Writer Steve Clemons
“One other tidbit about Wolfowitz that I have confirmed is less dramatic than securing his girlfriend a nearly $200,000 salary — but still quite fascinating.
I now know from a second source — as my first would only discuss this matter firmly off the record — that Wolfowitz and Kevin Kellems had dinner at the Aquarelle Restaurant at the Watergate Hotel last year with a very prominent member of Washington’s journalistic community.
The journalist in question had not met Wolfowitz previously and Kellems played a “relationship-brokering” role. What is interesting about this particular meeting — as far as I understand the details of it — is that the journalist in question, who I cannot name but can attest for his solid reputation as a serious writer, assumed that the topic of discussion at dinner would be Wolfowitz’s global economic development agenda, his view of how to make the World Bank relevant to 21st century security and economic challenges, and so on.
Instead, Wolfowitz — as recently as one year ago — was still manically obsessed with the connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. Wolfowitz reportedly brought with him to dinner an enormous binder of materials, articles, essays, reports, intelligence, etc. — arguing that the connection between Hussein and bin Laden’s operation was real and robust.
I can’t report on the journalist’s reaction to the dinner — other than to say he was “surprised.”
If Wolfowitz has been spending time hiring people like Robin Cleveland and Kevin Kellems — as well as pushing the career of his girl friend “illegally” — and obsessing about validating his bad decisions in the build-up to the Iraq War, then he has not been attentive to his real and fundamental responsibilites at the World Bank.
If all the rumors about his resignation tomorrow are untrue, Paul Wolfowitz should make them true as soon as possible.”
My long time readers know that I am a Neo-Con and completely supported and continue to support the invasion of Iraq and the taking down of Sadaam Hussein. I also understand why Mr. Wolfowitz would want to validate and justify his actions and promotion of the War in Iraq.
What I would like to know is how much money Vaccine manufacturers had tied to this decision to yell and scream about Weapons of Mass Destruction the past six years. Don’t get me wrong, I know those weapons are real and are a big threat. What I question is how much the Government has been influenced by Big Pharma to push it in the Media to soften up the populace into welcoming the idea that Vaccines are the answer to all of those threats?
I believe we all need to watch this very closely, and understand that our soldiers are being used as Gunea Pigs by being shot up with all the vaccines for WMD (Anthrax etc) The fact that our soldiers who have refused vaccines go to prison tells me how powerful the drug lobby has been in relation to these major decisions around weapons of mass destruction.
I am all for American Imperialism if it means freeing nations from despotic rule. But if American Imperialism boils down to hype to make more money for pharmaceutical companies, then I believe it is time for those particular frauds to be exposed!
Perhaps this World Band scandal will help open up the records and we can understand just exactly who has profited from the war in this sicko fashion.
UPDATE:
Given the brewing scandal at the world bank around Wolfowitz’s girlfriend, and the fact that they are meeting this week in America, perhaps it is time for them to acknowledge the roll they have played in the Vaccine scandals.
WAPO via Austin Bay:
“His acknowledgment, though cryptic, was a major new development in an unfolding scandal at the global lending institution, which seeks to help the world’s poorest countries. With annual meetings of the the bank and the International Monetary Fund convening in Washington this week, the World Bank’s executive board is discussing Wolfowitz’s future.”
After watching Dr. Ayoub talk about the world bank and how they are “helping” the poorest nations on the earth, I have to question just about everything the world bank does and stands for.
Wolfowitz should be fired and the world bank exposed for the frauds around the vaccine controversys.
Jenny Hatch
UPDATE:
www.robodoonproductions.com
1 hr 31 min 16 sec – Aug 15, 2006
www.radioliberty.com
David Ayoub, M.D. goes through the relations of Mercury to Autism as well its connections to “National Security Study Memorandum 200”; for … all » population control. Showing its shocking connections to today’s G.A.V.I. Are powerful forces really trying to help the poor people or could it be for another agenda; the sterilization of the poor? This is an upsetting video, so brace yourself.
When you have a couple of hours to yourself, take the time to review this movie.
Jenny Hatch
UPDATE:
Many parents are praying right now that Oprahs Autism show will open up the floodgates and allow true debate on the number of vaccines and how they are impacting our children negatively to come out more fully in our national debate on childrens health.
Here is a link to a health overview that I typed up a couple months ago. It includes my suggestions for possible environmental triggers that could cause autism. When a child has all of these triggers, at the same time that he is being systematically doused with toxins from Vaccines and Dental amalgams (more mercury), it is no wonder that many of these children show signs of mercury toxicity.
Jenny Hatch
UPDATE:
The mommy chat rooms and Bloggers on the web are all talking about Oprahs show….
Mothering
Maya’s Mom
Huffington Post
About
Oprahs message boards
This video is a much better quality than my amatuerish atempt, I found the descriptive information on this video to be very good.
“Oprah brings up the vaccine issue – DR says NO it’s been refuted, then Oprah lets one of the moms have her say … LOVE IT!
THANK YOU OPRAH!
Katie (THE MOM) was told by the producers before the show was filmed that if
she mentioned vaccines she would be off the show.
While taping, the pediatrician made the misstatement about vaccines
and autism (that whole “no connection” reassuring bullshit), and,
during break, Katie appealed directly to Oprah to let her respond,
as you saw on the show.
However, Oprah’s response to Katie about “opening the can of worms”
and the audience’s applause after what she said was actually based
on a much longer exchange, all of which was edited out of the final
cut of the show.
After the part you heard Katie say, Katie went on to say that the
preservatives in the vaccines made her son sick and that the
combination vaccines and the vaccine schedule were grossly unsafe.
Everyone’s favorite pediatrician then jumped in and said that if the
schedule were changed there would epidemics. Katie responded by
saying there already is an epidemic and that our kids are not
disposable so the CDC can perpetuate irrational fears of the measles
and the flu.
I think this highlights a number of things:
– The censorship most media outlets give to this issue is very high.
My personal opinion is that this is due entirely to the power of
pharma advertising and to the fact that the media outlets hear
directly from pharma in advance of these shows and get warned. The
fact that the daughter of NBC’s FORMER CEO must be deeply troubling
for pharma because this is going to be one very tough person to shut
up.
– Oprah over-ruled the directive Katie was given because she is
Oprah and appears to have strong moral fiber. If Don Imus is a 10, I
give Oprah a 5, which makes her second-best for national
personalities dealing honestly about our kids, although it is almost
incomprehensible to me that this is Oprah’s first show on autism.
– The lame doctor saying “if the schedule were changed there would
be epidemics” has no idea what she is talking about. It is
unbelievable that it is NEVER reported that in the mid-1980s there
were 10 vaccines on the schedule and today its 36. We were not
having massive epidemics in the 1980s and the schedule has more than
tripled due to money and recklessness, with no monitoring system
that could ever catch a delayed-onset condition like autism.
– Katie is a true warrior for her son and all of our kids. She said
so much more than America got to hear.
(FORWARDED – WRITTEN BY JB)”
Medical school students were also chatting about Oprahs show and the larger issue of how to deal with parents who do not want to vaccinate:
Student Doctors
Original Post:
Oprah Winfrey made me cry yesterday when I watched her show on Autism.
Autism Speaks Web Site – Be Informed
Autism Speaks web site search string for vaccines.
Here are three video clips from the show with my commentary.
Natural Family Blog Posts on Vaccines and Autism – Go Here And Here And Here
And this is the first of many commentaries of her show:
Thank You Oprah, for giving the Autism Community a lift
THANK YOU OPRAH!!!
My mother told me that as a baby I had one of the worst immediate reactions to my vaccines of all of her eight children. I have had to wonder over the years if there was any direct relation to my own asthma, deadly food allergies, skin rashes, and immune deficiency problems. I have worked tirelessly cleansing my body at the core level for many years, and while some success has happened, I still struggle with certain chronic conditions.
Early in our marriage I was training to become a Bradley Childbirth Teacher and read Robert Mendelsohns book, How to raise a healthy child in spite of your doctor as part of the curriculum for teachers. What an eye opening book for a new mom to read! That book and materials like it armed me for the vaccine battles that were to define my life for the next ten years. The battles were mostly with my husband, but also with a variety of family members, neighbors, friends at church, strangers, and especially members of the medical community as we interfaced with them during our first three births, and in a variety of situations over the years. The most frightening situations were always around Emergency Room visits. Whenever they asked the inevitable “is she/he up to date on her/his shots?” I would always look the nurse right in the eye and say “we are philisophically opposed to vaccines”. Fortunately no one ever used this as an excuse to call social services, but we do live in Colorado, which has some of the lowest rates of vaccination in the country, and a very educated populace and healthy alternative healing communities who are supportive of our lifestyle choices.
We never had any trouble enrolling our kids in school, and have experienced a few raised eyebrows around camping and sport situations, but never have been excluded from an event for not vaccinating.
This has not been the case for all families however. Some have had children taken by social services for not vaccinating, and recently I heard a story of a young mom who wanted to selectively vaccinate, but who was told that if she did that, she would have to find another pediatric practice to work with. The bullying and strong arm tactics of some health professionals is really sickening, when parents are just trying to keep toxic chemicals out of their childrens bodies.
Again, I have to applaud Oprah for opening that can, what a great step forward in helping to expose this whole fraud.
Jenny Hatch
Healthy Families Make A Healthy World!
HuffPo: Leslie Benetts: The Feminine Mistake
The Feminine Mistake
Bleech!
“I wrote The Feminine Mistake: Are We Giving Up Too Much? because the typical reporting on the job-versus-family issue was so biased and incomplete. The media gave lots of coverage to women who quit the labor force to become full-time mothers, but they treated this decision as if it were simply a lifestyle choice. They never seemed to mention the risks of economic dependency — or the myriad benefits of work. As a result, women were being lulled into a dangerous sense of complacency about relinquishing their financial autonomy. Why wasn’t anyone telling the truth about how much they were sacrificing — or what the consequences could be?
When I researched the subject myself, my findings made it all too clear how false that sense of security really is. Over time, most stay-at-home wives are likely to face major hardships as a result of divorce, widowhood, a spouse’s unemployment or illness, or any number of other challenges. Women who abandon their careers and become financially dependent on their husbands often look back on that decision as the biggest mistake of their lives — even women in stable, enduring marriages. I interviewed women all over the country, of every age, socio-economic level and background, but many used the exact same words to ask an angry question: “Why didn’t anybody tell me what a mistake this was?””
And man, isn’t our society lucky to have such a sage in Leslie Benetts, that she is here to let us know how big of a mistake we are making when we marry and become financially dependent on our men.
A few thoughts….I have not read this womans book, just her piece at Huff Po, so maybe it is wrong to even comment on her piece without her full argument being reviewed.
That being said, the very title of her essay, calling this choice to become dependent on our husbands a MISTAKE, sets the tone of the debate.
I suppose in Ms.Benetts ideal world all women attend college until they are 32, then accept a job from some “empowered” she-male, and then gets artificially inseminated to give birth to one child, you know, just for the experience, and because that time clock is ticking, and the second the baby turns four weeks old, shoves it into the care of someone else while momma stays “independent and financially stable”, and thus saves herself the trouble of having to ask that ANGRY and hopeless question….”Why didn’t anybody tell me what a mistake this was???”
In Ms. Benetts ideal world womyn have no need to mess with the rather untidy life of the stay at home mother, and no worries about the future. Momma as breadwinner means womyn will never have to bow down to any patriarchal system, and can stay nice and healthy, financially and otherwise, and never ever have any problems, whatsoever. Because everyone knows that the only women who have problems are those who get married young and rely on a man to provide their food, clothing, and shelter.
Sorry Ms. Benett, your whole premise stinks.
I am completely aware of how dependent I am on my husband. I like to think of us an an interdependent team. However, I choose not to wallow in “what iffing” about the future. Should some unforseen situation present itself where I am the sole breadwinner for my family, I trust that as a smart, intelligent woman, I have the capacity to take care of the children who would then be dependent on me for the basics to survive.
I don’t have a degree. Outside of stints working as an actor, waitress, medical assistant, maid at a hotel, house cleaner, health club dance instructor, and various network marketing businesses, as well as childbirth teacher, I have never had what others would term an ideal “career”.
I have spent the past ten years writing books that few people are interested in reading, promoting natural childbirth in an epidural world, and blogging about natural family living. Endeavors that are not exactly tied to financial freedom.
I suppose if I wanted to make some money at blogging, I could promote sickness on my Blog and then the various sick culture big money machines would come calling, but for now promotion of healthy family life is not a cash cow for our family budget.
Truth be known, without my husbands support I could never have written my E-books, set up my web sites, or even considered blogging. As a computer genius specializing in web connections and fire walls, Paul has been most supportive of my Blogging adventures. Perhaps it would have been better for me to hire a web expert, just so I could say that I was an independent womyn not guilty of making any goofball feminine mistakes like depending on my husbands generousity of spirit while helping me blog.
He installed Movable Type on my site and has helped me in a thousand different ways to be a better online writer. As my in house “free” tech support, he has been the reason I’ve been able to share my words, pictures, and videos on the web. Perhaps your next book should be titled – “The Male Mistake; hard realities for the husband whose wife spend every spare second blogging.”
I am fully aware of the difficulties that COULD happen if my husband were unable to work for some reason. Yet I continue to take my children to the park, spend my time cooking, cleaning, and raising our five children, and call myself most blessed among women for the luxury of this amazing lifestyle where I have the freedom to be queen of my own little castle.
And, I get to choose how I will schedule my free time without worrying about providing food, clothing, and shelter for our brood.
Every time we go out into the sunshine to play, I feel this overwhelming gratefullness in my heart for a man who is willing to work hard every day to provide for me and our children. And I trust and have complete faith that should my husband be called home to heaven, that a kind FATHER In Heaven, the ultimate Patriarch, will be as aware of me as the Lilies of the field, and will help me to know how to feed, shelter, and clothe my family as a single woman.
Don’t call my life choice a mistake.
And don’t assume that I am some idiot who has no ability to prepare for the future, or understand that my husband being gone will mean major adjustments to our lifestyle. I am well aware of how quickly things could change, but that does not mean I am going to put my children into the care of someone else and go start working on a career.
I am engaged in the most fulfilling career any woman could desire…..writing living epistles as we partner with God in the creation of something eternal and holy….A Family.
As I read this essay I was reminded of the play Pippen, which I performed over forty times during summer stock theatre in 1987. The main character in the play is a young man who wants to find meaning in his life, and so he experiments with a variety of lifestyle choices, running from war to politics to womanizing to family life in search of the ultimate happiness and fulfillment. At the end of this musical, he learns that being committed to a family is what will bring him the most fulfillment, and admits that he is “trapped, but happy”.
Here is a clip from the final performance of the cast of 87 in West Yellowstone Montana at the Playmill Theatre. I included our curtain call, as well as the tradition of “street greeting” that we did after the final show of the evening. This particular audience was made up of many friends, family members as well as members of our church congregation in town and former players from previous casts. So alot of hugging was going on as we said our goodbyes.
I am dressed in light blue, and show up here and there in the clip.
Sometime in the future I will share a bunch of clips from this play, it is a profound and wonderful commentary about what brings true happiness and fulfillment in life.
Jenny Hatch
Healthy Families Make A Healthy World!
Having a baby ‘costs two months sleep a year’
Two articles that in my opinion make the case for being a stay at home mother.
Having a baby ‘costs two months sleep a year’
I was at a baby shower recently and the host asked all of us who were guests to write a little piece of advice for the new mom who was expecting her first baby. Most of the experienced mothers talked about sleep. Tips on maximizing sleep during the early post partum days. And how crucial it is to sleep when the baby sleeps rather than getting all lost in cleaning the house or entertaining extended family members who may stop by for a week or two to spend time with the new baby. It was all great advice for a new mother.
I was watching one of those horrific baby stories on discovery a couple months ago and the woman who had welcomed the film crew into her life and her home during the final days of her pregnancy and new baby time was an OB who had all of these ideals about natural childbirth, breastfeeding, cloth diapers, and planned to go back to work at 4 weeks post partum. This poor woman had a c-section, stopped using the cloth diapers the first day because it was just too hard (this episode brought to you by Pampers) and by day five her little son was hospitalized because he was dehydrated and losing weight.
Poor momma was so consumed with welcoming her friends into her home to meet the babe, entertaining and looking good for the camera crew, and getting her life under control: you know, get the baby sleeping through the night, breastmilk established, and her body back to its original size two by one month post partum so she could go back to work “educating” other women on how to have a healthy baby that someone dear and precious sort of got lost in the shuffle…. her little boy, who was not getting enough fluids and had to be hospitalized.
It was a sad commentary on mothering today.
I wish women who desire to be mothers would just embrace the whole thing. It would make things so much better for our society if women would devote themselves to their children and husbands and just let the whole “having it all” thing go. I know trends are moving that way, and I applaud the women of today for the focus they all seem to be articulating in terms of being home for the babies.
I also read this article that talked about the new government studies that claim mom is better than pre school for toddlers.
New research agrees: Moms do it better
I spend most of my waking moments with our four year old and I can honestly say, about 50% of the time he annoys me. So many questions, so busy messing up my house. GO Go Go all day long. Today he is just this tasmanian devilish ball of energy. We are on spring break so everyone is home and yesterday his dad took him to the Denver Zoo all day long. He had a great time at the zoo, but today, with six inches of snow on the ground, he is bored and even though it is 11 am in the morning, he has already gotten into three fights with his brothers, and trashed the bedroom by pulling all of the board games out of the closet and dumping them around his bedroom and mine.
It is not easy mothering a four year old child. Yet I would not dream of putting him in a pre school or a day care. This is the year I believe he needs me most. To teach him manners and good habits of health. Proper eating and bathing, as well as how to be kind even when he feels like whacking someone in the head with a shovel. The goal is to civilize him before he goes to school and hopefully we are on track to do that. World net Daily has some strong views about home school and the writer of that article articulates them in her piece. I have not given up on public schools yet, but I pray that our children are good examples to their peers, and the time and energy invested in them by doing preschool and some elementary school at home has put them in a better position to be kind rather than engage in the mean and bullying behaviors of some of the children they attend school with every day.
I remember those years when I felt that five hours of sleep was a “good” night. And not necessarily all at once either. I was happy if I managed to get two hours before three am and three hours after three am. My daily nap, which is still an ingrained mommy habit, was crucial to my sanity, and I scheduled that one to three afternoon space as my sacred time to recharge my batteries before the afternoon rush of homework, supper, bedtime, and what I call my second shift. That nap is still the most important focused time of my day. It keeps me going because even when children are grown up, you still have late night stuff – the teenager who needs to talk, or the 18 year old who comes in late after a party, or the ten year old who has a fever, or the 12 year old who got freaked out watching 24 and needs to sleep on Mom and Dads floor.
Parenting doesn’t stop at 10 PM and then resume at 6 AM after a restfull nights sleep. It is a 24 hour a day full time job, and women need to be wise in making the choices that will enable them to stay healthy and do the work at hand.
Jenny Hatch
Healthy Families Make A Healthy World!
Michelle Malkin: threats in the Blogosphere
Michelle Has a message for the technoblogging elites: Go Here (Strong Language alert)
These past ten months I have had to seriously think about this topic of threats and being harmed by what I say. I have also had to question how much of our life I put on this blog, and how much of my time will be devoted to blogging endeavors.
I decided long ago that I would not take counsel from my fears, in any sphere of my life. And have attempted to walk the talk each day fearless of what life might send my way in terms of being attacked for my lifestyle, political views, and activism.
Malkin has some good insights, and I completely agree with her that we have to be fearless.
She Said:
“My response to this and other endless slurs and threats–most empty, some serious–has been two-fold:
1) Report the serious threats to law enforcement.
2) Keep blogging.
As I have said before: “There is a time to be tolerant and there is a time to draw lines. If you don’t draw those lines, bullies will be emboldened.”
That is my unsolicited advice to those now cowering in the face of anonymous commenters and assorted nutballs who will never go away.
Keep blogging. Don’t cut and run.”
I agree with her in theory, but after you have been attacked, sometimes it is important to just take a break, simply because you are ill and need to physically heal, and also need some space to recharge your freedom loving batteries. It might also be important to take stock of your life and decide if this is the cause that you are willing to put it all on the line for. Knowing deep in your heart that at any time and in any place you could be murdered or maimed for your political views.
Last week before the Gathering of Eagles event, I had some nightmares. My subconcious was dealing with my fears in a very real way during my dreams, and I felt some panic and fear. I also wondered if this was going to be a solo demonstration, and if I would be physically attacked by those on the other side. I figured even if I was hit I would probably live and would only die if I was shot by someone up on the hill. No Fear, No Fear….
On the thursday before the rally my visiting teachers came to visit, and I shared with them some of what I was planning to do with the Gathering of Eagles, and mentioned that I was having nightmares etc and then asked if they would pray for me. I joked that I was not afraid of getting hurt, just as long as I did not get shot. Ben was playing with the two little daughters of my friend and I did not realize that he was listening to our conversation. When I walked in the door after the anti war rally the first thing he said to me in a tone of excited exclamation was “You did not get shot!”. I wondered then how much my little guy had worried for his mom.
When Dale Lanham and I walked in the door after the bake sale, Paul jokingly said “you didn’t get shot! or arrested!!” He was only half joking. He had been really concerned that if we got too in your face with the Daily Camera people, they might call the police.
Here is a picture of me shortly after some toxic chemical was thrown in my face. I have struggled with my health for months since this attack. I reported it to the police, but they did not believe my story, and could not comprehend why someone would want to kill a blogging mother. I have released myself from the need to get justice around this attack, but it did change my life and my outlook on Freedom.
When one is attacked for political reasons, it can be truly devastating. You may feel guilt for putting your children in an unsafe situation, and you might feel damaged emotionally, because the bottom line is that it just feels terrible to be hurt for your beliefs.
That being said, after the attack, a freedom of expression and life comes into ones heart. At least for me, life after attack has felt liberating. I have absolutely no fear of death. I walked to deaths door, knocked on it, I think Jesus even opened the door, told me it was not my time, and I walked back into life completely changed. I also had a near death experience after the birth of my fourth child, and while similar elements were involved in terms of a change in perspective, life after the attack was the most liberating for me as a blogger.
It recharged my liberty loving batteries. It filled me with a purpose and a focus that has never waned. I feel absolutely fearless. I should qualify that by saying that in my concious moments I feel fearless, in my subconcious some fear has shown up in my dreams, as my mind has tried to reconcile things.
Life after attack has motivated me to make some changes in our day to day life. I bought the puppy I had been promising my children. I enjoy sunsets, sunrises, and flowers much more, and if I feel like dancing or singing, I do it.
I cut people out of my life who were making me ill just being in contact with them, and I invited others into my life who brought joy to my heart.
I joined a choir and I am enjoying performance again.
I have absolute faith and confidence that if my life is in the balance again, because of another attack, that Heavenly Father will preserve my life and protect me from evil. And I trust that if it is my time to die, that I will be welcomed home safely into the arms of my Savior.
It sounds like the blogger Michelle wrote about has decided that she cannot live with those fears of being attacked. I wish I had the ability to communicate to her that when you are attacked for your heart felt views, it can be the life changing, empowerment moment that gives you the courage to live one more day, year, lifetime, to its fullest.
I know my words sometimes convey this grandiose, majestic, over the top view of life, politics, freedom, and slavery. But it is difficult for me to harness my words, pull them back into a restrained elitist moderated voice. I have decided that the granduer of this cause of freedom is no delusion. I spend quality time talking to the Master of the Universe every day. I know he is listening. Some days, during quiet moments of prayer, in conversation with my Father in Heaven, the very specific guidance I have felt from his Holy Spirit showing me in word pictures what to write, what to say, what to do, has let me know in a very real and specific way that He is interested in what I am doing with this blog.
When one feels that the work they are doing every day is blessed by Heaven, that God himself takes an interest in what is said, what is written, and what is done, then yeah, one can understand why satanic forces, people, and ideas would have a major problem with one freedom loving momma in Colorado.
And, yes, Michelle Malkin is profoundly right that we bloggers cannot allow threats, real or imagined to compel us to stop. Peace through strength is my mantra. Some very evil forces in our world need to be confronted again and again and again, boldly, in full view of the public, and fearlessly by those who love freedom.
If we don’t do it, who will?
Jenny Hatch
