This series has been previously published. It seems a good time to bring it back again. Originally Sharon worked with Cetera to publish these posts, and all work is done by both of them. I am just copying these posts to give us all a chance to review them again, and some of our newer readers may not have seen them.

Our friend, Cetera, left this comment in a thread earlier this week and I think it serves well as an introduction to his spirit and concern that we find ways to stand fast and encourage one another:

“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…”

We’re 3-0, now, in Murietta, at Bundy’s, and against the National Park/Memorial barricades. All were won merely by showing up, refusing to go away, and when threatened with violence, calling their bluff.Twice now, the Obama regime has brought in actual troops prepared to use lethal force against civilians, and were absolutely and thoroughly rebuffed without a shot fired. The third time, they never even deployed the troops.

Wolverines, we ARE WINNING! We’re on the march!. Each time we succeed, we make success more and more likely, and make it more and more difficult for the lawless, illegal Feds to exert force upon us. We are illustrating the Emperor has no clothes.

It is going to be a long, long march home. I’m here to tell you, we’re well on our way, and we are going to get there. We hold the moral high ground, and we must not ever cede it. This is not going to be an easy march. There’s going to be some fightin’, and there’s going to be pain and hardships all around. All the fury of all the storms the evil ones can muster will squall and break upon us. No matter.

Drummer, beat, and piper, blow. We’re marching home, together.

Cetera is an avid reader and friend of the Tree House, and an occasional commenter.  He currently resides in Wyoming, having given up on Colorado after ten years and deciding to move his family to a more politically friendly state.  He has been thinking through some basic principles inspired by his Christian faith and the Spirit, and has prepared a series of posts for our encouragement – timeless Truths worth thinking and talking about.

~ ~ ~ First Principles ~ ~ ~

Wolverines, listen up.  We are all here to support each other, to keep a watchful eye on each other and our Republic, and to fight the good fight when and where it is needed.  Each of us shoulders responsibility we assign only to ourselves, that we pick up voluntarily, and in each of our own ways we promote Truth and Justice.  In short, we are here to keep the faith, because at some level each of us feels that faith under assault or under siege.

For a great many of us, we may never have put into words or closely examined the fundamental principles and truths that we feel inside of us, and what they mean.  I would like to have a discussion on these First Principles over this and several future posts.

Sundance and crew are very good about keeping us informed, digging for the truth, and exposing the rot, the corruption, and the lawlessness in the shadows.  The more they expose, the more inadequate I feel and the more down and depressed I become.  They have found evil and monsters lurking in our society, our nation, and our neighborhoods, from the underbelly all the way to the top.

What I would like to do is make sure we remember and focus on the core of why we are here.

We need to remember who we are and what we are supposed to be fighting for.  We need to bear in mind constantly the faith we are trying to keep.

When things are darkest, when hope seems to fade, and all seems lost, we will need to cling to our principles.  Holding to these principles will give us the strength, courage, and determination to keep going, to hold the line, and to never surrender.

We fight for something greater than ourselves.  Should we as individuals break down, drop the ball, fail, or even fall to despair, then still we will not have lost, because we do not fight only for ourselves.  The fight will go on, and we will each be held to account only that we gave our last measure in pursuit of these principles.

We also need to remember these principles in victory, so that we may not again fall prey to the same mistakes that have led us to these times.  We need to remember, that we may put to right this nation and republic that has been bequeathed to us.  For what does it matter if we win, if to achieve victory we abandon our principles, and all comes to ruin anyway?

Why are we here? What is our Purpose?

I don’t mean why any of us, as individuals, are here in this time, or at any particular place, but why is humanity here at all?  To what end do any of us work?  It is inevitable that we each will die.  It is unavoidable, and non-negotiable.  To be alive is to eventually die.  Only life can die, and only those that experience death are ever alive.  Yet life has this funny instinct of trying to survive, to do anything possible to remain living for just a little longer, no matter the circumstances.

We strive for our offspring, we fight to defend our children and our families.  We hope in a better and brighter future, and we sacrifice to make a better life for our future selves, our children, and future generations.  But why?

In the long run, everyone dies.  Eventually the sun will consume the Earth as a red-giant star at the end of its life, and long before that the Earth will become uninhabitable.  If we manage to spread to the stars, we will face similar trials everywhere we settle, and eventually the universe itself will come to an end.  Whether it ends in a big crunch, or is an open universe and spreads to nothing, or even if it is perfectly balanced and entropy causes the end due to energy decay, nothing we build, nothing we strive for, nothing we can create in any way will survive or exist forever.  The end will be absolute.

Therefore, I believe it to be self-evident that we are not here for any purely physical reason, or to accomplish any physical objectives.  The things that matter most in our lives are the things we do for others.  The most meaningful accomplishments on a daily scale and on a lifetime scale are when we help others, when we express love and compassion and charity towards others.  Making a difference in someone else’s life is the one thing that has always resulted in the greatest joy and happiness in my life.

We see this specifically stated in the Bible in a couple of places.  “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” (John 15:13).  When asked what is the most important commandment, Jesus replies, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these,” (Mark 12:30-31).

There is another big hint in John 3:16:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Love is a recurring theme in the Bible.  Indeed, one may say it is THE THEME of the Bible.  God IS Love (1 John 1:18), and God created us to love.  The point is that we love each other, and to love God.  Older Roman Catholics among us may remember a quote from the Baltimore Catechism that God made us to know Him and to love Him and to serve Him, in this life and the next.  We are here to learn to love, to choose to love, and to actively love God and our fellow man.

Next week, we’ll cover love, what it means to love, and acts of the will.