The American ideals of liberty and justice were forged in the fires of scripture and tempered by the ages. Since its inception, our Republic has emerged slowly but steadily from the world’s history of bigotry, racism, and intolerance, toward a more just, merciful, and compassionate society; a society in which people of every conceivable faith and ethnicity can join together and find peace, acceptance, common purpose, and strength through that diversity, and in so doing form a government of, by, and for a people, unified by their diverse faiths and their mutual pursuit of liberty and justice for all. Our Constitution and America’s other historical documents demonstrate very clearly that America’s collective conscience, as reflected by our chosen leaders, requires constant scrutiny and surveillance. That’s why it’s essential we participate. That’s why it’s essential we vote. Freedom is every heart’s desire and every just government’s goal, but prior to our Constitution, liberty was a mighty illusive concept. My ancestors risked all they had in their quests for freedom, because in case after case, their homelands had very little appetite for religious freedoms. In far too many cases, Kings, Queens, and powerful religious institutions, dictated religious liberties. Bigotry, intolerance, and bondage were generally the result, and the freedom we enjoy today was little more than a dream. Even today, in the 21st century, in a country celebrated around the world as the land of liberty, there are people whom, given the opportunity, would deny freedom and forcibly inflict their religious beliefs on others. Even in a democracy of, by, and for the people, justice and equality are only as perfect as the conscience of that people. Even America’s grand and glorious democratic republic reflects not only our goodness but our greed. Freedom is not a privilege to be taken lightly. Freedom is a right and a responsibility, a perishable torch to be diligently tended and faithfully passed along. Freedom burns within our hearts, ignited by the founding fathers, and it falls to us to keep that flame alive. America’s most trusted and time-honored institutions are only as righteous as the hearts of our citizens; our most godly leaders are only as just as the collective conscience of their constituents, and the most telling measure of a nation’s heart is the compassion and the unity of its people.
Sunday, August 31, 2025
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Thursday, August 21, 2025
High Sierra Blood
I’ve always loved the mountains.
Heaven knows I always will.
It was way back during the gold rush,
My momma’s folks arrived in Placerville.
I’ve hiked its peaks and meadows,
With my granddad, as a kid.
If anyone loved the mountains,
My granddad Daniels did.
He hiked them with his granddad,
During Hangtown’s glory days,
Wading creeks and panning gold.
He knew the mountain ways.
Time in the High Sierras
Was my granddad’s greatest joy.
He’d hiked its fields and forests
From the time he was a boy.
Together we camped its lakes and streams,
We feasted on its fish,
Saw heaven from its summits,
Stood awestruck at the stars and made a wish.
Granddad watched the devastation,
Through seventy-two long years.
The clear-cuts and conflagrations,
And I saw it all reflected in his tears.
The Sierras are resilient,
Sympathetic and forgiving.
Despite the treatment they received,
The Sierras thrived; the Sierras went on living.
But in ‘69 my granddad died.
The foothills lost their luster.
When time came to leave old Placerville,
It took every bit of courage I could muster.
We moved back to Missouri,
The childhood home of Father.
There I met and wed my wife.
God blessed us with a son and with a daughter.
Through the years, I grew to manhood,
Built a home and tilled the earth,
Sought God, and spread Dad’s ashes,
And saw my grandson’s birth.
Life moves on; we’re given choices.
There are chances we must take.
Freedom can’t assure successes.
Freedoms found in choices that we make.
In the end, our joys dependent,
On what our choices are.
Sometimes you paint your wagon
And follow a wandering star.
So now I’m in the Ozarks.
My choices brought me here.
I’m happy in Missouri,
And heaven knows I hold the Ozarks dear.
And I’ve lived a long and prosperous life,
Beneath God’s bright blue skies,
But my heart pumps High Sierra blood,
And I’ll die with the High Sierra’s in my eyes.
Shannon Thomas Casebeer