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A junior officer was posted in an area of the Middle East that was a tinderbox ready for violence. He was in a small town that was safer than the big city. In fact, it was safe enough that he brought his family along to live in a small rental space at the edge of town. He also felt safe because he commanded a troop of about 100 soldiers who was always on alert.

He and his family had gotten to know some of the folks in town and because he was a good person, he was accepted as much as one could be in his position. Life was okay, the pay wasn’t great, but he would have an excellent pension once he retired.

Then his son got sick. The boy was partially paralyzed and racked with pain and dying. Being in a part of the world where care was far away, the soldier despaired as to what to do. He then remembered that there was a famous physician was about to visit the town. The physician had a reputation for being able to diagnose and heal just about any disease. However, there was a significant problem. This physician belonged to a pagan religion that was notorious for only caring about their own kind.

The officer, however, was desperate. He went to see the physician to see what could be done for his son. He found him in the middle of a crowd that was just entering the town along the main road. He explained his boy’s situation to the physician and was astonished by his reply. “You want ME to come and heal him ?” Not to be put off, the officer replied, “you don’t have to come to my house because I know your religion would not allow you.

I am accustomed to orders and giving orders. Just order me as to what has to be done to heal him and I will carry out the order”. Now it was the physician’s turn to be astonished. He replied, “I have not found in my own people, the confidence, faith and obedience to follow my orders that you have just displayed. Go home, because of your faith in me, your boy will be just fine !”. The soldier hurried home and found that his son was recovered from his illness.

This account is in the Bible, the 8th Chapter of Matthew verses 5 through 13. The officer was a Roman Centurion who commanded 100 men in the area they occupied in Galilee, northern Israel today. To him, the Jewish inhabitants of the region would have been pagans because they worshiped only one God rather than dozens. He had heard about the physician, Jesus of Nazareth, who had been healing everyone who was coming to him.

So the officer went to Jesus to see about having his son healed. Being a life-long soldier, he knew obedience but more importantly, he knew authority when he saw it. He immediately knew that Jesus had an authority and that at his command, orders would be followed, and his son healed.

This officer was used to a command structure. He knew that if he asked someone in authority, someone who was truly in command, to issue an order (even to heal a sick boy) it would be carried out. This is a true measure in faith. He knew the one in command had demonstrated his ability to do what was asked of him. It is what Jesus still asks of us today.

He can and does heal sickness. Why do you think just about everyone asks for prayer when someone is sick ? More importantly, he can and does heal our hearts of despair, loneliness, and the consequences of our mistakes of the past. All he asks from us is to have the faith that He and only He can do it. Be like the centurion and have faith that Jesus can heal you.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
Why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn’t always fair;
And maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death,
by his parents, Truth and Trust,
by his wife, Discretion,
by his daughter, Responsibility,
and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 5 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m A Victim
Pay me for Doing Nothing

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

I am the flag of the United States of America.

I was born on June 14, 1777, in Philadelphia.

There the Continental Congress adopted my stars and stripes as the national flag.

My thirteen stripes alternating red and white, with a union of thirteen white stars in a field of blue, represented a new constellation, a new nation dedicated to the personal and religious liberty of mankind.

Today fifty stars signal from my union, one for each of the fifty sovereign states in the greatest constitutional republic the world has ever known.

My colors symbolize the patriotic ideals and spiritual qualities of the citizens of my country.

My red stripes proclaim the fearless courage and integrity of American men and boys and the self-sacrifice and devotion of American mothers and daughters.

My white stripes stand for liberty and equality for all.

My blue is the blue of heaven, loyalty, and faith.

I represent these eternal principles: liberty, justice, and humanity.

I embody American freedom: freedom of speech, religion, assembly, the press, and the sanctity of the home.

I typify that indomitable spirit of determination brought to my land by Christopher Columbus and by all my forefathers – the Pilgrims, Puritans, settlers at James town and Plymouth.

I am as old as my nation.

I am a living symbol of my nation’s law: the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.

I voice Abraham Lincoln’s philosophy: “A government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

I stand guard over my nation’s schools, the seedbed of good citizenship and true patriotism.

I am displayed in every schoolroom throughout my nation; every schoolyard has a flag pole for my display.

Daily thousands upon thousands of boys and girls pledge their allegiance to me and my country.

I have my own law—Public Law 829, “The Flag Code” – which definitely states my correct use and display for all occasions and situations.

I have my special day, Flag Day. June 14 is set aside to honor my birth.

Americans, I am the sacred emblem of your country. I symbolize your birthright, your heritage of liberty purchased with blood and sorrow.

I am your title deed of freedom, which is yours to enjoy and hold in trust for posterity.

If you fail to keep this sacred trust inviolate, if I am nullified and destroyed, you and your children will become slaves to dictators and despots.

Eternal vigilance is your price of freedom.

As you see me silhouetted against the peaceful skies of my country, remind yourself that I am the flag of your country, that I stand for what you are – no more, no less.

Guard me well, lest your freedom perish from the earth.

Dedicate your lives to those principles for which I stand: “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

I was created in freedom. I made my first appearance in a battle for human liberty.

God grant that I may spend eternity in my “land of the free and the home of the brave” and that I shall ever be known as “Old Glory,” the flag of the United States of America.