An old hymn, more of a prayer, really, popped into my mind this morning as I was making coffee. I have not heard or sung this tune in nearly sixty years – maybe longer. I sang it this morning over and over before a weekly prayer call I have with a friend.
Then I paged through some of my old hymnals, failing to find it. I looked in another location and found it, but only the last line since the first had been torn out; no doubt to facilitate a quick transition for some long-ago church service. On a whim, with little hope and much doubt, I perused my latest hymnal. There it was!
It’s simple request is one we need to make to God in heaven right now. Join me?
Image: Hear Our Prayer, O Lord taken from Psalm 143:1 by George Whelpton, The Celebration Hymnal, copyright 1997 by Word/Integrity
Can you imagine having a picnic in a cemetery? It was fairly common in the late 1800s, and I’ve read that it’s making a comeback. For some of you who associate graveyards with ghosts, I suppose a ham sandwich with chips and lemonade on a blanket there would lose its appeal.
But others apparently desire the connection with or honor of their dear departed by including their gravesite in a warm-weather outdoor lunch.
Originally called Decoration Day, what is now named Memorial Day was observed to honor those who died in the Civil War. It made sense to celebrate it in May when the first flowers of spring could be gathered to decorate their graves.
I remember when Congress changed some holidays to Mondays so people could have an excuse for a three-day weekend. They wanted that long weekend and figured people wouldn’t care about, for instance, Washington or Lincoln’s real birthday. I cared. I still do, and it still bothers me, but I do not doubt I’m in the minority.* Anyway, that’s why we celebrate Memorial Day the last Monday in May.
Regardless of whether you’ve supported a war or even agree with the idea of war in general, we hold an obligation to honor those who died in good faith for their country. We can honor those who did something we have not done. Why did they do it? They stood for freedom. They dug deep into a belief: Duty, Honor, Country.
Depending on what you think is going on in our world just now, I don’t know whether you’ve thought about dying for a cause like soldiers must do. They are required to get their affairs in order. Write a will. Assign an executor. Get their “hero picture” taken. But you can do something easier. Just for this Memorial Day, you might attend a ceremony or parade. You might read a list of fatalities or, perhaps more palatable, a story of a soldier. In fact, I try to include a post on this very blog each year about Memorial Day. Whatever it is that you do, I hope you remember the why. Enjoy your picnic.
https://connectingdirectors.com/55122-cemetery-picnics; evangelina-silina-BzLUmuRDMWE-unsplash-scaled.jpg; *Do you think people even wonder whose birthdays are celebrated on Presidents Day? What a convenient way to diminish another element of our national history; philippa-rose-tite-XLlBh-SQZCA-unsplash.jpg; https://www.myfiresidechat.com/?s=memorial+day&submit=Search
I spent the better part of an hour nosing around by the meter. I even opened the boxes I had moved for the meter readers, examining every single item which I removed piece by piece. It was a good thing I’d changed out of my pajamas and had a decent pair of shoes on or I would have lost a toenail over a large set of old Star Trek DVDs that slipped from my grasp as I unloaded it. I found nothing in the boxes, but the intermittent beeping continued.
Time slipped away and I would have to figure things out later. I had the luxury of a remote job, but that didn’t mean I could ignore my computer all morning.
The beeping couldn’t be heard on the main floor, and as I mulled it over while frying a small steak and broiling cut-up potatoes sprinkled liberally with seasoning salt, I realized that I probably wouldn’t have noticed it without the visit from Remer Electric’s annoying meter readers because I wouldn’t have been in the basement in the first place. I wouldn’t have noticed it this time, either, but for the boxes I had hurriedly carried down there a couple of weeks ago.
I’d done a little research over my lunch break and discovered the probable source of the beeping, though I could hardly believe it. So after supper, I went outside and squatted to examine the side of my house. There it was: a patched hole in the wall where my meter was installed. Someone had attached the wires (barely covered by shallow trench I should have noticed) from their own home to my circuits!
I marched over to the neighbor closest to that side of my house – he had moved in last August to my recollection – who, after a stuttering denial, admitted he had planned to only temporarily borrow some electricity when he first moved in, but that time had gotten away from him. How convenient.
“Electricity shouldn’t cost anything, anyway,” he continued, “You’re probably unaware of this, but an inventor named . . .”
“Tesla. Nikola Tesla. Yes, I know.”
My neighbor’s eyes lit up.
“No no no no,” I interrupted his excuse. “Tesla is dead . . .”
“As far as you know . . .”
Heaven help me. I had a nerd of the highest order next door. I hurried to get us back on track before he wandered into a wormhole.
“Someone, in fact, is paying for it regardless, and that someone is me. And I have enough keeping up with my bills without paying for yours, too!”
“Only the electricity.”
“Change it back to your house and change it by morning, or I’m reporting you.”
He held up his hand. “Has it occurred to you the sound from your meter could align your entrainment?” In explanation, he added, “I’m a neurologist.”
“I don’t care if you’re a circus clown! Besides, you’ve no need to borrow anything from me with what your paycheck must be.”
“It started out as temporary, remember? I had no intention of stealing anything from you. Please. Let’s discuss this like two reasonable adults.”
Nothing seemed reasonable at the moment: not smart meters, not pesky meter readers tromping through my house, and not sneaky neighbors.
He opened his door wider and motioned me in. Why did I go in? It was an automatic response.
A person should check automatic responses in herself every once in awhile, I realized, as I sipped on an excellent cup of tea and enjoyed a macaron.
It was midnight by the time I returned to my house. My neighbor had turned out to be knowledgeable in more than neurology. Before this, I hadn’t noticed him much. I thought he was an accountant. We ended up having an intriguing discussion bordering on nerdiness of the highest order. It would’ve been embarrassing had anyone listened in. Which they didn’t. That I knew of.
My neighbor must have stayed up into the wee hours because when I woke up and checked, the beeping was gone and the shallow trench had been dug up and covered over again.
It’s been six months. Six months of the pesky meter readers interrupting my first cup of coffee once a month. Six months of lower electric bills. And six months of talking over the fence, shared dinners, and a surprising comradery with my neighbor. And I’ve decided that free and convenient in some things isn’t so bad after all.
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“You can’t come here every week!” I said in my most politely agitated voice. The look on the face of the two service people told me they didn’t hear my effort at polite. I tried to sympathize. But seriously? How often did a meter need to be read?
Thinking to myself that everything with the word smart in it was probably smart in favor of someone other than me, I had elected to forego the free and convenient smart meter that would tell the electric company what they needed to know in favor of one that 
wasn’t smart (according to them). They, of course, needed to install it inside my house. And not being terribly fond of strangers knocking at my door at 7:30 in the morning while I was still in my pajamas trying to enjoy my first cup of coffee, I found their visits less than welcome; and they found them less than welcoming. At least we had something in common. This was the third visit in five weeks, and I was beginning to wonder if Remer Electric had a secret ground game to irritate its uncooperative customers into compliance with their preferences. They were clearly unaware of my ground game of living life on my own terms. Some people might call that crabby. I call it the why am I paying for something that Tesla said should be free in the first place POV. I doubted the meter reader had read anything about Nikola Tesla, but who was I to judge? Everyone knows public utilities are for everyone’s well-being.
After they left I went down to my basement to move back into place the few boxes that had been in the way of them reading the meter. A high pitch followed by a couple of chirpy beeps caught my attention and I stopped long enough to try to determine where it was coming from. The meter? I don’t know much about electric meters, but I’ve lived long enough to know it was unusual for them to make that sort of sound. A quiet hum maybe, but a high-pitched whine? I pulled the boxes away again and examined it. I wasn’t altogether convinced it was the meter. But it was something – what? Attached? Behind?
The problem was going to need another cup of coffee, I reasoned, and I jogged upstairs to fill my cup and get dressed. If I had only known what was ahead, I might’ve done something more calming, like watching a Star Trek marathon.
to be continued . . .
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It was so dark he couldn’t see his hand even if he held it in front of his face. At first he hadn’t noticed the gradual encroachment. It was a bit misty, perhaps. Maybe exceptionally cloudy. It was possible he needed his eyes checked. No one believes a lie as easily as the one telling it, but with time his excuses started sounding false even to him. It was dark everywhere lately, and he recalled a place he could get a light to break a path so he at least wouldn’t trip. His grandmother had told him about it – the light – when he was young enough to believe such things existed, and where to find it. He hadn’t given it much thought until now. But now? Now it was all he could think of!
He counted. .7..8..9..10. Ten steps from the base of the storm cellar. He felt around. Brushing through spiderwebs and – eech – surely that was a spider that just ran across the top of his hand – dust, he persevered. Ah! At the back of the second shelf from the top there was something small and about the size he remembered from those years ago. He picked it up. It was a little bigger than an ink pen. He moved his fingers around it until he found what felt like a switch and slid it up with his thumb. Light! A burden he hadn’t known he’d been carrying fell from his body as he looked around the small room. Yes! There. Old canned goods. Metal cans of Folgers. A stack of old wool army
blankets. Some matches. He held the light close to them. They looked dry. At that moment the little storm cellar felt like paradise.
After two days of selfish possession there, his conscience tweaked him. The thought of exiting the storm cellar made him a bit nauseous. But, he chided himself, he must. He had friends, even family, who would benefit. And the town just a mile from where he was? They would be thrilled with such an invention! So, too, the towns beyond. But the dark! He dreaded it.
Holding tightly to the light, he set out; first shining it at his feet, then just ahead. And so he made his way to a neighbor’s house at the half mile mark. He wondered if he should knock at the door or call from the yard. What could he do if they tried to wrest it from his grip and hoard it for themselves?! He would not part with the light. No, indeed! He would do whatever necessary to keep it, that was for certain. He needn’t have worried, though, for when his foot stepped on the edge of their property, a light ignited within the house. What? He guessed he didn’t need to stop after all. He approached his sister’s home just a quarter mile ahead. And – another light?! It appeared he hadn’t needed to make this trip in the heavy dark. Still, dark enveloped the town ahead and he continued on. And each time his foot touched a property, a light flickered on in the building it held; sometimes two, sometimes more.
It occurred to him there was a peculiar power in the light he carried that he had not before understood nor even imagined, and that by simply making his minimal effort to bring them the light, a light appeared to them without his further effort.
Soon the town was alight and the darkness seemed to recede.
He plodded on into the suffocating dark ahead. And it happened as before. One step on the property and a light flickered on; house after house, business after business. Somewhere near what he imagined would be the break of dawn except for the forbidding dark, he turned and looked back to where he’d walked. Light! Lights in buildings and on streets! People were venturing out into the glorious open spaces! Over his shoulder a line of darkness still fell. But he knew now that it would yield. Energized, he turned toward it and walked on.
Image: pexels-gift-habeshaw-3415211.jpg; pexels-photo-348392.jpeg; mike-ralph-0yIzvpbRFw8-unsplash.jpg; jordan-wozniak-xP_AGmeEa6s-unsplash.jpg; Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a candlestick, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:15-16; When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ John 8:12; The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself. Often credited to St. Augustine of Hippo, but the origin is uncertain. Charles Spurgeon is the source of: Let the pure gospel go forth in all its lion-like majesty, and it will soon clear its own way and ease itself of its adversaries. and is a more likely origin.; One basic truth can be used as a foundation for a mountain of lies, and if we dig down deep enough in the mountain of lies, and bring out that truth to set it on top of the mountain of lies, the entire mountain of lies will crumble under the weight of that one truth…from Behold A Pale Horse by Milton William Cooper
We all feel like a small piece of a very big puzzle from time to time. It’s true! During the reign of King Josiah of the Old Testament, a prophetess named Huldah was instrumental in doing her part to help the wayward nation of Israel move back toward honoring God’s law. Her name might not be well-known, but her part was important in purifying Israel under King Josiah. You might have a small part in this time in history, but it is nevertheless important. Speak truth.
One day off. That’s all he wanted. Just a day to roam away from the drudgery of daily discipline. He didn’t have many such days. He was dependable and so was his schedule. His fine reputation was, in part, due to keeping commitments he made whether they made sense or not. He sighed. He was tired of commitments. Well he had none today! This would be a treat! He would RELAX. He decided to take an unfamiliar road out of town and came to a five-booth restaurant in a tiny town where he stopped, made small talk with the only other customer, and got a cup of coffee to go.
He was on the road in no time and looked at the scribbles on the paper next to him. The written directions said to veer right, but there was no right – only straight and a left turn that became a frontage road. He shrugged and kept going straight.
Twenty minutes found him with the choice of a dead end or a sharp left onto a gravel road. He took the left turn. It wasn’t a bad road. He just knew it wasn’t the right road. A stray piece of gravel kicked up and made a tiny chip in his windshield. He leaned closer to peer at it, and in doing so, unintentionally veered toward the ditch, but pulled his car back in the nick of time. Turning back may have been prudent, but he’d committed back when he didn’t veer right because there was no veer right to veer. The road turned into blacktop and led to a mid-sized city.
A glass building with an attached outdoor cafe caught his eye, so he pulled into the nearest parking spot. Why not? He was getting hungry. It was close to 11:00. Close enough. As he was finishing his corned beef and swiss on rye, an eerie sound, low and wavering and unyielding emitted from a sewer grate in the street near where he sat. A few customers ignored it and a few others paid and quickly left.
As he drove away, a deafening explosion followed him. The rearview mirror showed light gray billows of smoke. Steam vapor
from unseen vents? An explosion of an old boiler? He increased his acceleration and found himself at a roundabout. He hated those things, but took it as a sign.
His reversed course led him back to the original road. He parked alongside the curb, got out and examined the spot. Okay. He had to admit there was a slight road to the right, but it was nearly overgrown by weeds. He excused himself his original choice. It was understandable why he hadn’t noticed it!
A sudden slap on his back made him jump.
“Hey there, buddy! Did you find the place I told you about? Glorious as all get out! My favorite is the waterfall. Boy howdy does it make noise!”
“Noise?” His ears still buzzed from before.
His acquaintance peered at him more closely. “Guys like you should take a break every now and again. You don’t look so good. You must be hungry. There’s a cute little diner back in town. Just take your first left.” He paused and pointed. “You should get that chip in your windshield fixed. Stan’s auto is two doors down from the diner.”
The man thanked him and got back in his car. A day wasted, a damaged eardrum, and a slight case of dyspepsia. Next time he told himself he should keep going because he’d already committed, he’d slap himself silly and veer even if there was no veer to veer.
In fact . . . He looked at his watch, started his car, and veered right.
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People are of two minds during this season of what now. One segment is able to pretty much ignore much of the weirdness invading the every day; things such as institutions most of us have trusted in the past claiming opposing things. (This, fellow traveler, is called talking out of both sides of your mouth.)* The happy folks belonging to this group don’t anticipate any significant collapse of our banking system and, while they’ve noticed the cost of groceries has increased, figure things will eventually change back to normal.
The other segment has begun to recognize unsettling patterns. They do what they can to keep their attitude positive, but see that an abnormal number of fires destroying food plants, unfortunately-located rail explosions, inexplicable fires, and things like – oh -let’s say bridge collapses are not only increasing, but also curiously explained away without proper investigations. Of course it was an accident. The idea that anything like fifth generation warfare is taking place on American soil is out of the question. Just ask Reuters. Or Google. Or the AP. Or (your favorite propaganda news station here). This group of folks wants to say something about it and might even do so, but are often shut down with a label (you know the one).
But there is a third small population of people who believe the source of chaos rests not only in the physical and certainly political, but in the spiritual. They believe the things we witness daily now are part of the battle between good and evil. They also believe not only in miracles, but that they, themselves, might be able to do something to bring them about during this time when miracles are desperately needed. This narrow slice of society is comprised of the bravely bizarre. One of them, for instance, talked a mortician into allowing him to pray over his deceased family member for over an hour – thinking his prayers and commands could bring him to life. They didn’t. But, I confidently add, they could have. If you doubt that, you are forgetting some of your New Testament.
One of them prayed and commanded healing over probably a hundred or more people until one day one was healed. And then another. And another.
One of them had taken a wrong turn down a dark, narrow street and was suddenly hemmed in by the car in front of her stopping. The car had young men in both the front and back seats. Its abrupt halt was clearly intended. There was nothing and no one else around. There was no way to pass it. Remaining stopped behind them spelled certain trouble. But upon praying, her car was now in front of the nefarious group of thugs where she could hasten to a more populated street. Would you like to know more about that? Because it was me in that car with my four young children. I knew there was no way to get around them, but I maneuvered around their car to what I thought would be a sidewalk, and we were suddenly in front of it. No bump of a curb, not even a visual pass. The point is that I did my little impossible part and God did the rest with a different kind of transport-ation.
(It is at this point in the post where I think – don’t lead people down the wrong path. There are all sorts of people offering magic and new age and craziness to those who are ready to grasp at anything. To clarify: the Holy Bible isn’t that. Don’t just be based. Be Bible-based.)
If you are part of this small company you might be afraid you’ll be embarrassed to try something and fail, you won’t fit in and people will talk about you should you reveal your true beliefs and maybe even experiences. You know what I say? Let them talk! It’s the devil that wants you silenced.
We, after all, are made in God’s image: the God who created the world with a word. We say we believe what we read in the Bible. We read about the sun standing still, about the lame, blind, deaf, and mute being healed, about transport, about speaking in a language you don’t actually know, about raising someone from the dead. We read about people doing these things. We say we believe it. But we relegate these events to a certain time and certain people. Not us. Not now. Why? Did God withdraw His power?
In this dreadful time in history, we are watching a thousands year old satanic cult have its way in the world and in our dear nation. Every week we discover someone else has aligned themselves with it. They aren’t playing games. They are in it to win it. It’s time to stop watching. It’s time to start understanding that we – you and I – can slay dragons. We can call out healing. We can take on Goliath. The difference between David and the whole Israeli army was that he was offended for the sake of God and disgusted that everyone was backing down.
Then said David to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, who you have defied.
If you choose to be part of this group – people who actually believe the Bible and who count themselves as disciples – you are in good company. You are in perfect company. For two thousand years ago there was a plan to save the entire world – not just through space, but also through time. Of course they wanted Him dead. But in their arrogance they missed the power of God Almighty and His Son, Jesus. Don’t make that mistake.
Let’s meet at the cross, wait two days, and then GO.
*History offers plenty of examples so what’s different this time? Good point. Maybe we should ask the thousands who died from a recent bioweapon and multitudes more who died or were injured from the injection purported to help.; Image: pexels-joagbriel-1753922-scaled.jpg; I Samuel 17:45; cross-sunset-humility-devotion-161089.jpeg; 17041243732_7619819836_b-tpswww.flickr.comphotoscoconutphotos17041243732.jpg
In Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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 to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.