This Land

This is a land given by God, prepared for his people that we might learn of his precepts and love our fellow man. In 2 Nephi 10-12 we learn:

 10 But behold, this land, said God, shall be a land of thine inheritance, and the Gentiles shall be blessed upon the land.

 11 And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles.

 12 And I will fortify this land against all other nations.

 13 And he that fighteth against Zion shall perish, saith God.

 14 For he that raiseth up a king against me shall perish, for I, the Lord, the king of heaven, will be their king, and I will be a light unto them forever, that hear my words.

We truly have been blest to live in this land, to live free from the tyranny of other countries. Here are the words of Francis Scott Key:

 Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Many men and women have given their lives for this country, tonight I would like to talk about a specific group of men that gave their livelihoods and their lives because they knew this was not a land for Kings, this is a land of liberty. 

   We should all know that independence was declared July of 1776, that is the easy date, what most people don't know is that after this declaration none of the states wanted to play well with each other. We had an army, but none of the political entities of the time wanted to pay them. Fast forward to Christmas time of 1776, George Washington had an army, but with the interim Congress not wanting to pay the men or for supplies the army was starving and freezing to death. Enter Thomas Paine's The American Crisis and George Washington's brilliant plan.

"These are the times that try men's souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."

Within days of Thomas Paine's article being published Washington had it read to all his troops and it brought hope to a discouraged people. Then Washington presented what was at the considered a ludicrous plan. He proposed crossing the Delaware in a surprise attack against the Huns.

George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, which occurred on the night of December 25–26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, was the first move in a surprise attack organized by George Washington against the Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey on the morning of December 26. Planned in partial secrecy, Washington led a column of Continental Army troops across the icy Delaware River in a logistically challenging and dangerous operation. Other planned crossings in support of the operation were either called off or ineffective, but this did not prevent Washington from surprising and defeating the troops of Johann Rall quartered in Trenton. The army crossed the river back to Pennsylvania, this time laden with prisoners and military stores taken as a result of the battle.

These men faced icy dangers in order to score a victory which would allow them to fight against tyranny for another day.

We now face a fight against tyranny, a fight for control of our streets and our rights. We don't face an icy river, but we face a time when men's hearts have grown cold. Get to know your neighbor, learn about your community, create ties with those around you and share the love of God with all you meet. God will not allow a king upon this land, we must do our part to keep this land a land of the free and of the brave, we must be the brave ones. Until we allow love, not hatred to rule our lives we allow a partisianed government to play us off of each other and keep us distracted from their agenda. Don't ever forget the price paid for the blessing we now hold.

As we enjoy this sweet Christmas time let us share the love of our Savior with those around us and remember the men and women through the ages that have given much for what we now have.