"We Are Seven"

William Wordsworth


A simple child, dear brother Jim,
 That lightly draws its breath,
 And feels its life in every limb,
 What should it know of death?
I met a little cottage girl,
 She was eight years old, she said;
 Her hair was thick with many a curl
 That cluster'd round her head.
She had a rustic, woodland air,
 And she was wildly clad;
 Her eyes were fair, and very fair,
 --Her beauty made me glad.
"Sisters and brothers, little maid,
 How many may you be?"
 "How many? seven in all," she said,
 And wondering looked at me.
"And where are they, I pray you tell?"
 She answered, "Seven are we,
 And two of us at Conway dwell,
 And two are gone to sea."
"Two of us in the church-yard lie,
 My sister and my brother,
 And in the church-yard cottage, I
 Dwell near them with my mother."
"You say that two at Conway dwell,
 And two are gone to sea,
 Yet you are seven; I pray you tell
 Sweet Maid, how this may be?"
Then did the little Maid reply,
 "Seven boys and girls are we;
 Two of us in the church-yard lie,
 Beneath the church-yard tree."
"You run about, my little maid,
 Your limbs they are alive;
 If two are in the church-yard laid,
 Then ye are only five."
"Their graves are green, they may be seen,"
 The little Maid replied,
 "Twelve steps or more from my mother's door,
 And they are side by side."
"My stockings there I often knit,
 My 'kerchief there I hem;
 And there upon the ground I sit--
 I sit and sing to them."
"And often after sunset, Sir,
 When it is light and fair,
 I take my little porringer,
 And eat my supper there."
"The first that died was little Jane;
 In bed she moaning lay,
 Till God released her of her pain,
 And then she went away."
"So in the church-yard she was laid,
 And all the summer dry,
 Together round her grave we played,
 My brother John and I."
"And when the ground was white with snow,
 And I could run and slide,
 My brother John was forced to go,
 And he lies by her side."
"How many are you then," said I,
 "If they two are in Heaven?"
 The little Maiden did reply,
 "O Master! we are seven."
"But they are dead; those two are dead!
 Their spirits are in heaven!"
 'Twas throwing words away; for still
 The little Maid would have her will,
 And said, "Nay, we are seven!"

Equality

"America's founders knew that, while human beings are equal in some key respects, they are not equal in every respect. People have equal natural rights, but they have unequal virtues, talents, and dispositions. As James Wilson concluded “there is, and it is fit for the great purposes of society that there should be, great inequality among men.” This inequality of talents does not denigrate the natural equality of rights. Where people are equal, it is just to treat them the same; by contrast, where they are different, it is unjust to treat them the same." Heritage Foundation

James Madison argued in Federalist No. 10, "The protection of these faculties is the first object of government. From the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property, the possession of different degrees and kinds of property immediately results." Freedom, Madison understood, inevitably brings unequal income and wealth.

[[A]ll are subject by nature to equal laws of morality, and in society have a right to equal laws for their government, yet no two men are perfectly equal in person, property, understanding, activity, and virtue, or ever can be made so by any power less than that which created them . . . all are subject by nature to equal laws of morality, and in society have a right to equal laws for their government.
~ John Adams

Son of the sixth President

"Past history justifies the reflection that undertakings of magnitude are accomplished only through toil and suffering and perilous endurance" George Washington Adams, July 4th 1824.

Debt

"Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt."

- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack

"A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government."

- Thomas Jefferson

"Accumulation of debt is perhaps the natural disease of all Governments. And it is not easy to conceive anything more likely than this to lead to great and convulsive revolutions of Empire."

"The creation of debt should always be accompanied with the means to extinguishment."

- Alexander Hamilton

To know and to Hope

“Our final destination infuses every word, action, desire, and response with meaning and purpose. There are no completely hopeless situations. The gospel welcomes us to a hopeful realism.”

How People Change pg. 55

And once again it is August

Here is my annual August post. I love reading over past posts that make half heated promises to post more often. I have come back to this blog thinking that I might make it into my quote blog or reading journal. But really I do not know if I have the time or energy to do so. It is hard for me to compile quotes because I often find so many good quotes I want to copy down and then five hours later I realizes I pretty much copied most everything written - it really becomes ridiculous and even tedious. And to make it worse I then later on discover half the quotes I copied do not make sense out their context.

A Year Has Past

It has been a year since I have written. For so little to have happened so much has seemed to pass. Within the last year I have moved back to Spokane. I finally finished my undergraduate degree and am now preparing to begin the next phase of my education. I keep finding out more and more classes I need to take in order to become a Washington state Social Studies teacher. However the end is in sight and hopefully I will get into the Master's of Teaching program I want and receive my diploma and teaching certificate by the end of the summer of 2012 (if the world is still in order by then :) ). I had such high expectations for this past year but they have not come to fruition. Another lesson in how I am not in control. Which is okay, I just always hope I am not hindering the plans He has made for me.

This past year has been much about my dog Copper. He died in the beginning of June, but was not well for many months prior. And those months I was constantly with him trying to make his last days good. Watching a loved one (even just a dog) go through a more or less painful end is never an easy thing. I saw how death is rarely graceful. It also made me reflect on how our sin as humans, the fall, not only affected us the doers, but all creation. With Adam and Eve the whole world fell from God into disarray and pain. Even the animals suffer on behalf of our consequences. Well, with all that said, I am thankful that God allowed me to enjoy 16 years with Copper. I am grateful for all His blessings, even though the world is fallen, He has made made many things to be joyful blessings and Copper's life was one of them for me.

Another huge event was the birth of my niece Remember. She came out of the womb in April. I am excited to be apart of her life and see her mature over the years. She is precious now, but I can't wait until she gets a little older and be able to walk and communicate by using words. Life is always changing. I don't usually do well with life's continuing transformations, but with Remember being added to my family dynamic, I see that not all changes are bad.

So, as you can see I have not actually done much this year. This year has been a tumultuous one that has caused me to be a bit reclusive from the outside. I have needed to spend a lot of time by myself and also with my family. And now we will see what this upcoming year will bring. Hopefully I will post more often than just once every August.