I need to focus on my blog more. I want to present current relevant information on San diego real estate and National real estate issues. I would appreciate any and all feedback and feel free to express an oponion.
If you know someone in trouble with their mortgage, have them visit www.knowyouroptions-sd.com . If you are looking to move or invest please call me at 619.985.6528 or visit my website at www.athomeinsd.com . In the meantime, if you are interested in bloggin, read the following.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
It is fitting and proper that we recall the great events of our Republic, events that remind us of where we have been and exhort us to where we are going.
Such an event was President-Elect John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s celebrated speech known as “A City Upon a Hill.”
Kennedy made this speech just days before he assumed his “high and lonely” office in the capital. And, as so often in one of his speeches, there were many elements present, some celestial, others less serious, even puckish, all quintessential Kennedy.
Who was there?
First of all, every politician in politician-filled Massachusetts was present for this speech, which was given in the Victorian ornateness of the House of Representatives in a joint session with the state Senate.
Each and every one of these politicos, each one in his best bib and tucker, came to learn, came to scrutinize, came to imitate, came to see what made this oh-so-favored son of Boston tick. So they could do it, too. This speech, this whole shebang, was an opportunity to learn from the very best, and all were determined to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Who wasn’t there?
Conspicuously absent was the man who, more than anyone other than Kennedy himself, made it all possible. Joseph P. Kennedy it seems did not attend. Already, the Kennedy’s knew, no one more than Joe himself, that he was to be, had to be, the power behind the throne if the new regime was to flourish. His reputation as wire-puller, boot legger, with a whiff of Nazi sympathy made it necessary for him to remain firmly behind the scenes. Joe was ok with this. It was the devil’s deal he made for his son and the glory of Kennedy.
Who wrote the speech?
It seems, though absolute certainty may stay elusive, that Kennedy’s speech writer Theodore Sorensen wrote this speech. If so, it would hardly be surprising. Sorensen had a gift for simple, graceful prose as he had proved in the writing of “Profiles in Courage”. Sorensen was coy throughout his life (he died in 2010) about whether or not he wrote this Pulitzer Prize winning book; (he was constantly, annoyingly asked). He always said no… but the cognoscenti doubted.
Sorensen was the ultimate loyalist; he was accustomed to giving his all… and he wrote prose the President-Elect liked and could deliver with ease, elegance, and persuasion.
Why John Winthrop?
Governnor John Winthrop was a man of parts, a thoughtful man, a man of guts and grace, a man in communion with God who needed all his wits not just for getting his people to the new world of Massachusetts… but making sure they knew what to do when they arrived. It was a matter of urgency and the deepest possible significance.
Towards this end he wrote in 1630 a document which he called “A Model of Christian Charity.” It was in fact a series of admonitions about how citizens of this clean, unblemished new world should behave. And John Winthrop minced no words.
One can picture the scene as Governor Winthrop assembled his flock on the main deck of that little ship of fate and read the portentous words that defined who they were, what they were doing, and why it mattered so. It was a scene of importance and they all knew it; they gave their leader their full attention as he moved to the ringing conclusion he gave them and to the ages to come:
“For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.”
Governor John Winthrop was determined this should not happen… and John Fitzgerald Kennedy was determined, too, as he plucked this phrase and launched it as a missile into a future as murky,difficult, and grave as Winthrops’s.
And so the President-Elect walked purposefully to the podium, his every move and action the subject of scrutiny and comment.
He was, much of America thought, too young (43), too inexperienced, with a religious affiliation that troubled many and appalled some. He had much to prove… but John F. Kennedy was an historian. He understood History, and on this day he knew he would make it. Thus he began, revealing his vision for the politicians in attendance, the whole of Massachusetts, and for every citizen in the nation he was about to govern.
There were words of pride as when he cited Pericles’ resounding boast to the Athenians: “We do not imitate — for we are a model to others.”
There were his words of inspiration and hope that the “enduring qualities of Massachusetts” as embodied in “the common threads woven by the Pilgrim and the Puritan, the fisherman and the farmer, the Yankee and the immigrant” would truly merge and renew the rich heritage of the Commonwealth, now atrophied and in danger.
There was the famous charge to all the legislators and statesmen before him… and all those who were watching from afar, reminding them all that “For of those to whom much is given, much is required.”
And then, finally, there were the 4 famous questions:
“First were we truly men of courage…
Secondly, were we truly men of judgement….
Third, were we truly men of integrity….
Finally, were we truly men of dedication — with an honor mortgaged to no single individual or group….?”
Humbly, he then asked for God’s help in this undertaking “but aware that on earth His will is worked by men.” Yes, he asked for the help of all “as I embark on this new and solemn journey.”
Then, his words hanging in the air, the applause of his audience rising, he descended from the podium and moved on, setting out upon his voyage; a man aware of the nation’s great trust and his great responsibility.
Follow Us!