The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Prepare For The Test

by Dessa Rodeffer
Quill Editor/Publisher

5 September 2001

My son called me Monday night from college and gave me a test. It was questions about the U.S. Constitution, the Amendments and the Declaration of Independence.

He would read me a phrase and I was to tell him which of the three documents it came from.

It was obviously an assignment in one of his business classes.

I was ashamed that the idea of being tested made me uneasy, and even more, that I felt my answers might be a guessing game.

I only hoped I was going to be able to answer the details of what these great documents reveal in order to save face with my son.

Little did I know while we were going through thirty or more questions about this great country I love, that sick twisted minds with no value of a human life were on their way to destroy parts of our United States government.

My heart filled with pride as my son and I talked about phrases such as :

"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."

(Declaration of Independence)

At the conclusion of the testing, my son said I did pretty good, I had only missed five, but I should have known them all, I thought.

After working into the wee hours, I crawled into a warm bed feeling all is safe in America and was wakened by the news of an attack on our government.

The caller said, we were at war. The television and the radio news reports unleased bedlam in New York, Washington D.C., and in Pennsylvania, and at that time it was thought that another hijacked plane was unaccounted for.

Everything was being evacuated from government buildings and airports to Disney World.

And I am thinking, isn't it time we took more note of what our government stands for, and for patriotism, and for saluting the good old American flag. It's good to know we believe in freedom and we are willing to defend our right to "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

My son reminds me that we need to study. The wisdom of our forefathers, came from toil, not soft times. We must always stand guard and be at watch for the enemy does not sleep. We must pay attention to the news, the warnings of our elders, our leaders, and be a support to those who are trying to govern.

President Bush's first response was prayer, and a moment of silence for the victims and their families. His wife Laura Bush asked us to assure the children they are safe.

Our churches have held Tuesday evening prayer services. Our differences in our jobs, our homes, our churches our United States, must not divide us. We need each other to move forward, to find answers to theses acts and to be a stop to them.

We too, must pray. We must pray for our leaders, for their wisdom and their protection, and for our great country. The little things we fuss about, we must put them aside in order to study greater things.

We, too, must be ready for that pop quiz when an unexpected call comes our way.

Study the lessons of our forefathers and of those around us. Our days are numbered. Let's make each one count for good.