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“ In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.
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” The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.
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“ The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.
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“ The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.
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” That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation.
That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb. “
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Franklin D. Roosevelt,
excerpted from the State of the Union Address to the Congress,
January 6, 1941
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Much like this butterfly with a damaged wing, each of tries our best to keep moving through each day, gathering what we need, caring for those we love and enjoying the time at hand. With faith and determination we persist, finding sustenance and meaning where we can.
Let’s pause this week to consider again the wisdom given to us in past years by our country’s greatest leaders. Their words echo across the years, as fresh and true as the day they were uttered. Those who understand and remember our nation’s history are best equipped to resist all attempts to corrupt our nation’s purpose.
It is by keeping our American ideals in heart and mind that we find the energy to persevere, and to prevail in preserving human freedoms and individual dignity for generations to come.
Persist, Resist, Prevail!
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Woodland Gnome 2018
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Forest Garden 
Good post – love that Hibiscus!
Thank you, Eliza ❤ ❤ ❤ We are happy to see the Hibiscus finally blooming, and have lots of buds around the garden. Too bad the beetles love them, too! Last year the plant recovered with new leaves, eventually. Have you seen the 'For Freedoms' project? It's a consortium of artists trying to start conversations in communities across the country. I chanced across it this AM while reading the news…. good stuff!