Reel Revealing: Were The Founders Surfers?

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Riding the ultimate surf in Point Break movie

Riding the ultimate surf in movie “Point Break”

After a brief trip to the lake to mark my husband’s last day of vacation, we plopped down in our family room and began watching “Point Break”, a movie starring Patrick Swayze as the ringleader of a group of surfers that don masks of ex-American presidents to rob banks. While resisting the obvious urge to draw parallels between the movie’s plot and reality (presidents defrauding an unsuspecting American public) I can’t resist highlighting some notably philosophical lines in the movie. In a dialogue with an undercover FBI agent Swayze’s character criticizes fellow surfers for their ignorance of the “spiritual side of the sea.” He characterizes riding waves as a state of mind, where you both lose and find yourself in the same moment. To achieve this sublime state requires total commitment – “no backing down, a rare quality in this world” – as you paddle out into the unknown sea. Further, the surfer reveals that his whole life has been about experiencing a rare moment when the legendary Fifty Year Storm produces the biggest surf the planet has ever seen off the coast of Australia and the ocean “lets us know how small we really are.” This oneness or accordance with nature Swayze calls the ultimate rush and counsels “if you want the ultimate you have to be willing to pay the ultimate price,” concluding that “it’s not tragic to die doing what you love.”

Uncertain how the surfer achieved this awareness of Natural Law, it is reasonable to conclude his knowledge did not come from modern American public education or Hollywood. More likely, he learned these fixed and discoverable laws – what Jefferson termed the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” in the Declaration of Independence – by observing his surroundings and recognizing self evident truths. He witnesses the hierarchal order of the universe – the natural ascension from man to the Divine – and acknowledges that living in accordance with the highest or ultimate things in nature is a very desirable thing – the most desirable state. This natural standard inspired the founding of America and gives rise to her constitutional form. Perhaps a more fitting question is how did the Founders learn about Natural Law? Was it by reading the “elementary books of public right” as Jefferson noted or were they surfers?

Taking a Cue from Joan Lunden

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Joan Lunden article in PeopleWhen my own words fail me, I find it helpful to rely on another’s words to characterize my personal journey – “the ultimate pursuit.”  This is the case with the article on Joan Lunden, former Good Morning America host, in this week’s issue of People Magazine.  The article chronicles Ms. Lunden’s recent discovery – that she has a rare, aggressive form of breast cancer – and her outlook on the grim prognosis.  She states that she “turned a corner” when she stopped asking “why me?” and realized that she is ” . . . a health advocate.”  That’s when she “decided to take action:  ‘I thought, Learn everything you can.  Go into warrior mode.'”

I couldn’t agree more, Ms. Lunden!  As an American citizen I’m an advocate for my country – the exceptional nature of her founding and purpose.  Today she is under imminent threat, teetering on fiscal and moral bankruptcy.  So I have decided to take action and that action has taken the form of a brand that reflects “the original, American brand“, i.e. The Liberty Brand.  I, too, have gone into “warrior mode”; although I prefer the analogy of a ‘tiger- or lioness’ – in a nod to the antics of a pet, tabby cat caught on video (#HeroCat) defending her boy from a bully dog.  (I picture myself emulating “Tara’s” behavior as I try to preserve the American dream for my children; HINT:  “the ultimate pursuit.”)  I am learning everything I can – of the history and meaning of America – and sharing it with my fellow Americans via The Liberty Brand, hoping it provides value to you as a consumer AND citizen.

Noteworthy: Jefferson’s Thoughts on Religious Freedom

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Thomas Jefferson’s tombstone

Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence are in the foremost of my thoughts this week as I take a moment to exhale and pause to note the change of seasons.  I want my home to reflect the important occasion – our nation’s birthday on the 4th of July – and so I have purposely delayed the inevitable daily deluge of tasks to “spruce up” our place.  (More details forthcoming).

Doing so allows my mind to wander, think, and reflect.  How fitting it is that this week, in particular, the Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold the right of “closely held” companies to religious liberty would come down.  Most tout the decision as good for religious freedom – and rightly so.  But I can’t help but wonder why just “closely held” companies?  Is America not founded on the proposition that all men are created equal – their equality existing in each’s equal, natural rights bestowed by The Creator?  If this is the case, why would the “number” of equal souls matter?  Is the right of religious freedom contingent on a number – an “if-then” scenario?  If so, who gets to determine the threshold – “the number”?

Worth noting are the three accomplishments for which Jefferson wished to be remembered on his tombstone:  (1) author of the Declaration of Independence; (2) father of the University of Virginia; and (3) author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.  Conspicuously absent was his service as the 3rd President of the United States.  Drafted in 1777 yet not adopted until 1787, the law states:  “That to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical; . . . the opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its jurisdiction;”

In response to a query about the Declaration of Independence near the end of his life, Jefferson wrote:  “This was the object of the Declaration . . . to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent . . . it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion.”

Perhaps the foundational principles of civil and religious liberty are still an expression of the American mind.

 

 

 

Culture: “If You Give A Pig . . . a what?”

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Cover of popular children’s book

Everyone knows what happens if you give a pig a pancake – as chronicled in the popular children’s book by the same name . . . (If not, ask your kid or someone else’s).

But what about if you give a pig a bath . . . ?   In this case, what I mean by ‘pig’ is tame, feral, female hog; who my family and I have affectionately dubbed “Carl”.  Yes, I know that’s a masculine name and she is, in fact, a female.  But the family we got her from New Year’s 2013 had already named her “Carl.”  We gleaned the name was a inside family joke (in their family) but were never privy to the punch line.  Given what’s said about changing a dog’s name, we assumed the same fate might befall a pig, so the name Carl stuck.

This past weekend my kids were bathing our black lab, Lucy and Carl wondered up on the scene.  I snapped a few photos to capture what happened next.  Take a peak . . . you’re bound to not see this everyday!

'Carl' taking a sneak peak at kids bathing Lucy, our dog

‘Carl’ taking a sneak peak at kids bathing Lucy, our dog

 

Rub-a-dub Carl

Rub-a-dub Carl

The spa treatment for Carl!

The spa treatment for Carl!

Note:  Should my blogging capabilities advance to the point where I can share the video clip – I will!  It’s even funnier.

Personal Note: Epilogue on Mother’s Day (just sharing)

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The following are a couple of paragraphs I wrote as part of my Mother’s Day tribute to “Super Moms”, which unfortunately is still a work in progress.  They didn’t make the ‘final cut’ but I thought I’d share them nonetheless, in the hopes they might make you laugh:

When my children were small, I jokingly dubbed myself “Super Mom.” It is one of those family traditions that assumed a life of its own. It began when I’d locate a missing article of clothing, bring the homework left behind to school, have the correct clothing washed and ready to go on the appointed day, or cook a favorite meal; But mostly it centered around meeting an endless stream of demands simultaneously and successfully – with relative ease (not!). I would prod the children into calling me “Super Mom” in the spirit of the Ghostbuster’s jingle: “Me: who ya’ gonna call – Them: ‘Ghostbusters!'” Initially my prompting was met with the grudgingly, monotonous chorus of “thank you Super Mom.” But over time the kids voluntarily conferred the honor when the occasion necessitated it. They even adopted the moniker themselves, erupting in triumphant shouts of “Super _” – followed by their respective names – when they prevailed over a formidable challenge with relative ease. Super Dad even got in on the action!

Super Anne & Super Ty in superhero stance!

Super Anne & Super Ty in superhero pose!

Several years ago, my kids found the perfect Mother’s Day gift – a “pajama-gram” containing a set of Super Mom pajamas, complete with the requisite blue and white starry bottoms and a red top with a Super Mom emblem emblazoned across the chest. Since my husband was working on this occasion, the kids and I thought it would be funny to text him a picture of me ‘in cameo’ – complete with ‘bed head’, no makeup, and in characteristic, super hero stance. Basking in a self-congratulatory coup of our own cleverness, we fired off the text to my husband. Almost instantaneously my daughter got a horrified look on her face when she realized our message was sent to the wrong recipient – my older son’s baseball coach! As we fumbled around helplessly trying to “recall” the text, the response was signalled by a melodious ringtone and the words: “Any mom that keeps the team’s books is a ‘Super Mom’ to me!” Much to my kids’ angst, I have relayed this story countless times over the years because the coach’s response was classic. The following Mother’s Day I sent the coach a reassuring text, noting his undoubted relief at learning I had received flip-flops instead of pajamas as a gift!