Having found our quest, how should we complete it? What happens if challenges or setbacks obscure our journey?
If our objectives are noble and our motives pure, we move forward in tranquility and firmness. Perhaps the highest office we will ever hold is that of citizens . It is an office we exercise each year as we vote. It is our birthright and duty to execute.
Download a specially formatted copy of President Abraham Lincoln’s “Proclamation of Thanksgiving” to share with your family this holiday.
We have learned that great quests, odysseys, and missions have key elements. They begin with a noble purpose and vision. The individuals behind the vision have a bedrock of principles rooted in natural law. They understand that it’s principles that dictate consequences of actions. Heroes on a quest must possess a moral compass as it is morals that inform personal values and dictate the endurability of the outcome. Such champions of quest are gifted at educating others in harmony of vision, principles, and morals to common purpose and to exercise their liberty. This is how the hero becomes a leader. He or she possesses the ability to persuade, teach, and impact the community at large for good.
One way we may discover our personal quest is through mythology or in biblical accounts. A mentor of mine, Dr. Rufus Fears, noted that, “All too often, we have a tendency to equate the word ‘myth’ with ‘falsehood.’ But in truth, many of the world’s greatest mythological stories contain a kernel of truth. Perhaps more importantly, they convey universal truths—that is, they are the vehicle by which cultures throughout human history have passed their most important values and beliefs on to future generations.” (Fears, J. Rufus. Life Lessons from the Great Myths. Teaching Co., 2011.) Myth can guide us in our learning by hitting on the principles of service, sacrifice, responsibility, and bravery. As we consider our own journey in life, we frequently find liberty by returning to the principles that once informed our freedom and retracing the steps that lead us to personal victory. Likewise, we can look to the quests of others and note what brought them to liberty and success.
The word quest comes from the Latin quester meaning to ask or seek. It is usually a long or arduous search for something. (Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press.) At its root “quest” implies a question we are trying to answer in our lives. We see this often expressed in the Bible, Greek mythology, or literature. There is a hero/heroine in search of a “forever” answer in a heroic conclusion to find self. Who am I? What are my gifts? What was I meant to do? One place to start in identifying your personal question is answering these three questions: What is your passion?, What adjectives would friends use to describe you?, What do you do in your spare time?
Our quests are captured in the collage of paint and beautiful strokes that create our canvas of life. The footprints we leave behind inform our past, present and future.
Many have asked why we founded a school that carries John Adams’ name. In Congress on July 2nd, 1776, John Adams persuaded many of the representatives who were wavering on the Declaration of Independence to vote “yes.” Thomas Jefferson, who penned the Declaration of Independence said of Adams’ speech that day, “[His power of thought and expression…moved us from our seats” and ever after Jefferson would refer to Adams as the “Colossus of Independence.” Certainly, we are honored to claim John Adams as our namesake for this reason, but as his influences go back in time and across the sea, so do ours. In the words of William Bradford: “We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by morality and Religion. Avarice, Ambition, Revenge or Galantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
What would we call a government where the most capable and virtuous rule? We would call that “meritocracy” or rule by statesmen and women. A statesperson is not necessarily a person of academic letters or degrees. But they possess common sense and truth’s wisdom. A statesman/woman is a person who sees where the world is, where it should be, and then inserts themselves to move forward the cause of liberty.
Key lessons for becoming financially independent and beating inflation:
Start saving as much as you can now (save at least 10% or more of what you earn).
Invest in the American economy or other economies where freedom flourishes.
Sound investing is not gambling. Prudent investing is owning an asset (real estate, stock, or small business) of value; through time and foresight that asset becomes worth more.
People will always need shelter, food, fuel, heath services, etc.
The new cycle of our government seems to be autocracy to oligarchy to mobocracy, governed by bureaucrats. In other words, we have a pure kakistocracy. Think of double-digit inflation out of control with $7 a gallon gas and your astronomical food bill. Electricity shut off like a third world country, yet they want us to buy more electric cars! Shortages of baby formula. School mandates that have nothing to do with teaching history, morality, reading, writing and arithmetic. Children mandated to wear face masks in school. Proposed COVID immunizations without parental consent. Promoting an extreme culture of snuffing out lives of children in the womb at all stages of pregnancy for whatever reason. Is there any wonder that confusion of life and identity is the mantra and result of this California Kakistocracy?! And they want to continue running your life and mine. Astounding indeed. We are the ones needing sanctuary from them!
How can you beat inflation’s insidious devaluation of your money? As we pull back the curtains, we find federal spending out of control (national debt is now over $30 trillion dollars) and a world on the precipice of war and economic uncertainty. What can you do to grow your money faster than inflation or to be prepared for financial ambiguity created by poor economic policy? Perhaps it is time to review the wisdom of the past and to give perspective for the future. And the forefront of every citizen’s mind are questions: How do we participate in the surging real estate costs? When is it prudent to do so? How can we benefit from bulging energy or food prices? Let’s take a look in this post.
