Faith. Hope. Charity.

You might recognize this famous picture. Its George Washington crossing the Delaware River. At this time in the Revolutionary War Britain was just about to defeat the young United States. Washington had lost about two thirds of his troops and was embarking upon an imminent defeat. Once the river froze over the Hessian troops would come slay the remaining one third. Congress had fled far by now but on a very cold Christmas night Washington and a some very brave men said "let's go get them". They crossed the river in the middle of the night before the fog lifted and, for lack of a better word, pwnd the Britain troops. Thomas Paine wrote just two days earlier in a treatise called The Crisis "THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value." This was directed towards the time of the war but I think the words in it can be called to use in our time today. Things are getting hard and they are going to get harder. Things will get bad but all of us have been promised things so great that the little bad we have to go through is nothing compared to the great blessings that are in store. A lot of people are expecting the Government to help us out of these trying times. I know that even if things start to look a little bit brighter nothing will help us out of what were getting into. The Declaration of Independence says it all when it states that "All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights". To be endowed is to be given something, a gift. I believe the Government can only do so much for us. We can only be "endowed" by our "Creator". These are the times that try men's souls. It is our Faith in God that he can do something for us. It is our Hope that what He does is enough. And it is Charity we give as thanks for what He does.