There was a time in Biblical history when in order to establish more property for a people in which to live they were given the mountain and told to go and take it.
There was a time in our country’s history when “in order to establish a more perfect union” the Founding Fathers envisioned an ideal form of government, a mountain called a thriving democracy which required an engaged citizenry to go and take it.
How appropriate then on the eve of our country’s 248th birthday, my brother and I climbed to a place with an unobstructed view of the mountain, a place called Rampart Ridge, a place where we sat atop sheer rock walls – ramparts – defending the mountain, defying us to go and take it.
We’re writing a book about the heart of an athlete, particularly those aspiring to summit the podium of the LA Olympics, 2028 – but really the heart of anyone who has faced any mountain – and what made them decide to go and take it.
That is the purpose for which William J. Bennett wrote “Our Sacred Honor.” It is a compilation of advice from our nation’s founders who envisioned a sea-to-shining-sea expanse of what would be a country, a cry for freedom, and what it would mean to go and take it.
“Patriotism,” writes Bennett, “means love of country, and it can call for great sacrifices and courage, perhaps even for the sacrifice of one’s own life.
“Most of the signers of the Declaration as well as other Americans suffered for their devotion to the cause of independence – many had to flee their homes; some lost their property and their fortunes, which they and their families never recovered.”
“Great sacrifices and courage.”
Required of anyone before whom looms any mountain, and who would then go and take it.