February 18, 2009 - Deep in the recesses of our brains, lies a hidden dread from the long, perilous nights in the mountains, steppes, jungles, deserts and the grassy plains of many thousands of years ago.  A left over dread no doubt, from our caveman existence, where our fears were not confined to our nightmares, but in reality itself.  Death stalked the night in the form of stealthy carnivores, in a pre-historic land where humans had not yet reached the top of the food chain and were in fact, the hunted, as well as the hunter.

As our Sun sets on the western horizon, sometimes hidden behind the clouds in a deepening twilight, sometimes in unequaled splendor of a thousand changing colors, sometimes in an iridescent flaming yellow and then orange, we grow almost unconsciously uneasy and seek the light and warmth of our homes and the company of loved ones to escape the dark.

Even our children fear the night.  Many go through what are called night terrors.  It is not a learned fear from their environment, but an inherited one.  All three of our grand children experienced night terrors in one form or another, in their pre-school years.  To calm their fears we tried reasoning with them, explaining that nothing was there in the dark that wasn’t there in the light of day.  But that inherent, built-in irrational fear of the night would not be overcome so easily by logic or reason.  They wanted their night-light, period and they wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.  Sometimes we gave in, sometimes we didn’t.

Yes, our children eventually grow out of it, but that fear lies semi-dormant in most civilized adults that are not accustomed to sharing the night with the carnivores that lurk in the shadows, outside the perceived protection and security of our homes.

So each day, we proceed from day to night with subconscious trepidation.  Lingering in the back of our minds, we wonder if we will ever see the Sun again.  Will death or severe illness come in the dark of night?  Will this be our last night on this Earth?  Nevertheless, in spite of our fears, we have the “faith” that the Sun will rise again and provide us the light on the coming morrow, that will illuminate our way, on a brand new day.

And so it is with fear and trepidation, we transition from the bright light of 232 years of American liberty to the darkening skies of government-instituted tyranny and socialism and maybe even fascism.  We fear for our liberty, our security and our lives.  We fear for our children’s future.  We fear for our beloved America.  Will she continue under the flag of freedom, or will she descend into the depths of depravity, mind-numbing mediocrity, bankruptcy and slavery?  Are we to be consumed by the growing national and international power of those who would enslave us, or will the strength of our belief in freedom and liberty be enough to overcome the evil beast that is Hell bent on wrapping us in chains?

As we have faith that the night will soon turn to the welcome light of day, so too we must have faith that the twilight of tyranny we now enter, as our Sun of Freedom goes down, will ultimately end in a new day of liberty, on a not-too-distant horizon.  We can hold that faith because the spark of freedom in the minds of the preponderance of Americans, is unique to any culture or country on Earth and it shall not, it will not, be extinguished.  American liberty is like bubbles in the sea that always rise to the surface in search of the freedom to “fly” in the open air.

As we wrote in our book, Stare Deep Into the Cosmos, “he who looks down shall see a very narrow horizon, but he who looks up, shall feast on all of heaven.”  As Americans who are free in thought and deed, as that ever-present, silent majority, we must start the daily and nightly practice of looking up, if we are to have the courage to re-claim our freedom.

Although silent we may be, when united, people of freedom have the power to climb over any obstacle, root out any corruption, or replace any tyrannical government.  The difficult challenge lies before us, the place is here in America, the time is now and the world is watching what we do.  This author has the unshakable confidence that true, brave and courageous Americans are up to the challenge and will ultimately prevail.  As we pass into a “night” of gathering uncertainty, so too will we pass into a new dawn of freedom, just as we did 232 years ago and like then, we will be born anew.

© Copyright February 16, 2009 – All Rights Reserved

~ The Author ~
Ron Ewart is the President of The National Association of Rural Landowners and may reached for comment via email at r.ewart@comcast.net.