Friday.....America....Never, Never, Never Quit

I am very, very, very good at finding lost items. The reason is because I am so very proficient at losing things and thus have lots of experience. I will go to extraordinary lengths to retrieve something I've lost. I bought an English pipe on a vacation to Europe in 1981 and promptly dropped it through an opening in front of the elevator door at work upon returning home. To this day, 29 years later, when I stand before that elevator, my lips curl up like Bill Murray's in Caddy Shack, as he ponders how to get that gopher. That pipe is probably petrified today but it doesn't matter. I recently switched cars with my son and dropped my money clip between the seat and console, a very tight space. I retrieved it along with a metal bookmark that I had given him with a quote etched on it. The words read "Never, never, never quit-Winston Churchill." One word, thrice repeated, does not sound very poetic but it does deliver the message. When utilized in the Bible, it means what it does today...extreme emphasis. I don't mean to sound trite but a saying like that needs pondering over, even meditating upon. Churchill's actual words delivered in October of 1941 were Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never, in nothing, great or small, large or petty, never give in, except to honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. I'm not talking about never giving up on a personal goal or desired vocation. Motivational speakers abound who do that.  In my opinion, one of the most tragic mistakes that we have made is our judgment that man is basically good. The effort to ban all nuclear weapons is based on this, there is elements of it in the failure to acknowledge the legitimacy of the death penalty, and it even shows up in abortion as you have the fetus that is not a person whose continued existence depends upon genuine persons who are generally good. The same principle of good people making their own decisions is in the same-sex marriage debate. Good people should trump laws in legalizing drugs and illegal immigration. Man is good and laws are neutral therefore, man trumps laws. Why be shackled to constitutions when man can make decisions as they arise? The biggest issue of all may be in mankind that is good placed under the dominion of a God, where His goodness is suspect to begin with. In reality, man is not good. Given the proper circumstance, rewards and punishments, he can act good, but in the same vein, given the wrong circumstances, lack of rewards and punishments, he will cause havoc, pain and suffering. Should this be the case, would it not make sense to never, never, never quit on dealing with our weaknesses and seeking Him who can not only give us strength but give an impetus to all to live, at times, as though we were good?