The Debt To and From Thomas Jefferson
I was watching a documentary about Thomas Jefferson by Ken Burns the other evening. The man personified what was best, and worst, about our country. His lofty ideals of human equality did not apply to his own slaves on whose backs the beautiful estate of Monticello was built and rebuilt. Jefferson had a penchant for tearing down what he had constructed and build it over and over again. Jefferson died over $ 100, 000 in debt (equivalent to between 1 million and 2 million dollars today).
To his credit, Jefferson believed in limited government. In his personal affairs, he needed to practice a more realistic life. I am glad that it is clear that Jefferson did not live off the public trough to fund his excesses. How different than a monarch. On the other hand, it hardly speaks well of the man that he could not restrain his spending and repay his debts.
I have a fascination with the era of the Founding Fathers. Being that I lived next to Valley Forge Park and came to awareness around the Bicentennial, it is in my blood. It was a great time to be a kid and we spent several field trips from school down in Philadelphia. I recall when the Liberty Bell was actually inside of Independence Mall and not in that Pavilion.
When Lina and I went on our Honeymoon, we stayed in Charlottesville, Virginia. The homes of Presidents Jefferson (Monticello), Madison (Montpelier), and Monroe (Ashlawn) were all within the same general vicinity. I had a compulsion to find and touch a tree that had been living then when these men strode their estates...and I was able to do so.
The tree on Jefferson's estate, the one that historians are certain was around when Jefferson was, is not vibrant anymore. It is on the way to the woodpile. I fear that our country, likewise is dying. The American Experiment of self-government is falling on hard times. It is no longer what we can do for ourselves. It is instead who else can we get to foot the bill. In our case, those benevolent Chinese authoritarian ruling despots. Does anyone else find it horribly ironic that the American democracy is being funded by a politically tyrannical state? Curses on our leaders, both in government (Republicans and Democrats) and big business, who have bound us in debt to this evil totalitarian system.
I have a fresh appreciation for what the Apostle Paul wrote in the below passage, a passage that clearly speaks of money and more:
Romans 13:8 "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."
Matthew Henry wrote in his Commentary of this verse:
"Christians must avoid useless expense, and be careful not to contract any debts they have not the power to discharge. They are also to stand aloof from all venturesome speculations and rash engagements, and whatever may expose them to the danger of not rendering to all their due. Do not keep in any one's debt. Give every one his own. Do not spend that on yourselves, which you owe to others. But many who are very sensible of the trouble, think little of the sin, of being in debt."
To his credit, Jefferson believed in limited government. In his personal affairs, he needed to practice a more realistic life. I am glad that it is clear that Jefferson did not live off the public trough to fund his excesses. How different than a monarch. On the other hand, it hardly speaks well of the man that he could not restrain his spending and repay his debts.
I have a fascination with the era of the Founding Fathers. Being that I lived next to Valley Forge Park and came to awareness around the Bicentennial, it is in my blood. It was a great time to be a kid and we spent several field trips from school down in Philadelphia. I recall when the Liberty Bell was actually inside of Independence Mall and not in that Pavilion.
When Lina and I went on our Honeymoon, we stayed in Charlottesville, Virginia. The homes of Presidents Jefferson (Monticello), Madison (Montpelier), and Monroe (Ashlawn) were all within the same general vicinity. I had a compulsion to find and touch a tree that had been living then when these men strode their estates...and I was able to do so.
The tree on Jefferson's estate, the one that historians are certain was around when Jefferson was, is not vibrant anymore. It is on the way to the woodpile. I fear that our country, likewise is dying. The American Experiment of self-government is falling on hard times. It is no longer what we can do for ourselves. It is instead who else can we get to foot the bill. In our case, those benevolent Chinese authoritarian ruling despots. Does anyone else find it horribly ironic that the American democracy is being funded by a politically tyrannical state? Curses on our leaders, both in government (Republicans and Democrats) and big business, who have bound us in debt to this evil totalitarian system.
I have a fresh appreciation for what the Apostle Paul wrote in the below passage, a passage that clearly speaks of money and more:
Romans 13:8 "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."
Matthew Henry wrote in his Commentary of this verse:
"Christians must avoid useless expense, and be careful not to contract any debts they have not the power to discharge. They are also to stand aloof from all venturesome speculations and rash engagements, and whatever may expose them to the danger of not rendering to all their due. Do not keep in any one's debt. Give every one his own. Do not spend that on yourselves, which you owe to others. But many who are very sensible of the trouble, think little of the sin, of being in debt."
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