Stone Foundation

Growing up, I often heard my parents say, “Freedom is a gift.” They believed that freedom survives only when people are willing to govern themselves. Building a life upon responsibility, personal initiative, and enduring principles is worth every bit of the time and effort it requires. A foundation built on anything less can be easily torn down.

During a recent trip with our grandsons, they asked why we chose to live in such an old house. It certainly would have been easier to live somewhere that required far less maintenance. We could have chosen a condominium and relied on the conveniences and amenities it provides, though at a much greater cost. We also could have purchased a home in a more convenient location, closer to shopping and medical offices.

Instead, after much thought, we chose to purchase a circa-1800 log home built by the hands that helped establish this community and, ultimately, this nation. It stands on a foundation of solid rock that has endured for more than two centuries, surviving both natural disasters and the wear of time.

Yet we know that even a house with such a strong foundation cannot be neglected. If we fail to maintain it, rot and decay will eventually take hold. Ignoring small problems today could one day cost us everything we have worked to preserve.

I have come to see our home as a parable for the lives we build. If we neglect the foundations of our character and our nation, we may gradually discover that personal comfort has replaced liberty, and convenience has taken the place of responsibility.

The true strength of our home is not found in its walls or hand-hewn beams, but in the solid rock upon which it stands. In much the same way, the strength of our nation does not rest in its wealth or its institutions alone, but in the character of its citizens. Liberty requires responsibility. The freedoms we enjoy endure only when we remain informed, engaged, and willing to defend the constitutional principles upon which this nation was founded.

Like the foundation beneath our home, those principles must be maintained, protected, and passed onto future generations. They are the bedrock upon which families and enduring freedom are built.

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Like many, I am troubled when I hear voices calling for the dismantling of the very institutions that preserve an orderly and free society. While no institution is beyond improvement or reform, a nation cannot thrive without respect for the rule of law, the separation of powers, and those entrusted with enforcing our laws. Freedom and order are not opposing ideals—they depend upon one another.

Just as I would never abandon the foundation of our historic home for the promise of short-term convenience, I would not exchange the enduring principles upon which this nation was built for the passing passions of the moment. We must continue to strengthen, rather than weaken, the foundations that have preserved liberty for generations.