A Nation of Frogs

As I sit and ponder events that are taking place in our great Nation, I sometimes have a feeling of uneasiness and wonder what is going on. Tonight as I read that this health care issue is close to passing,whether actual truth or perceived by those in the media, the thought came to my head about the story of the frog in a boiling pot. Every one knows the story so I don't need to tell it here. But I wonder how hot it will have to get before the majority of us feel that it's time to jump out and save ourselves, and how many of us are going to just power through the discomfort until we are used to the heat, because we don't feel like jumping out, eventually leading to frog stew for the princes of the world to dine on.

For those who believe as I do, you know that God gave us a right to choose for ourselves what we want to do and how we want to do it, not forcing us to choose the right all of the time, but allowing us to make mistakes. So, it stands to reason that if The Creator of the Heavens and Earth allows us to choose for ourselves, any other option would be contrary to His will and therefore be of the Devil. And so it stands to reason that it would work the same in society. It would seem like a noble gesture to provide everyone everything they needed, but as it stands, to be able to do so, would come at the cost of others freedom to choose for themselves. Punishing someone for not partaking of something that you deem a necessity for everyone, therefore forcing them to have it, is not a principle that builds a strong society. It does, in fact, break it down.

The desire to innovate and to find better solutions is taken away and progress is therefore stomped out. The necessity to create is no longer a necessity, and may actually become a crime. As one freedom is taken away, it gives the ruling power the ability to take away another, and then another, slowly and unnoticeably turning up the heat to the kettle, hoping that none of the "helpless" little frogs will notice that they are slowly becoming dinner. And when one of these little amphibians asks why it's starting to get warm, a cunning but gentle reply comes from the keeper of the stove, "O, don't worry my friend, it's just getting a little cold in here and you can't take care of yourself. You need me to provide your warmth and shelter because you can't do it on your own." And so stays the frog, believing that it is as he says, because when he put his little toad like foot up in the air he could feel it was a little drafty, and it was very convenient to just stay in the warm pot that he didn't have to leave.

I love this country and the ability that I have right now to be able to do as I please. I am an entrepreneur and wake up everyday with new ideas that I hope to be able to implement someday to create wealth, jobs and happiness for those around me. But I think most of all, and it is a strange thought I will admit, I am thankful for the opportunity to screw up. To make mistakes is one of the greatest blessings we have in this country. It is a blessing because it is how we learn. If everything in life happened perfectly every time, we would not ever come close to our full potential and capacity as human beings. As our rights and freedoms are stripped away from us, so goes our ability to learn and progress. Our chances of bettering ourselves become almost zero because the ruling power will take that as well. A well educated and motivated society will not allow a government to take aways such freedoms, so if they can succeed just once, they can start a reaction that can bring down an entire nation as they sit in contentment, believing they are being taken care of.

I heard a speaker recently who spoke of two disturbing situations in the worlds history. I will paraphrase because I don't remember all of the details but it went something like this, when the Founding Fathers did what they did to establish our country and our freedoms, it was against that law set forth by their mother country, but on the flip side, when Hitler did what he did, it was legal according to their laws. Think about the implications that these two situations have and how they could affect your life in the future. It is not beyond ones imagination to believe that similar things could happen in just the right circumstances.

Have we become a nation of frogs, who will allow ourselves to be told that we are being taken care of, when in reality we are just being taken? What will it take to wake those up who are drifting into a delirium from the intense heat that is slowly sucking the life and ambition out of them. Drifting into a sleep that can never be awoken from or overcome because the ultimate outcome of this sleep is death of freedom and liberty. We must remember that we are more than frogs that need to be told what to do. We have the God given ability, but more important, the God given right to expand ourselves and seek to become the best selves we can. When you think of being a frog, just remember that a frog will usually just sit on a log uselessly until it croaks.