Merry Christmas to you and yours, from Oath Keepers!
A message from Oath Keepers Founder, Stewart Rhodes:
A message from Oath Keepers Founder, Stewart Rhodes:Christmas is my favorite time of year for many reasons: time with close family, a time of excitement and joy for my children, a time to be thankful, and a time to reflect upon the year coming to a close and to think of the year yet to come.
But chief among the reasons I enjoy Christmas so much is that it is a time of relative peace, when people the world over stop to remember the birth of “the Prince of Peace” and what He actually stood for -- Peace on earth, and goodwill towards men.
While we must be ready and willing to stand with courage and defend family, home, country, and liberty against the predations of evil men, be they foreign or domestic, that does not mean we have to enjoy the prospect of having to take up arms against our fellow man, who we wish would simply leave us alone, in peace. Certainly, “some men you just can’t reach” with reason. Some men only respect strength. But that does not mean we need to become unreasoning brutes ourselves. And our willingness to stand and fight does not mean we cannot pray for peace and have good will toward all men, hoping they will see the light so we do not have to fight. Let us pray for peace, even if we must prepare for war.
One of my all-time favorite Christmas carols is It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, which was written way back in 1849 by Pastor Edmund Sears, of Weston, Massachusetts. This is truly a beautiful song that captures well the message of peace and hope for mankind, as well as the long, weary road of fear, strife, struggle and war that mankind has walked for so long, and still walks to this day. Sears wrote it in 1849, before the advent of modern weaponry that has made mankind’s self-slaughter so much more “efficient.” Below are the lyrics, and a video of an especially beautiful rendition by Hall & Oats.
When you listen to all of the lovely Christmas music, the theme is peace, love, forgiveness, compassion, and charity. To me, that is the heart and soul of Christ’s message, and something far too many people, who should know better, seem to forget the rest of the year.
Love is the true source of courage. Let all that we do as Oath Keepers, however hard, be done out of love of our children and our country.
Merry Christmas to all!
Stewart Rhodes
Founder of Oath Keepers
Lyrics to It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
“Peace on the earth, goodwill to men,
From heaven’s all-gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains,
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o’er its Babel sounds
The blessèd angels sing.
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love-song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing.
And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!
For lo!, the days are hastening on,
By prophet seen of old,
When with the ever-encircling years
Shall come the time foretold
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.
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December 24th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
thanks stewart! and we wish you and yours and our brothers and sisters a merry christmas and a happy new year, with respect the rutledges
December 24th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
One of the best columns I’ve seen here — a wonderful reminder of what the season is all about!
Thank you!!!
December 25th, 2010 at 1:58 am
dear stewart & all oath keepers MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you , seldom have i seen any message regardless of race, creed,political , philosophical persuasion which contained more truth and sincerity than yours , it’s another reminder why ALL vigilant citizens should support OATH KEEPERS – THANK YOU
December 25th, 2010 at 5:09 am
Stewart,
Thank you for the article that recognizes Jesus Christ as our Savior. Thank you for your dedication to our Constitution and our Constitutional Rights and Freedoms that we all as Oath Keepers have taken the Oath to Keep.
My wife and I saw a truck ahead of us with an Oath Keepers bumber sticker as we were pulling into a restaurant. I greeted him and to wish him a MERRY CHRISTMAS and thank him for being an Oath Keeper and for his service in the military. I’ve found that there are more Oath Keepers in our town than I realized.
Keep up the good work and God Bless
December 25th, 2010 at 9:47 am
Merry Christmas to all of you. Thanks for all you do.
December 25th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Thanks Stewart for the Christmas message. It reinforced my confidence that Oath Keepers represents a considerable hope in the Constitutional American freedom we enjoy.
Blessings to all.
December 26th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
I believe the article is accurate in its’ ccontent. Hopefully, more of our citizens will study our constitution, jury nullification and give thought to the ongoing conduct and responsibilities of a good citizen. One of those is speaking up in print and radio call in shows. Keep our politicians accountable. Open your eyes.