Welcome to the day after Presidents day! Due to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1971, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day were all moved to being celebrated on Mondays to enable Federal employees a three day weekend. Veterans Day was removed from this list of "fixed" holidays back to its November 11th date in 1978. Contrary to popular belief, Presidents day is not a celebration of Washington and Lincoln's birthdays (George Washington, born - February 22, Abraham Lincoln, born - February 12), but just that of George Washington's. There has never been a federal holiday established to commemorate the birth of Abraham Lincoln. Since rarely does Washington's birthday ever fall on the 3rd Monday in February, advertisers and the public have come to refer to this holiday as President's day. "Why bother?", you might ask. Is this more tantalizing trivia on Tuesdays? While these facts may seem somewhat trivial, they highlight what has for the past few weeks been the opening line for Tuesday's Musical Notes.
As a schoolboy, George Washington would copy the Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour In Company and Conversation, a primer for those wishing to learn about morality and etiquette. Many of the rules are dated, however, it should be noted that many of these rules continue to hold nuggets of the decent way to treat other people. As an example, today's Rule of Civility notes the behavior in the presence of other people. This would of course infer that you must take note of the others who may be around you before deciding on your own behavior, thus placing others before yourself. Tuesday's Musical Notes finds these "rules" to be enlightening and entertaining as well as historically enriching. Click here for a complete list of The Rules Of Civility & Decent Behaviour In Company and Conversation or you can go here, Rules of Civility: The 110 Precepts that Guided Our First President in War and Peace, for an excellent book about the rules and about George Washington by Richard Brookhiser. The Notes will feature continue to feature the "Rules" each week as well. George Washington's book of "rules" were one of the things that shaped this farmer/surveyor/soldier into the leader of our Revolutionary forces and our 1st President. In the face of the adversity of his age, the "rules" helped him to "Keep Pushin'"
For 46 years, Neal Doughty has been playing keyboards in a rock-n-roll band that he helped to form. He has seen 16 changes to the band roster. Because of, or in spite of those changes, he has remained a part of a band that has sold over 40 million records and seen 14 of their songs hit the charts. The band hit #1 for 15 weeks with their 1980 hit album High Infidelity. Touring continues with acts like, Chicago, Journey, Styx, and Ted Nugent. All of this would have been very difficult to achieve if Neal Doughty and his band REO Speedwagon had not adopted the mantra of their 1976 song "Keep Pushin'" Pilot of the airwaves.....that is our request.......
Keep Pushin' REO Speedwagon
Many of the great heroes of the Bible lived their lives in a way that showed the faith and intestinal fortitude to keep pushin'. They would not have achieved all that God had intended for them to with out the intense desire to finish that which they had started. For 40 years, Moses kept pushing on towards the Promised Land with over 2 million people who were grumpy and ungrateful most of the time. Despite having a dysfunctional family life and blood on his hands, King David laid the foundation for Israel to become a superpower under his son Solomon's reign . The book of Psalms is replete with passage after passage of encouragement for our lives on this earth. (Psalms and other Scriptures of Encouragement) While Christian scholars debate on the fate of the disciples of Jesus, tradition notes that as many as 10 of the 12 disciples were martyred for their commitment to "The Way". (There is little debate regarding Judas Iscariot's and John the beloved's demise).
Paul's exhortation to Timothy through his 2 letters are some of the greatest examples of encouragment and perserverance that can be read in Scripture. In the very familiar passage of 1 Timothy 6:11-16, Paul tells Timothy to "...pursue righteousness,......fight the good fight.....take hold of eternal life....keep the command...until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ." In his 2nd letter to Timothy, Paul would use very similar language to challenge Timothy and describe his own life and acts of pushing on. (2 Timothy 4:5-8).
As children of the King, we all have our "good works" that will require steadfastness and strength of heart to complete. Any time you attempt to do something for the Kingdom, the enemy will be there to thwart your every move or make some alternative to doing Kingdom work seem more attractive. During those times we can rely on the promise of "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths".....and then keep pushin'......keep pushin'.....keep pushin'.....on!
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by loving you,
Randy
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