A Quality Foundation

“We were not only learning the facts of past human experience but also their meaning.”

- Calvin Coolidge

A Quality Foundation

“Why do we have Veteran’s Day?” The voice on the phone asked.

We were working to get her new home closed so she could spend the weekend getting settled in.  I could understand her frustration.  We had been pursing her dream of home ownership for months and it was about to come true.  About to come true, because the transaction couldn’t be finalized until the County Recorder’s Office opened again on Monday.  Yet, it was a short delay and a small price to pay for the true foundation supporting her soon to be home.  Her dream would come true because of principles lived by Veterans.

First, might does not make right, the end does not justify the means and expediency as a working principle is bound to fail.  Our Veterans have given us the chance to enjoy our homes and have confirmed that we are entitled to the rewards of our industry.  What we earn is ours, no matter how small or how great.  And, our possession of property carries the obligation to use it in a larger service to care for those who have served us first.

Second, all service provided to us by Veterans is the expression of intelligent action for a specified end, the promotion and protection of our lives and freedom.  All of their work, from the most menial service to the most exalted, is alike honorable.  That’s why we honor all Veterans alike.

Third, in time of crisis it’s easy for us to see the truth about the importance of Veterans. When a crisis is present, a Veteran’s importance obvious to everyone.  But, to remember them all the time, when it is not simply expedient, is what really saves us.  Such remembrance has a power of its own that is truly manifest in every great emergency.

Finally, the service of our Veterans is a demonstration of our equality.  Their service does not assume all are equal in degree, but all are equal in kind.  This is the precept resting on the foundation of democracy that cannot be shaken.  It justifies faith in our belief of, “we the people of the United States.”

In writing of his learning about this essential foundation Calvin Coolidge said, “We were not only learning the facts of past human experience but also their meaning.”

“Why do we have Veteran’s Day?” the voice on the phone asked.

“Because they are the builders of your home’s foundation.”  I replied.  “They’ve taught us the true meaning of life, that the only hope of perfecting human relationship is in accordance with the law of service under which people are not so solicitous about what they get as they are about what they give.”

Veterans have given each one of us a quality foundation.  Will we continue to build on it?