Sacrifice Lost
It was late at night when the rider arrived - 2 am to be exact - and yet he had urgent news for Caesar Rodney, Delaware’s 3rd delegate to the Second Continental Congress, in July of 1776. Debate on Independence from Britain would resume the next morning, July 4th; and would end with a final vote. If Rodney was not present; it was likely that the vote would not be unanimous; and hence, would be tabled.
“Quickly getting dressed and saddling his best horse, Rodney galloped off into the pitch black, stormy night. It was 89 miles to Philadelphia, over stretches of road that were difficult under the best of conditions, and this night the conditions could hardly have been worse. Streams that were normally fordable with ease had become swollen torrents, and the rain had turned one portion of the road into a quagmire so deep that Rodney had to dismount and lead his horse through it to avoid its being crippled.
Unable to obtain a fresh change of horses until dawn, Rodney nevertheless arrived at the State House by 1:00 pm - just as the final vote was being taken. Half-carried into the assembly room, he was barely able to speak: “As I believe the voice of my constituents and of all sensible and honest men is in favor of independence, my own judgment concurs with them. I vote for independence.”
Few knew the circumstances surrounding Rodney’s vote. Caesar Rodney had cancer of the face, which was so advanced that he had taken to wearing a scarf around his neck to hide the disfigurement of his jaw. He had been planning a trip to England because he had heard of a doctor in London who might be able to help him. But he, and every person in that room, was well aware that if they declared independence, Britain would immediately declare war on America and invade the colonies. Caesar Rodney knew that he might never see England before he died of cancer. Nonetheless, without a moment’s hesitation, he voted “aye” for independence.” The Light and The Glory: 1492-1793 by Peter Marshall & David Manuel
Fast forward 245 years later; and we seem to have difficulty finding such men. Indeed, we often discover the exact reverse. Caesar Rodney voted for freedom; even though that vote meant that he would forfeit his very life. Today, we clamor to lock people up in their homes; and destroy their businesses - so that we might be spared an illness that has a less than one percent chance of killing us…
And this is where we are. Most are willing to support a government and/or public entity that punishes those who refuse to support modern medicine’s slow march toward survival of the fittest - on the backs of the weakest and most vulnerable among us. No matter that the ‘vaccine’ originated by experimenting on ‘cell lines’ that were obtained by cutting organs out of living, breathing infants. God forbid we might, gasp, DIE if we don’t sacrifice those children!
One wonders. One wonders what eternity will be like, when all those who valued their own lives at the cost of others, have to stand before all those sacrificed for them - and explain their reasoning. And then they get to stand before those like Casesar Rodney, who will absolutely, positively have zero ability to even begin to comprehend the selfishness that we take as ‘normal’ today.
May God have mercy on us all.