Marilyn's Musings
February 17, 2026
While we were remembering presidents this weekend, the Old North Thrift Shoppe had our February sale. We had a lot of fun and everyone who came in were pleased by the high school Art Honor Society Students offering hot cocoa and snacks and a place to sit in our annex while enjoying them. They had an art show so people could see how talented they are. The kids were laughing and having fun talking to people coming in to see their art work and have a snack. There is a lot to say about the sale outside of the “snack/art room”. The donations we get enable us to sell some beautiful items for reasonable prices so everyone can find a treat for themselves or a friend. We hope to be able to have more snacks/treats at future sales so everyone can visit with friends while spending time shopping. Our next is March 14th so get ready for another fun day at Old North. Keep the amazing donations coming and please note there are signs on the walls listing where our donations go.
I am writing this on Monday, Presidents Day. We celebrate two presidents, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, who had birthdays in February. As I am getting older, I am wishing I spent more time learning about the history of our country. All I remember about George Washington was that he was our first president and Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and said the Gettysburg Address which we had to memorize when I was in school. So much time has passed since I was in grammar school and so much history has been made in these last 50+ years (darn, I must be getting old!) that I don’t know how much time has been spent on these two men.
Here is one little trivia note about George Washington. He did own slaves, as was usual at that time, but he was very kind to them. “He carefully clothed and fed them, engaged a doctor for them by the year, generally refused to sell them— “I am principled against this kind of traffic in the human species”—and administered correction mildly. They showed so much attachment that few ran away.”
Abraham Lincoln said “As I would not be a slave, I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy”. I was not aware of that statement but find it very interesting. The one I remember, as I am sure a lot of us do was said at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg - Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. The last sentence in this speech says the following:
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
While choosing a hymn for today I wanted to sing a hymn reminding us that God has been with our country since its beginning and faith has played a big part in our history. Let’s sing “God of Our Fathers". It is a 19th-century American Christian hymn, written in 1876 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. It was written by Daniel C. Roberts, a priest in the Protestant Episcopal Church serving, at the time, as rector of St. Thomas & Grace Episcopal churches in Brandon, Vermont. Roberts had served in the American Civil War in the 84th Ohio Infantry.
In 1892, Roberts sent the hymn anonymously to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church to be considered by a group tasked with revising the Episcopal hymnal. If the group accepted his hymn, Roberts said he would send them his name. The commission approved it. The hymnal editor and organist George W. Warren were to choose a hymn for the celebration of the Centennial of the United States Constitution. They chose Roberts's lyrics, which were originally sung to a tune called "Russian Hymn." Warren wrote a new tune called "National Hymn."
“God of Our Fathers”
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=pXqh3A3Oqxk&si=PHc1Vju5_puj1iU_
