There is a Growing Remnant
A speech delivered to the Cumberland Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution on November 20th, 2024.After Hurricane Helene, a dear friend, Robby Starbuck, reached out, saying how shockingly bad things were. Even our first responders were in bad shape, many Fire and rescue stations were not able to communicate. And with Robby’s wife about to give birth to their 4th child, he asked if we could help get aid out to where it is most needed. The answer, of course, was yes.
So we got to work. Robby, the team here, local representatives like Jeremy Faison, and countless other helping hands moved well over a million dollars of supplies and equipment to those in need. We helped connect 40+ different community centers, fire departments, and churches to high-speed internet, allowing them to run their operations and giving people the ability to reach out to loved ones.
It is very humbling to receive this recognition. We come here today not to honor ourselves or what we did, for many others have done far more. Lindsey, Brandon, Sage, Christian, and I are here to celebrate the good news that the Spirit of the Founders is alive and well! The hard working resilient men and women rebuilding in the hills of Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina are proof of that. All of you here today are all proof of that!
I am a Son of the Revolution on both sides. I am a Ransom, a Latimer, a Collens, a Wolcott, an Adams. And I, like you, honor the legacy of the blood running in my veins by doing my part for my fellow countrymen.
These days, it is so easy to see what isn’t going right. Turn on a TV, or open any news or social media app and you will find our institutions magnifying and promoting division at every turn. But that isn’t the story of the American people.
What came out of the mud and mire of Hurricane Helene tells a different story. From this disaster rose the indomitable American spirit, ready and willing to stand in the breach for their fellow man.
This hard work and grit to restore is the hallmark of our time, it is a signal flair to where we are headed as a nation.
This spirit, this American spirit, might only be defeated in apathy and slumber, for when alert, there isn’t anything in the heavens or on earth that can hold her back. And it is because of this awakened spirit that Lady Liberty is on the precipice of a new era of freedom.
The hope of nations has always been a great awakening and with groups like the Daughters of the American Revolution, who, with great care, steward that which first set brushfires of human liberty in the hearts of men, there is no doubt that this fresh spirit of goodness that is rushing forward in our time will yet again release the bounty of what has been the greatest catalyst to human thriving over a millennia: a strong and a free United States of America.
Goodness is winning, and it will win. The cost of this victory, as always, is up to us. It is up to us to again plunge ourselves into the joyful struggle towards the noble virtues that our founders and fore fathers lived and died to sow on the earth. With this high aim and without the slightest hesitation we again dare to charge into the great unknown of liberty unleashed.
In closing, I would regret if I didn’t say what I feel so sharply in my heart. Daughters of the American Revolution, it is with the greatest confidence I tell you that the mighty men and women who came before you are very proud of what you do here.
Thank you for keeping the lamp lit.
