After grousing about the inconvenience (or pressure to avoid a wine and cheese penalty) of remembering to wear the presidential medallion, Sue got our meeting underway by leading us in the Pledge.
From that we moved to the Invocation offered this week by our First Husband, Peter Klock. Peter spoke eloquently about the new World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C. which is across from the Willard Hotel. The Memorial is dedicated to the meaning of “freedom” and features a cast bronze eagle and a moving inscription, as follows:
“Free men must re-dedicate themselves to the cause of freedom. They must understand with a new certainty of conviction that the cause of freedom is the cause of the human individual. Human individuality is the basis of every value- spiritual, moral, intellectual, creative in human life.
Freedom is the right to one’s soul: the right of each person to approach God in his own way and by his own means. It is a man’s right to possess his mind and conscience for himself. To those who put their trust in freedom, the state can have no sovereignty over the mind or soul—must be the servant of man’s reason, not the master. “
Can I hear an “Amen”?
From this Sue moved into Caring Moments. Sue noted that the Al Turner family has requested that wife Charlotte receive only cards, no calls of sympathy. At this difficult time, she seeks the blessing of space more than anything – more than phone calls, or casseroles, or company. You can send cards to Charlotte Turner, 121 Huckleberry Road, East Hartford, CT 06118). On behalf of the Club, President Sue offered our condolences to George and Peggy Schoen and all others in the South Congregational community for their loss of their beloved pastor.
