John Winthrop, Pilgrim, 1636

“For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us;… Beloved there is now set before us life, and good, death and evil in that we are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments and his ordinance, and his laws, and the Articles of our Covenant with him that we may live and be multiplied, and that the Lord our God may bless us in the land whether we go to possess it: But if our hearts shall turn away so that we will not obey, but shall be seduced and worship other gods, our pleasures, and profits, and serve them, it is propounded unto us this day, we shall surely perish out of the good Land whether we pass over this vast Sea to possess it.”

Winthrop, the Cambridge educated attorney, wrote these words for his life at about age 24:

"I will ever walk humbly before my God, and meekly, mildly, and gently towards all men...I do resolve first to give myself - my life, my wits, my health, my wealth - to the service of my God and Saviour who, by giving Himself for me and to me, deserves whatsoever I am or can be, to be at His commandment and for His glory."

Oh, that today, we had such 24 year old men ready to serve our country and mankind with the commitment of our early founding fathers!