IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
# 320
“The Power of Three”
February 21, 2026
No doubt, most of us are familiar with Jonathan Lawson and his commercial for Colonial Penn Life Insurance. He touts “The Three Ps” as the anchor of his message.
It’s about time Americans adopted their own version: “Patriotism, Persuasion and Persistence.” Over the last sixty years, people my age have witnessed the gradual decline of education, morals, and faith. With little threat to inspire national pride and patriotism, young people slid into a comfortable morass of entertainment and idle activity.
A century is not a long time in the overall scheme of things. Contrast the challenges and the responsibility of young people between 1865 and 1965. Mid 19th-century men often had to take over an entire family after the death of one or more parents. Civil War casualties spawned countless households without fathers. For the young men left to assume responsibility, work wasn’t a choice, it was a given.
Schools, although many of the one-room variety, prepared students to take on life head-on. Those who studied law and medicine often did it at the elbow of a lawyer or doctor. There were a few medical schools, but not the plethora available today. Farming remained a staple of the American workplace until mechanization and reliable equipment came on the scene. There were numbers of women who took on work as nurses and schoolteachers, but the vast number of women were stay-at-home wives and mothers.
The moral code of the 18th and 19th century was strict and any form of infidelity or promiscuity was found in the “red light” districts of urban areas or the brothels of the burgeoning cities, port areas and mining towns in the West. Marriage was sacred and divorce was extremely rare. Young people married at very young ages and families were far larger than we see today in terms of the number of children.
Church anchored rural areas, towns, and cities. Up until the time that my children were small, few businesses were open on Sunday. There were a few truck stops that offered fuel, but – for the most part – if you needed gas for your car, you had better fill up on a Saturday! I grew up with radio programs and books. The movies were popular, but as a treat – not accessible at the touch of a remote control.
School was important, and the familiar “summer off” came from the fact that families farmed and the children helped. When you hear someone refer to the summer break as “agrarian,” accept it as fact.
Combine solid education with a strong moral code and the importance of church in people’s lives, and you have the atmosphere that spawned the greatest nation on earth.
Minus a imminent threat to this nation, our people just slide along comfortably and take everyday life for granted. Such is the scene today. The threat is there, but not as clear as threats of the past.
Hand-in-hand with American history is patriotism. Love of country should be alive and well, yet what we witness today falls far short of that state of mind. The raucous street demonstrations we remember as newsreels from faraway places now disrupt commerce and everyday life from coast to coast. For decades, countless teachers and professors have painted a bleak portrait of America and her values. To this end, we have at least one – if not two – generations who do not have any respect for this country. To say this is sad dims the indictment. This is dangerous
Some societal practices are worth emulation. Not so the near-riots and damage we have seen as an ever-growing problem since 2020. These gatherings are reminiscent of those on newscasts from third world countries seen over the years on the news media here. Flash forward to today. We are in the midst of a crisis of conscience.
We need to push for patriotism, using patience and persistence. Patience is its own reward. You’ve heard that before. It is true. And persistence? Americans are not quitters. We owe it to the younger set to take on the challenge to instill patriotism in every possible way. To do less is to chance losing everything that we hold dear.
I will visit this subject in a future column, but – for now – I will end with three of my 3 Cs: Conscience, Commitment and Christ. If one possesses a conscience, then caring, comfort, and clarity follow. Insert commitment and today’s acts of kindness only forecast those of tomorrow. Adding Christ is the proverbial “icing on the cake.” If we all follow His teachings, there would be no riots, no abject anger in the streets, no need for jails, or locks on doors. The only need would be to take more time to study His lessons, so succinctly put forth in the pages of the Bible and to bask in the Creation that the Lord created.
Basically, this is a nation founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs. Let’s work to keep it that way.
Think about it.