Final Jeopardy question: The following is the last line of what publication?
“And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the
protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our
Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
Final Jeopardy answer? The Declaration of Independence.
In conjunction with writing it, “E Pluribus Unum” was the motto proposed as the first Great Seal of the United States by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson in 1776.
E Pluribus Unum translates “out of many, ONE.” The 57 signers of the Declaration of Independence represented fiercely distinct colonies which England had sought to play off one against another, but by going public with their mutual pledge they were now deeply connected–and ALL in. Most paid a heavy price, many with their lives and fortunes, for our freedom. E Pluribus Unum was our Forefathers rallying cry. It was an “ALL HANDS ON DECK!-laration.
Faith, family and sacred Honor prepared them for the road less traveled, and their convictions and ONEness were tested. There were hands-on freedom riders like Paul we revere, and bad eggs like Benedict who make us sneer–a sellout for a hand-out.
Freedom comes at a price. It must be fought for. The Declaration of Independence at its CORE was the worldview of the emergent United States of America, with an O-verarching Vision and P-urpose worth dying for.
The last signer of the document was a woman and small business owner, named Mary Katherine Goddard. She not only gladly printed the parchment, but added her name.
To be part of a revolution of something worth living for, it takes a hands-on, hands dirty, all-in approach. Most prefer a hands-off, don’t count me in approach–unless there is assurance of a hand-out.
This is why BTL is for the few. Hands-on, hands dirty, and give a hand-up not a hand-out. This is what the Builder’s Journey is all about. BTL leaders are all-in and all ONE. Together we transform.
Over the upcoming holidays, get your hands-on pen and paper or your favorite keyboard and rinse your CORE and your OPUS. Then, sign your name to it. Share it with your fellow builders as the declaration you will work and live by.
Done so.
BUILT TO LEAD 