Happy Father's Day

This is my dad's 25th Father's Day in Heaven. I've missed him for a long time. Both of my sisters are with him today. (I miss them too.) The pic shows the three of them together. Grateful for a Godly father who left many positive memories behind him.

Bad Old King John

800 years ago this week my ancestor signed one of the most important documents in world history. But he is definitely not to be admired. And I guarantee you are familiar with him.

On June 15, 1215, King John met 40 rebellious barons in a field at Runnymede. He gave in to their demands to stave off a civil war, affixing his seal to Magna Carta.

These barons confronted a tyrant in order to protect their rights and property. Principles within the document have been passed down to democratic nations, such as:

"No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned, disseised, outlawed, banished, or in any way destroyed, nor will We proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land."

"To no one will We sell, to no one will We deny or delay, right or justice."

Magna Carta has been stamped into our Constitution and our Bill of Rights. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution displays its mark: "No person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

So, yes, I have a famous ancestor, good old villainous King John. But even if you spaced out on Magna Carta in history class, you still should know him. Everyone should be familiar with a genre that has given him much exposure through the years—the Robin Hood tales. Yes, my great-gramps (x25) is the bad guy in Robin Hood, the one to whom the sheriff of Nottingham answers, Prince John.

But 800 years ago, he won the barons’ approval. And, shock of shocks, while he changed his mind later and the document was nullified, it was reissued through the years and has given today’s democracies their character.

My 25 x great-gramps was a bad guy. But it was precisely because he was so bad that Magna Carta was drafted. And, if you’re not grateful for that, just remember—without him there probably would never have been a Robin Hood. And who can imagine a world without Robin Hood?