There’s a scene in the movie Tombstone where Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) reflects on his charge into sure death against Curly Bill and some other killer cowboys. He’s now been challenged by Johnny Ringo, the deadliest of all cowboys and shares uncertainty with his best friend “Doc” Holiday (Val Kilmer).

“It all happened so fast with Curly Bill… I didn’t really have time to think about it, but I’ve had plenty of time to think about this. I can’t beat him can I?”

Watching someone rush into what appears to be certain death shocks and humbles me. Someone who takes time to think about the sacrifice they are making amazes me even more.

I think Ben Franklin came up with this logo after lighting black smoke snakes.

The men who signed the Declaration of Independence were in the latter category. Putting ink to paper on that document was the equivalent of signing a death warrant. Those guys knew what there were doing and had plenty of time to think about what the British would do to them when the opposition showed up.

At the time of the American Revolution the English law codes considered the founders traitors, and treason was punishable by a death worse than the watered down version shown in Braveheart. Ben Franklin exuded optimism when he told the Second Continental Congress:

“We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Benjamin Harrison of Virginia managed to quip about impending death as he made his way to the front of the hall where he penned his name on the declaration written by Thomas Jefferson. Harrison turned to Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts and said:

“From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air for an hour or two before you are dead.”

Like I say, rushing into death is already unbelievable. Doing so with so much time to calculate the cost is nearly unimaginable. Continue Reading…