"... they will be living in the world we helped to shape"

One of the things I most admired about Reagan was his courage to include Biblical allusions throughout his writings and speeches. We frequently refer to Reagan's black and white view of the world: the "Evil Empire", "them or us"... but he also included many literal references pulled straight out of the Good Book.

I'm looking over a speech Reagan gave in 1975:

... 40 yrs. ago it was Nazi Germany that loomed as the storm cloud on the horizon. And of course that storm cloud did eventuall fill the sky & raining rain fire & brimestone on all the world.

The strikeouts indicate changes Reagan made to the original script. In this venure, perhaps he thought the brimstone reference was too obvious or strong, but the reference is unmistakable in the context.

Another letter:

This one from 1976 where Reagan wonders about what the world will be like 100 years from now. He's been asked to write a letter to be included in a LA time capsule to be opened in the year 2076:

I found myself wondering if it [L.A.] would look the same 100 yrs. from now. Will there still be a coast highway? Will people still be travelling in automobiles, or will they be looking down at the mountains from aircraft or moving so fast the beauty of all this would be lost?

Suddenly the simple drafting of a letter became a rather complex chore... What do you put in a letter that's going to e read 100 yrs. from now--in the year 2076?... In short they will be living in the world we helped to shape.

Will they read the letter with gratitude in their hearts for what we did or will they be bitter because the heritage we left them was one of human misery?

...The choice we face between contunuing the policies of the last 40 yrs that have led to bigger & bigger govt, less & less liberty... On the international scene two great superpowers face each other with nuclea missles at the ready...

Those who read my letter will know whether those missles were fired or not.

Thanks to Ronald Reagan, my children do not face these threats. They face very real and very different threats today... but someone else has a consistent vision to make this threat benign.