The Purple Heart is the oldest military decoration in the world in present use and the first American award made available to the common soldier. It was created by one of the world's most famed and best-loved heroes—General George Washington.

General Washington was known to show sympathy and concern for his troops, and was not too proud to pray humbly on his knees for his beloved country and for the men who served it, and him, so bravely and loyally.

Attached to the piece of dark blue cloth is a purple heart of silk, bound with braid and edged with lace. There is no name, rank or regimental insignia on the piece of cloth. This badge was for "any singularly meritorious action" and permitted the wearer to pass guards and sentinels without challenge. The honoree's name and regiment were inscribed in a Book of Merit. The Purple Heart itself is what signified a hero of the Revolutionary War.

General Washington gave the order on August 7, 1782 and what he wrote in his orderly book still stands today:

"The road to glory in a free country is thus open to all. This order is also to have retrospect to the earliest stages of the war, and to be considered a permanent one."

Patriotism aside, I am drawn to the stories of glory, freedom, hope and faith, the words themselves having a life to them that stirs my soul. It's in this spirit that General Washington's words sent me searching for more to it's story. Finding the details wasn't hard, the reasons for the Revolutionary War are still being debated today. What I found to be significant is that the words reflect the man of faith behind the order during a time in history when freedom was born of Grace and Providence was worth fighting for.

I came across this record as I was looking for the unlikely connection between the Purple Heart and the concept of transformation. The Purple Heart appears to represent personal sacrifice for a cause larger than oneself. So, can transformation be a cause or is it a sacrifice in and of itself? You see, my brainstorming began with "transformation" as the primary focus until a vision was described to me that was revealed during prayer over the project the vision of the Purple Heart. At that very moment, the project was transformed into a journey from the heart of the American Revolution to a revolution of the Spirit. What they have is common is Freedom.

Define - revolution (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary)
1: a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving
2: the overthrow of a government by those who are governed
3: a complete turn

By watching the news, you can see why most Americans thank God that we live in a free country. But we don't often consider how this country was born out of the wilderness, a tough place to raise a family. Spiritually, as Christians, we often find ourselves seeking our way out of the wilderness, not into it. Speaking from experience, that's not where I want to make a home. Yet, for many reasons, the people who built this country risked their lives to do just that, and still do to this day.

To explain this, I had to look at the details I avoided in school. For starters, the common people of the 16th Century Europe were ripe for the news of a new world. Living in the shadows of bitter disputes over royalty and religion, a third of the population was in poverty, exposed to the constant threat of religious extermination, over-taxation and execution. The were willing to work but had no opportunity. There were also the wealthy ones who too were willing to leave their homeland because of its religious oppression. These are of the many who traveled across the ocean in the hope for something better. The fact that they came here to freely enjoy their forms of Christianity is how America grew In God We Trust. And although there were many forms and reasons of worship, the foundation for each colony was built upon the same word of the Lord, and freedom was in the word. From wilderness to wilderness, they came on a Ship of Hope — its anchor being that which supports us in our wildernesses of today.

Not strangers to hardships, they built their homes and generations of prosperity. England and France was far away and robust institutions and local governments gave order to their lives. They had become almost completely self-governing. Almost. While their hearts were planted in the new world, the ruling Monarchy only saw plantations that were still subject to their desires. The Americans had failed to recognized they were still rooted in the oppression of their past life. What they also lacked was unity. The Americans were divided, split up among 13 colonies and needed to be accountable to each other. At the end of the day, they were still governed by their past and forced to bow to a King that used them to serve his needs. In God they trusted who declared them free, but their future was still controlled by what they thought was only a memory.

25) But if we hope for what is still unseen by us, we wait for it with patience and composure. 26) So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we don not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf... Romans 8:25, 26

The ones who prayerfully hold on to hope in the wilderness experience develop the kind of character in harmony with God's will. This is the makings for leadership raised in men like Washington. By grace, they were common people who recognized that a civil authority for free men was not that of selfish desire, oppression and slavery, but of justice, fairness, unity and harmony. There would have to be a drastic and far reaching change, a transformation of a government that no longer served their good. This became the cry for Revolution. Men and women, individually, came forward to fight together for the freedom they believed in— and won it for future generations.

Selah. Out of the wilderness came leaders raised in the Spirit of Truth (John14:17). These individuals, who, by their scars and by grace, pursued the need for change by coming together as one family, united, and throw down the shackles. The honorees of the Purple Heart.


I have narrated this historical perspective in this way as to compare the American struggle for independence to that of individuals who are born again in Christ and struggle to grow in their faith and enjoy the full measure of His love. The struggle is the same. No one is truly free from the desires of the flesh or the desires of a King until you declare your independence and put off the yoke of slavery. In both cases, a revolution is the solution — a deliberate decision that has to be followed by perseverance.

Let me take this moment to say that I am not ordained or schooled in theology. I am simply an artist pursuing the creative solution for a client. But I am here because I belong to Christ and use my gifts according to the proportion of my faith that grows each day. When I seek His presence and set out to prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, I am never disappointed, and that is His promise. Someone once told me, "He will always leave enough information out of reach so I will keep searching". Therefore, I'm not claiming my point of view to be above question. Actually, the opposite, because I do know there is so much more to this story. I encourage anyone reading this to prove this for yourselves. (Rom 12:2) — Seek Him in all things for understanding of all that He will allow.

A Call to Freedom

(AMP) Gal 4:31 So, brethren, we who are born again are not children of a slave woman, but of the free.

Rom 6:18 And having been set free from sin, you have become the servants of righteousness.

The Apostle Paul explains the call to freedom in Galatians 4, 5 and 6, and in a more thorough discussion on the Holy Spirit in Romans, but I was captivated by these words in Galatians and will stay with what brought me here.

Gal 5:1 In this freedom Christ has made us free and completely liberated us: stand fast then, and do not be hampered and submit again to a yoke of slavery which you once have put off... 13) For you, brethren, were indeed called to freedom; only do not let your freedom be an incentive to your flesh ...

define - freedom (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary)
1: the condition of being free; the power to act, speak or think without
externally imposed restraints

Looking at this definition alone, we might agree that Spiritual-Freedom is being free from internally imposed restraints (according to Paul, "of the flesh"), free to enjoy the fullness of God's love as He intended, responsive and guided by the Holy Spirit.

Gal 6:15...but only a new creation, the result of a new birth and a new nature in Christ. 16) Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule...17) For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the Holy Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are opposed to the flesh...so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do.

Rom 7:21 So I find it to be a law (rule of action in my being) that when I want to do what is right and good, evil is ever present with me and I am subject to to its insistent demands. 23)...(the sensitive appetites and will of the flesh) a different law at war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin ...

Anyone deprived of the peace and merciful experience by freedom in Christ has the makings for a spiritual revolution. And because of the character of their new creation, they will make a deliberate decision to acknowledge that the destructive nature of sin, leftover from their past, is keeping them from the spiritual freedom they so greatly desire. These are often referred to as "strongholds" that must to be removed, declared independent from. All they need is someone to walk them through it.

Leadership

5:13 ...only do not let your freedom be an incentive to your flesh or an opportunity for selfishness, but through love you should serve on another.

6:1 Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual should set him right and restore an reinstate him... 2) Bear one another's burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ and complete what is lacking in your obedience to it.

At the brink of the American Revolution, there were many good men and women who, in a weakness of faith, were afraid of change, that they might lose what they had. Typically, these are the ones who argue against revolution (transformation) until the truth about their situation is made clear. Paul tells us that we must bear their burdens and set them right. In the debate over independence, it was the leaders willing to meet the requirements of God's law relating to ones fellowmen, summed up in a single command, "You shall love your neighbor as you do yourself.." (Rom 13:9), who were able to convince them to overcome their strongholds. The willing and able.

6:9 And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we don't loosen and relax our courage and faint.

Paul tells us we must persevere. He spoke of the importance of "a new creation", the result of a new birth and a new nature in Christ. (Do I dare say a new world.) "Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule", who let this principle govern their lives. Peace is waiting for independence to be declared. Mercy is always abundant on the road to freedom.

In this context, what is the significance of the Purple Heart?

6:17 From now on let no person trouble me [by making me vindicate my authority and the divine truth of my Gospel], for I bear on my body the [brand] marks of the Lord Jesus [the wounds, scars, and other outward evidence of persecutions—these testify to His ownership of me]!

Was Paul calling the new Christian converts to a spiritual revolution because they were not standing up for what he had taught them to be true. From what he could hear, they were throwing away there freedom in Christ. Scripture tells us that he had led them to their freedom, so he was setting the record straight. I think it is also significant that Paul describes the scars as testaments "to HIS ownership of me" , yet he has declared freedom three times, "we who are born again are not children of a slave woman, but of the free.", "Christ has made us free. (this new creation)" and "brethren, we are [indeed] called to freedom".

Paul had the authority to say "Let no person trouble me", for he had earned his Purple Heart, the heart of Jesus.

This is the Purple Heart of the Holy Spirit —
The heart of Jesus who took all of our sins to the cross including all of the generations before and after His revolution. We bare the brand marks, the wounds and scars of persecutions that testify to His ownership. But the scars of the past that need to be healed are the ones that need to be recognized and reconciled. There are many who have been called to freedom who bare these scars. They are waiting for someone to lead them through a revolution that will change the nature that governs them into one of honor and glory. They are waiting for someone to help bear their burden so their scars can be transformed, at last, into testaments of ownership. So in this revolution, they too will earn the Purple Heart

"The road to glory in a free country is thus open to all. This order is also to have retrospect to the earliest stages of the war, and to be considered a permanent one." "

Romans 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For the Spirit which you have now received is not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption in the bliss of which we cry Abba!, Father! And If we are His children, then we are His heirs also: and fellow heirs of Christ: only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory. 21.) That nature (creation) itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption and gain an entrance into the glorious freedom of God's children.

The interpretation of the vision -

A gray-weathered bench represents the place on the road to glory where men waited to sign up for the fight to keep their freedom and where others will come to claim theirs. The boxes on the bench holding the medals remind us that the law, God's word, is permanent, that the road to glory is still open and the honor is available to those who make the deliberately decision to change, they are coming to be free. That there were many boxes means that there are many who are willing to listen, that there is a great need for those who are able to teach. The color purple is the color of the season of Lent. A time for reflection, repentance and acknowledgment. Gold is for purity and glory.

l Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not physical , but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds.