Except the Lord Keep the City ...

Today marks the 45th anniversary of JFK's death. "In the horror of Mr. Kennedy's assassination," journalist James M. Perry writes, "hardly anyone remembered what he was planning to say at the Trade Mart. It was a good speech (we had been given a text), and one part of it rings down through the years."

We in this country, in this generation, are -- by destiny rather than by choice -- the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility -- that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint -- and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient wisdom of "peace on earth, good will toward men." That must always be our goal -- and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written, "Except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen waketh but in vain."