Thanks from the governor

I have been blessed to serve as governor and I have sought to be a blessing to the people of Kansas. It has been a singular honor and the hardest job I have ever had.

From our very founding as America and as Kansas it was our goodness … our interior moral code printed on our souls by a loving God, that would always be the key to our elevation.

If we could be good, we would be great.

Greatness was not to be sought. Goodness was.

Alexis de Tocqueville observed a rectitude in early America that he said was the sure sign of our future greatness.

Our forefathers and mothers in Kansas burned with that same interior fire.

On the grounds of our Statehouse sits a statue of a pioneer woman. She is guarding her children, raising them to be educated and virtuous. Her conviction and sturdiness of character is overwhelming. She will take on anything with everything she has, even her own life, for these children.

Such should be our resolve. To build the same moral fiber in future generations of Kansans.

Kansas is a real history-making state. A trend setter on issues of the heart.

We came in fighting slavery when others would compromise. We now fight for life.

We are at our best, as the heart of America, when we stand for what is noble and true. Our nation is better when the treasure of our heart is for what is pure and undefiled.

These words may seem odd in a time like ours, but they are timeless truths. Like gravity, they are a natural law that is only violated with unbending consequences. We see those consequences played out every day. For good or for ill.

Thank you, Kansans, for the honor of serving you. May God richly bless your future.

This story was originally published January 31, 2018 at 4:05 AM with the headline "Thanks from the governor."