 |
As we head into the week of this uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving, it seems proper to reflect upon the miracle of Divine Providence that brought forth this nation.
Ultimately, all nations are extensions of God’s sovereignty, permitted to come into existence through the hands that guide all of history.
Our Founding Fathers pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor on the premise of self-governance, and God, according to His mysterious will, blessed the union of these states.
The Founding Fathers knew that their plan was dependent on God for its formation—from the miracle at Valley Forge to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
But they also understood its continued existence and flourishing required a continued dependence on God. |
 |
“Statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty, religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand,” as John Adams wrote. “The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our people in a greater measure, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty.”
Alexis de Tocqueville, who visited our new country a few years later in 1835, would write that without the habits of the heart, democracy can become a vehicle for a tyranny of the majority or worse. He understood, “The law can only restrain external behavior; culture forms the soul of a nation.”
And so, as we gather for Thanksgiving—around tables filled with family, laughter, and the ordinary abundance of American life—we do more than remember the past. We reconnect with the very virtues that sustain a free people: gratitude, humility, self-sacrifice, and faith in a God who has carried our nation through trial and triumph alike.
This Thanksgiving, we give thanks for the gift of this nation, and ask Him to bless its future as we remember with gratitude its past.
Go forward bravely, |
 |
Kelsey Reinhardt |
No comments:
Post a Comment