The United Cry of a Nation

As I sit to write on this warm summer night in this year of our Lord 2011, my mind waxes in remembrance, thinking back with gratitude and appreciation for the manifold blessings of God upon our nation. So many of God's gifts and so much of His goodness have been lavished upon this great land, and every natural born American citizen should be on their knees continually, thanking Him from the depths of their being for having been chosen by God to have such a birthright. In fact, for the duration of our history, and beyond, men, women, and children have risked all, and sacrificed all, to come to this exceptional land of opportunity and freedom. Many have become a part of the American soul and story, grafted in as citizen sons and daughters, honored to be united together with all those who yearn to breath free, to live, and work, and die as freemen, passing on that priceless legacy to their progeny for all future time. That unity, in fact, has always been an integral part of freedom's defense, endurance and advancement. These United States began in unity, as our founding generation linked hands, hearts, and minds together to create a stalwart wall of unbroken determination, one that miraculously stood opposed to, and ultimately prevailed against, the greatest political and military force in the world. The intertwining idealistic cords that comprised this freedom chain were ten fold, overlaid finally with an encasement of almighty power, fixed in steely resolve by the purposes of the Most High Himself: Liberty Private Property Equality The Rule of Law Natural Rights Consent of the governed Religious Freedom Constitutionalism Self Government Independence This decalogue was chiseled into the hearts of the American people during the decades prior to the revolution, largely by men of God who delivered sermons of Truth, which fell upon ears that would hear. In 1776, the American colonies were populated by almost three million peoples, virtually all of them accepting of Biblical truth and a worldview that saw God as sovereign over all of creation and every human being created in His matchless image. The ideals enshrined in our national birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence, were not new from Jefferson's pen. In fact, he stated that they were simply 'an expression of the American mind,' and a settled, single mind it was. To refuse to live enslaved by the tyranny of a despotic ruler, to understand that all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, was simply the common sense of the subject. And so, for the first time in the history of man, a nation was established upon an ideal, a concept of liberty and freedom for all under God. But the realization of the complete application of those precepts has not been easy. The founders truly set the bar high, and thank God they did. In time, often far too much time, more and more have risen over that bar and America has become, and continues to become, constantly, a more perfect Union. In fact, it is often referred to simply by that name. Union. And rightly so. In unity, America established a nation, miraculously. In unity, America built a nation characterized by opportunity and achievement, based on the common good and a work ethic that inspired the world. In unity, America saved herself from self destruction, and in the process destroyed, through the sacrifice of a generation, the greatest sin and hypocrisy of all, the sin of American slavery. In unity, America saved a world from the evil and destruction of the murderous ideologies of Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Communist Russia in the 20th century. What a history of power in united effort, independent from all earthly tyranny, yet fully dependent upon the God given blessings and power bestowed upon them from the heavens. As America has remained united, under God, she has walked the path of renewal, rebirth, and resurgence, again and again. Today, I fear for my nation, because the unity that made us great is waning. We no longer worship the same God. Many worship no God at all, except themselves and their own stomachs. In truth, the split is between those who would have us acknowledge God again, and always, and those who would have us forget Him now, and insist that we were never under Him in the first place. A whitewashing of our history has taken place and, if we do not repent and return to the God that made us, our beautiful land will become a tomb, a place where freedom once lived, then died, and now lies in sad, silent repose. Oh, that we would follow the lead of three of our great national leaders, each of whom reminded the people, one at the birth of the nation, one in the distress of her adolescence, and one at the crisis of her mid life, of the unity and power that is ours when linked to one another, enveloped in Him. Born on October 12, 1710 in Lebanon, Connecticut, Jonathan Trumball Sr rose to become the chief executive of Connecticut and a robust voice for independence under God. Trumball earned a Bachelor's degree from Harvard at a age 17 and went on to study theology under the Rev. Solomon Williams and became licensed to preach. Trumball married Faith Robinson, a preacher's daughter, on Dec. 9, 1735 and they went on to become the parents of six children, including the renowned 'artist of the Revolution,' John Trumball. British general Thomas Gage contacted then Gov.Trumball following the battles at Lexington and Concord in April, 1775, expressing a 'readiness to cooperate' with him for the 'good of His Majesty's service.' "Trumbull refused and made clear his choice to side with the Patriots. He replied that Gage's troops would "disgrace even barbarians," and he accused Gage of "a most unprovoked attack upon the lives and the property of his Majesty's subjects." Trumball, whom Gen.Washington referred to as 'the first of patriots,' had authorized that April 19, 1775 be set aside as a day of prayer and fasting for all the colonies. The proclamation asked that God 'would restore and secure the Liberties of this and all the other British American colonies, and make the land a mountain of holiness and habitation of righteousness forever.' Eighty eight years later, in the summer of 1863, President Abraham Lincoln spoke of his thoughts and prayers in the midst of the pivotal Gettysburg campaign. Speaking to Union Gen. Daniel Sickles, who was gravely wounded at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, the commander in chief commented: 'In the pinch of your campaign up there, when everybody seemed panic stricken, and nobody could tell what was going to happen...I went to my room one day and locked the door, and got down on my knees before Almighty God, and prayed to Him mightily for victory at Gettysburg. I told Him that this was His war, and our cause His cause, but we couldn't stand another Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville.' 'And I then and there made a solemn vow to Almighty God, that if He would stand by the boys at Gettysburg, I would stand by Him. And after that...soon a sweet comfort crept into my soul that God Almighty had taken the whole business into His hands and that things would go alright, and thus I had no fears...' Just prior, Lincoln had declared April 30, 1863 a national day of 'humiliation, fasting, and prayer,' in which 'all the people might abstain...from their ordinary secular pursuits and unite...in keeping the day holy to the Lord. Senator James Harlan of Iowa, whose daughter later married President Lincoln's son Robert, introduced this Resolution in the Senate on March 2, 1863. The Resolution was adopted on March 3, and signed by Lincoln on March 30, one month before the fast day was observed. Washington, D.C. March 30, 1863 By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation. Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation. And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord. And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven.We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity.We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God.We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion. All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh. By the President:Abraham Lincoln William H. Seward, Secretary of State Following the epic victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg during the first week of July, a turning point had been reached. Never again would Lee's mighty army invade the North. Never again would this brilliant commander conduct a major offensive campaign. While the war raged on for almost two more years, the high tide of the Confederacy had been reached and spent, crashing against, and forever receding from, the iron wall of Union resolve which had been constructed and preserved by the hand of God Himself. As a postscript, in gratitude, Lincoln, on July 15, 1863, asked for a day of national thanksgiving, praise, and prayer for 'the wonderful thing He has done in the nation's behalf, to invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue the anger which has produced...a needless and cruel rebellion, to guide the counsels of government, and to visit with tender care and consolation all those, who because of the war, suffer in mind, body, or estate.' Four score and one year later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked the nation to beseech the Almighty for His blessings upon the 'great crusade' that was the D- Day invasion against Hitler's Fortress Europa at Normany, France. The nation heard the prayer via radio on the evening of June 6, 1944, then filled our places of worship to overflowing and the air with the sincere and fervent supplications of a family for it's sons: My Fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far. And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer: Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings.Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph. They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won.The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war. For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace.They fight not for the lust of conquest.They fight to end conquest.They fight to liberate.They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people.They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them,Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts. Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces. And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be. And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose. With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men.And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done,Almighty God. Amen. President Franklin D. Roosevelt - June 6, 1944 May this nation always be on bended knee, pouring out it's heart to a God who has loved and blessed us so. How beautiful are words of remembrance, humility, dependence, and praise for the God who upholds this nation in His love and purposes. Divided voices of arrogant self reliance and selfish ambition ring out a discordant knell of chaos and ruin. What will bring peace, prosperity, and blessing in the will of God, as history has proven, is the united cry of a nation to the One who holds us in His hands and heart. Oh God, may we hear it again, and soon.