By Ray Barmore
GEORGE WASHINGTON
(This article was taken from the book “Rediscovering God in America” by Newt Gingrich featuring the photography of Callista Gingrich. This article is the fourth of many based on that book)
“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God and to obey his will.” George Washington
Washington took the oath of office on April 30, 1789, with his hand on the Bible. Immediately following the oath, Washington added, "So help me God," and bent forward and kissed the Bible before him. He then delivered America's first inaugural address, in which he made note of America's indebtedness to our Creator, stating: No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of Providential agency.
THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT
From the base of the Washington Monument to its aluminum capstone, this memorial to our first president is filled with references to our Creator. This is no coincidence, as George Washington was a profoundly religious man.
The ceremonial cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848, with much fanfare, although the stone was eventually covered up during the construction, and its exact location is unknown today. Many items were placed inside of it, including a Holy Bible and a gift from the Bible Society. They were placed alongside copies of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.
The east side of the capstone reads the Latin inscription Laus Deo, which means "Praise be to God."
As you walk inside the monument, you will see a memorial plaque from the Free Press Methodist-Episcopal Church, which was donated in 1893 by the Sabbath School Children of the Philadelphia Congregation.
This is the first of many references to God, including a prayer offered by the city of Baltimore on the twelfth landing, a memorial offered by Chinese Christians on the twentieth landing, and a presentation made by Sunday school children from New York and Philadelphia on the twenty-fourth landing.
Other carved tribute blocks in the Washington Monument include: "Holiness to the Lord"; "Search the Scriptures"; "The memory of the just is blessed"; "May Heaven to this union continue its beneficence"; "In God We Trust"; and "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
THE FAITH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON
During the first meeting of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in September, George Washington prayed alongside the other delegates, including Patrick Henry, John Jay, and Edmund Randolph, as they received the news that war with England had erupted in Boston. Here Anabaptists, Quakers, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Unitarians, and Presbyterians all recited Psalm 35 together as patriots.
George Washington also proclaimed the first national day of thanksgiving in the United States. In 1795 he offered a proclamation of prayer and thanksgiving to the nation. His entire proclamation follows:
“When we review the calamities which afflict so many other nations, the present condition of the United States affords much matter of consolation and satisfaction. Our exemption hitherto from foreign war, an increasing prospect of the continuance of that exemption, the great degree of internal tranquility we have enjoyed, the recent confirmation of that tranquility by the suppression of an insurrection which so wantonly threatened it, the happy course of our public affairs in general, the unexampled prosperity of all classes of our citizens, are circumstances which peculiarly mark our situation with indications of the Divine beneficence toward us. In such a state of things it is in an especial manner our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experience. Deeply penetrated with this sentiment, I, George Washington, President of the United States, do recommend to all religious societies and denominations, and to all persons whomsoever, within the United States to set apart and observe Thursday, the 19th day of February next, as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, and on that day to meet together and render their sincere and hearty thanks to the Great Ruler of Nations for the manifold and signal mercies which distinguish our lot as a nation, particularly for the possession of constitutions of government which unite and by their union establish liberty with order; for the preservation of our peace, foreign and domestic; for the seasonable control which has been given to a spirit of disorder in the suppression of the late insurrection, and generally, for the prosperous course of our affairs, public and private; and at the same time humbly and fervently to beseech the kind Author of these blessings graciously to prolong them to us; to imprint on our hearts a deep and solemn sense of our obligations to Him for them; to teach us rightly to estimate their immense value; to preserve us from the arrogance of prosperity, and from hazarding the advantages we enjoy by delusive pursuits; to dispose us to merit the continuance of His favors by not abusing them; by our gratitude for them, and by a correspondent conduct as citizens and men; to render this country more and more a safe and propitious asylum for the unfortunate of other countries; to extend among us true and useful knowledge; to diffuse and establish habits of sobriety, order, morality, and piety, and finally, to impart all the blessings we possess, or ask for ourselves, to the whole family of mankind.”
Ray R Barmore
Health and Wellness Coach
The Herbal Guy
San Diego
California
619-876-5273
Skype: barmore4
Email Me
Other Blog:
Health and Nutrition
Other Websites:
Integrated marketing
Organo Gold
Herbalife