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The Statue of Liberty
“Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” is a well-known phrase from the United States Declaration of Independence. The phrase gives three examples of the unalienable rights which the Declaration says have been given to all humans by their Creator, and which governments are created to protect. Standing in New York Harbor is the imposing Statue of Liberty. The copper-clad statue which is 305 feet high, represents freedom and democracy.
“Lady Liberty” was a gift to the United States from the people of France. It was dedicated on October 28, 1886, to commemorate the centennial of the United States Independence.
Four million people pay $25.50 to tour the Statue of Liberty every year. Children 4 and under are free. The ferry ride to the 60 acres Island takes 15-20 minutes.
The statue took nine years to build. It arrived from France by the French steamer Isere in crates holding the disassembled statue on board. The statue is a classically draped woman inspired by the Roman goddess of Liberty, Libertas.
Clad in gold she holds a torch, in her right hand and in her left hand a tablet inscribed JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776). The integral metal framework was made by Gustave Eiffel, who also built the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
She is postured with her left foot on a broken chain and shackle commemorating the national abolition of slavery.
Liberty is not only to be loved, but also to be lived. Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books. It costs too much to be hoarded. It is to be respected and enjoyed.
Liberty is not a license to do what we want. It is the responsibility to live within established limits.. Operating within these expansive rights there is freedom. Our loving Lord offers His guidance to live happily within the restrictive limits of liberty.
Thomas Jefferson noted: “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure, when we have removed their only firm basis — the conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?”
E. Stanley Jones observed, “If we lose our sense of being led, we become victims of circumstances.”
“Look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him, everything else…” wrote C. S. Lewis.
The framers of our Declaration of Independence left us the legacy of these lines: “With firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
“Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near…” (Isaiah 55:6). This is the sure way to find and enjoy liberty.
Bravado Abounded
Wise and courageous men were willing to potentially forfeit their fortunes and/or pay with their lives to enable the establishment of a nation and government like no other.
In breaking away from England they asserted in the Declaration of Independence their belief that all persons are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”
Therein they appealed “to the Supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of our intentions” with “a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence.”
Years lapsed and there came a day when they set about to codify their concept of government in the Constitution. It was intended to guide our nation for all time. It was to be the document by which all laws through the ages should be evaluated.
One area of concern was the desire to avoid establishing a state church like many nations in Europe. Some colonies had already named a specific denomination as its official church.
In Massachusetts a Baptist pastor, Isaac Backus, contended with John Adams, who was to become our second president for freedom from denominational control. As a Baptist he was concerned that the Presbyterian denomination would become the official state church. Doing away with official churches seemed so unrealistic that Adams said, “You might as well expect a change in the solar system as to expect us to give up our established churches.”
Later Thomas Jefferson, considered by some an iconoclast among early presidents in matters of religion, wrote to a body of Baptists intended to insure the government could not give preference to one denomination wrote of “A wall of separation.” Though Jefferson wasn’t involved in the writing of the First Amendment he understood it as intended by those who composed it when they stated, “Congress shall make no laws regarding the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” It was a prohibition against the government establishing any one denomination as the official church of the state. The restriction was on the government, not churches.
Today the application of the amendment is not in keeping with the intent of those who wrote our Constitution and the Amendments. As an indication of what that congress meant look at the agenda items passed by the body. In their first session they appointed a chaplain of the congress and chaplains for the armed forces. It resolved that the inauguration of George Washington should culminate with a worship service at St. Paul’s Chapel, an Anglican Church. On that same day they called on the President to proclaim a day of “public thanksgiving and prayer.”
As confirmation of what Jefferson meant by the wall of separation consider that during his term as president the primary textbooks in public schools were the Bible and Watts Hymnal. He attended the first church service held in the House of Representatives on January 3, 1802, and continued to do so for seven years. The Marine Corps Band played, Sunday School was held in the Supreme Court Building and Treasury Building.
Constitutional Law was for years the basis of all law in America. Former Justice Felix Frankfurter said, “What governs is the Constitution, and not what we have written about it.” In recent years instead of interpreting and making laws in accordance with the intent of those who wrote the Constitution and Amendments some jurists base interpretations on public opinion, present trends, and even laws of other nations with little or no regard to the intended meaning of the document designed to govern us.
As a consequence there has been much change in our culture. By using the current means of establishing laws any change is possible.
Prayer and the Constitution
Eleven years had lapsed since a brave and courageous band of men signed the Declaration of Independence with a “firm reliance on the protection of Divine providence.” It was now time to forge a document by which the emerging nation should be governed.
This delegation of 55 members met in the same State House Chamber in Philadelphia in which the Second Continental Congress met to sign the Declaration of Independence.
Throughout the war with England the Continental Congress prayed often, individually and publicly, acknowledging their dependence on God, but members of the Constitutional Convention had not.
The Constitutional Convention was contentious and divided during their first five weeks. The northern states insisted the number representing each state should be based solely on the number of residents in each state. The southern agricultural states insisted it be based on the number of cultivated acres.
It appeared the contention within the body would result in irreconcilable division with one state even threatening to identify with a different nation. There was a threat that the military should be engaged to keep the body from self-disrupting.
George Washington, who presided at the convention, realized he needed another miracle to hold the body together and the forging of a constitution by which they should be governed.
The eighty-one year old Benjamin Franklin, like Washington, had rarely engaged in the debates. Nevertheless, he gained the floor and addressed the assembly. In part he said, “I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proof I see of this truth, that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid.”
He then proposed they have a clergy come in and lead the body in prayer. Comments were made regarding the idea. Today critics are quick to note Franklin’s proposal was never even voted on, much less approved. They fail to explain what happened and why. In the following debate it was suggested that a minister be brought in and the body have prayer. Alexander Hamilton noted this was something that should have been done much earlier and if at this late date clergy was brought in the public would conclude conditions were dire, if not impossible. Hugh Williamson of North Carolina noted they did not have funds with which to engage a clergy earlier. Thus, the idea failed.
Edmond Randolph proposed a sermon be preached at the behest of the delegates on July 4, the date said to be the date of the signing of the Declamation of Independence. Such was done at Christ Church in Philadelphia with Reverend William White preaching a message centered on trusting God for wisdom.
The Constitutional Convention went back to work with a conciliatory spirit and on September 17, 1787 the final vote was taken and the Constitution approved.
On April 9, 1789 the Constitutional Congress met for the first time. The spirit of Franklin was enacted as the first item on the agenda was the appointment of two chaplains, one for the House and one for the Senate, both salaried by funds from the national treasury.
Prayer gave birth to America. Prayer is needed to sustain America.
Can People in Heaven See People on Earth?
The Bible does not provide a definitive answer. Interpretations vary on whether their awareness includes seeing specific individuals or events. There are some Scripture passages considered by some to imply they can. There are however no passages indicating the practices are the standard, the norm. One such complex passage in the book of Hebrews where the writer recalls the great men and women of faith who have gone before us and are now in heaven. Then he adds, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses… let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1). They are not witnesses in the sense of being observers, but as persons whose lives testify of God’s faithfulness. Their lives are examples rather than them being expositors.
Before going further reflect on the love and good times you had with your heaven residing loved ones. Rejoice in having love with them while they were with you. Accept the fact of your shared love and blessings. Memories are a gift of God to enable us to recall joyous experiences long after our loved ones have departed. Enjoy the memories.
I do not want to minimize the grief and sorrow brought about on earth by the “loss” of a loved one even if they are in heaven. Their absence leaves an incomparable void. Time spent thanking the Lord for past experiences helps fill that chasm.
The concept of people in heaven being preoccupied with people on earth minimizes the glory of heaven. With all that is going on in heaven it is hard to imagine conduct on earth not causing some sorrow for persons in heaven.
There will be no sickness, no sorrow or sadness in heaven. If people in heaven are occupied with activities on earth there surely would be. Wouldn’t people looking down on their unhappy loved ones be unhappy as a result of their misfortune and misery here?
Heaven is a place of total happiness and peace. We can be confident that our loved ones who have gone before us into heaven would be disturbed or upset over the evil things happening here on earth shattering the positive image of heaven.
We tend to get joy out of thinking people see our positive accomplishments, victories, and achievements. If so, would they not also see our defeats, losses, and griefs and be saddened by such?
The idea that little Billy hit a home run in his Little League baseball game and Pepaw was leaning over a golden rail in heaven cheering for him and bringing him good luck is in no way supported by Scripture. Pepaw was more likely with the Apostle John and friends talking with Jesus and thanking Him for what He did at Calvary. Rejoice over that or an even more likely similar scenario.
Heaven is not earthbound life on steroids. It is a totally different state. Some issues challenge our understanding, but some day “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).
The Voices of the Fathers
This meaningful holiday is a marvelous time to reflect on the opinions of our founders. Hear them speak from their graves.
“Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon the earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?” – John Quincy Adams, July 4, 1837 Address
“It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it [the Constitution] a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution.” — James Madison, The Federalist, No. 37.
“We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government -far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” (James Madison, Russ Walton, Biblical Principles of Importance to Godly Christians [New Hampshire: Plymouth Foundation, 1984], p. 361).
“God, who gave us life, gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are a gift of God?” (Thomas Jefferson, “In Love with Eloquence,” p. 30)
“The man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude toward the great Author of the Universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested in our behalf. And it is my earnest prayer that we may so conduct ourselves as to merit a continuance of those blessings with which we have hitherto been favored.” – George Washington
“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!” (Abraham Lincoln, proclaimed A Proclamation for National prayer and humiliation.”)
Ezra Taft Benson was not a founder, but a patriot in the 20th Century. “I support the doctrine of separation of church and state as traditionally interpreted to prohibit the establishment of an official national religion. But this does not mean that we should divorce government from any formal recognition of God. To do so strikes a potentially fatal blow at the concept of the divine origin of our rights, and unlocks the door for an easy entry of future tyranny. If Americans should ever come to believe that their rights and freedoms are instituted among men by politicians and bureaucrats, they will no longer carry the proud inheritance of their forefathers, but will grovel before their masters seeking favors and dispensations — a throwback to the feudal system of the Dark Ages.”