“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. And in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their United Government, the tranquil deliberations, and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which most Governments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage.”
George Washington
Inaugural Address – April 30, 1789
“I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our fathers, as Israel of old, from their native land and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with His providence and our riper years with His wisdom and power, and to whose goodness I ask you to join in supplications with me that He will so enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their councils, and prosper their measures that whatsoever they do shall result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of all nations.”
Thomas Jefferson
2nd Inaugural Address – March 4, 1805
I am somewhat disgusted today at our lack of commitment to this great country that has provided us so much. Parents leave their kids, the future of our country, in locked cars while they tend to things of “greater importance” like the latest released movie or that cute little skirt. The pursuit of wealth and material goods has greater importance than well-being and spiritual progression.
Regardless of whether you are a person of faith or not, you can not deny the greatness of our God-fearing founding fathers. One of the great attributes they demonstrated was faith in a greater purpose. Each state, each representative had there own agenda, their own beliefs which they championed, each believing in a cause greater than their own. Compromise wasn’t some cute novelty; it was a necessity for the survival of their idealistic principles. These men were accountable for the very inception and subsequent survival of this great nation in which we live.
Today I fear we have lost our passion for greatness and found ourselves in internal strife. We have succumbed to complacency and mediocrity. It appears now that there is no room for compromise. Our legislators today are more concerned with the Red-team or the Blue-team than the well-being of the United States of America, the great country that offers them the opportunity to be career politicians. Instead of compromise, self conservation is the banner they wave. The greater good appears to mean very little until election time. They portend to have the people’s interests at heart yet do not appear to have the fortitude to make a real difference on the most important issues facing the United States today.
As with the great figures of our past, we need to strive for something greater, something nobler. We need to make this country great once more. Think of what has been sacrificed and at what cost to those who came before. Give in to the idealistic thinkers of yester year and take hold of the future with “humble anticipation.”
“And may that Being who is supreme over all, the Patron of Order, the Fountain of Justice, and the Protector in all ages of the world of virtuous liberty, continue His blessing upon this nation and its Government and give it all possible success and duration consistent with the ends of His providence.”
Diatribe
John Adams
Inaugural Address – March 4, 1797
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