I WRITE YOU TODAY WITH A PRAYER ON MY HEART OF DEEP CONCERN FOR THE WELL BEING OF AMERICA,
IT IS 3:31 AM TUESDAY MORNING, AS I PUT THE PEN TO MY THOUGHTS. AS I WOKE UP THOUGHTS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE WERE STIRRING IN MY SPIRIT. I FELT I SHOULD SHARE LESSONS I LEARNED IN SCHOOL AND FELT I SHOULD NOT ABRIDGE THIS STORY FROM AMERICAN HISTORY BUT THAT I SHOULD COPY AND PASTE IT WORD FOR WORD AS WRITTEN BY KATHLEEN CURRAN SWEENY IN, THE IMAGINATIVE CONSERVATIVE
IT IS MY INTENTION TO USE MATERIAL OF THIS NATURE AS STORIES OF PROVIDENCE. IN THE BOOK I HAVE IN MY HEART TO EXPAND INSIGHT ON GOD'S INTERVENTION IN THE AFFAIRS ON MANKIND.
George Washington called these stories KIND PROVIDENCE, these stories are well-known but worth reviewing, since they serve as witnesses to us in our own challenging circumstances.
The first American is our celebrated George Washington. While his life is famous, we may not have considered certain incidents in the light of his spiritual life of faith. Such considerations are presented in The Spiritual Journey of George Washington (2013) by Janice T. Connell. I will here focus on some particularly striking episodes described in her book, which become significant in light of an extraordinary spiritual event that occurred in Washington's darkest hour of the Revolutionary War.
The foundation for George Washington's strong and personal Christian faith is revealed in an anecdote relating how his father Augustine chose to teach him about the fatherhood of God. It is told that Augustine had him plant cabbage seeds in a pattern spelling out "George," and, after George carefully watered it for a while and his name emerged, the young George expressed amazement and asked, "How did this happen?" His father explained, "This is a great thing, an important thing, a vital thing…. I want you to understand my son that I am introducing you to your true father, the source and sustenance of all life, even yours" (p.6).
George's mother was very devout and strict in observance of the Christian faith and taught young George the Bible from the cradle so that it became a source of strength for him in the challenges he was to face. This included hardship and suffering as well as strenuous work while growing up. When he was 11 years old, George's father died and his mother, then a widow with six children, had to rely on her eldest son (George), who held her legal rights (p.68). The experience of these years shaped George's physical and emotional strength as well as skills in business enterprise. When his older half-brother Lawrence, who had been a great help to him, died of tuberculosis, 20-year-old George endured another suffering and challenge in which his faith in God's ways was tested; yet it endured.
Sent into the Ohio valley as a young officer (22 years old) to challenge the French stronghold of Fort Duquesne, George Washington was faced with a hopeless military task. Yet he learned to call on moral force as well as diplomacy in this situation. The Indian leaders of the Ohio Valley took note of the young Virginia officer, and the Indians' "Half King" told them that he discerned in him a spiritual greatness and that he could trust him. (p.57) Particularly striking was an incident that occurred in which Washington and an aide were cutting through the woods when they were ambushed by a party of French Indians. One of the Indians, who Washington said was "not fifteen steps off," fired directly at the Virginian's chest, yet the bullet did no harm to him despite being discharged at such close range. The firing Indian, it is reported, fell to his knees to worship "the giant his shotgun would not kill" (quoted from Washington's diaries of 1753 by Lonnelle Aikman in Rider with a Destiny (1983).
As a captain in the French & Indian war, Washington developed severe dysentery, as the British were attempting to liberate Fort Duquesne from the French. Determined nevertheless to participate in the battle, he tied several pillows to his saddle to lessen his pain. During the fierce combat, his horse was shot out from under him twice but each time he found another horse and remounted with his pillows. Seated high on his pillows, he was an easy mark for the hidden riflemen.
An unseen rifleman fired at his face and pierced his hat. Two more bullets scorched through his hat…. Then hot lead pierced his uniform, but he remained untouched. Eyewitnesses were both stunned and frightened. The myth of the invincible George Washington, an American Achilles, was born during that battle (Connell, p. 61).
In a letter George wrote to his brother John in 1755, he said of the battle: "By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation, for I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me."
The times when George seemed almost miraculously preserved from death were described in Patriot Sage (ed. Gary Gregg and Matthew Spalding.)
His immunity to gunfire seemed almost supernatural…. Once he rode between two columns of his own men who were firing at one another by mistake and struck up their guns with his sword—the musket balls whizzed harmlessly by his head. Time and again during the Revolutionary War musket balls tore his clothes, knocked off his hat, and shredded his cape; horses were killed under him; but he was never touched. What mortal could refuse to entrust his life to a man whom God obviously favored?
A biography by John Alden described what happened at the Battle of Princeton during the Revolutionary War:
Washington firmly believed that it was "Kind Providence" that protected and led him. In a letter to Samuel Langdon (1789), he wrote:
Then there is the famous Indian prophecy: In 1772, when Washington was on a business trip traveling through the Ohio valley with a group of hunters, an aged Indian chief of imposing appearance rose to his feet at the camp fire, bowed to Washington with great deference, and addressed the group with these words:
These stories are important preludes to the most extraordinary experience of all. In the darkest days of discouragement at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777, Washington was deeply concerned about his men and the prospects of their desperate war for freedom. As was his habit, the commander turned to prayer for help from God. Then, alone in his quarters, he looked up to see standing across from him a beautiful lady. Her sudden appearance startled and transfixed him. As he related afterwards to Anthony Sherman and another officer, the atmosphere seemed to grow luminous, and after some time as he gazed fixedly in wonderment at the lady, he heard her address him: "Son of the Republic, look and learn," while pointing eastward. He then was shown a vision of European countries from which a cloud moved across the Atlantic and enveloped America. He heard groans from America, but eventually the cloud moved back across the ocean. Then the lady again said, "Son of the Republic, look and learn," and he was shown a vision of America filling up with towns and cities from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Next, in another vision, he was shown the inhabitants of America battling against each other until a bright angel with a crown bearing the word "Union" placed an American flag between the warring parties and cried, "Remember, Ye are brethren," after which the inhabitants threw down their weapons and became friends again around the flag.
In a final vision, he was shown hordes of armed men coming across the ocean from Europe, Asia, and Africa and attacking America, devastating the whole country. But finally, a bright angel rolled back the dark cloud over America and the attacking armies, and the inhabitants of America were left victorious. The angel proclaimed in a loud voice: "While the stars remain and the heavens send down dew upon the earth, so long shall the Union last." The lady addressed him once more, saying "Son of the Republic, what you have seen is thus: three great perils will come upon the Republic. The most fearful is the third, but the whole world united shall not prevail upon her. Let every child of the Republic learn to live for God, his land and the Union." She then disappeared from his sight.
This is a brief summary of the visions. It is most moving to read the entire account as recounted in The National Tribune of December 1880 (available online and in the Library of Congress), and repeated in Janice Connell's book. The Blessed Mother Mary has often appeared at times of great need and dangers. Since George Washington had a business partnership with Daniel Carroll, the brother of the Jesuit Fr. John Carroll, it is most likely that he would have shared his vision with Fr. Carroll. Then in 1792, as the first Archbishop of America, John Carroll made a solemn and official consecration of the new nation to Mary Immaculate in 1792.
Washington continued his faith in the guidance of "Kind Providence" as he served in Congress and as President of the young nation, which he believed was destined to unfold the loving plan of Kind Providence for the benefit of her people whom God loved. He was aware of the importance in the developments of world history. He had written to General Thomas Nelson in 1778 that the Hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this [Revolutionary War] that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations (Connell, p. 96).
Washington consistently shared his religious convictions on the national stage, while always being respectful of different denominations and other religions. The phrase used at the conclusion of the presidential oath, "So help me God," and the gesture of kissing the Bible were improvisations of Washington. His prayer life was private but its fruit was public. He always considered that he was a beneficiary of God's merciful providence and a servant of His plan to accomplish justice and peace in the new nation. According to Connell, "Washington prayed often that he might adhere to God's loving plan for his life of service to his new nation" (p.80). When retiring from his command of the Continental Army, he wrote to the governors of the 13 states, concluding with this prayer:
Finally, in his Farewell Address, 1796, Washington advised:
So as I continue gathering copy for our book, I ask you to pray for me that God will direct my thought's, for his ultimate intention to be fulfilled.
These verses will be a back bone in regard with what I desire to share with you and if you have some personal providential stories from your families we could use in regard to this subject, I would appreciate anything you might have that would be something that might help us in this project.
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT PROVIDENCE
Genesis 50:20 (NKJV) "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."
Psalm 103:19 (NKJV) "The Lord has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all."
Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV) "A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps."
Proverbs 16:33 (NKJV) "The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord."
Isaiah 14:24 (NKJV) "The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, ‘Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:'"
Isaiah 45:9–12 (NKJV) "Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?' Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands'? Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?' Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?' Thus says the Lord, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: ‘Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me. I have made the earth, And created man on it. I—My hands—stretched out the heavens, And all their host I have commanded.'"
Isaiah 46:10 (NKJV) "Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,'"
Jeremiah 18:5–6 (NKJV) "Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the Lord. "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!"
Romans 8:28 (NKJV) "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
Romans 11:36 (NKJV) "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."
Ephesians 1:11 (NKJV) "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,"
PROVIDENTIALLY A PART OF YOUR LIVES,
PASTOR CLEDDIE KEITH
IT IS 3:31 AM TUESDAY MORNING, AS I PUT THE PEN TO MY THOUGHTS. AS I WOKE UP THOUGHTS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE WERE STIRRING IN MY SPIRIT. I FELT I SHOULD SHARE LESSONS I LEARNED IN SCHOOL AND FELT I SHOULD NOT ABRIDGE THIS STORY FROM AMERICAN HISTORY BUT THAT I SHOULD COPY AND PASTE IT WORD FOR WORD AS WRITTEN BY KATHLEEN CURRAN SWEENY IN, THE IMAGINATIVE CONSERVATIVE
IT IS MY INTENTION TO USE MATERIAL OF THIS NATURE AS STORIES OF PROVIDENCE. IN THE BOOK I HAVE IN MY HEART TO EXPAND INSIGHT ON GOD'S INTERVENTION IN THE AFFAIRS ON MANKIND.
George Washington called these stories KIND PROVIDENCE, these stories are well-known but worth reviewing, since they serve as witnesses to us in our own challenging circumstances.
The first American is our celebrated George Washington. While his life is famous, we may not have considered certain incidents in the light of his spiritual life of faith. Such considerations are presented in The Spiritual Journey of George Washington (2013) by Janice T. Connell. I will here focus on some particularly striking episodes described in her book, which become significant in light of an extraordinary spiritual event that occurred in Washington's darkest hour of the Revolutionary War.
The foundation for George Washington's strong and personal Christian faith is revealed in an anecdote relating how his father Augustine chose to teach him about the fatherhood of God. It is told that Augustine had him plant cabbage seeds in a pattern spelling out "George," and, after George carefully watered it for a while and his name emerged, the young George expressed amazement and asked, "How did this happen?" His father explained, "This is a great thing, an important thing, a vital thing…. I want you to understand my son that I am introducing you to your true father, the source and sustenance of all life, even yours" (p.6).
George's mother was very devout and strict in observance of the Christian faith and taught young George the Bible from the cradle so that it became a source of strength for him in the challenges he was to face. This included hardship and suffering as well as strenuous work while growing up. When he was 11 years old, George's father died and his mother, then a widow with six children, had to rely on her eldest son (George), who held her legal rights (p.68). The experience of these years shaped George's physical and emotional strength as well as skills in business enterprise. When his older half-brother Lawrence, who had been a great help to him, died of tuberculosis, 20-year-old George endured another suffering and challenge in which his faith in God's ways was tested; yet it endured.
Sent into the Ohio valley as a young officer (22 years old) to challenge the French stronghold of Fort Duquesne, George Washington was faced with a hopeless military task. Yet he learned to call on moral force as well as diplomacy in this situation. The Indian leaders of the Ohio Valley took note of the young Virginia officer, and the Indians' "Half King" told them that he discerned in him a spiritual greatness and that he could trust him. (p.57) Particularly striking was an incident that occurred in which Washington and an aide were cutting through the woods when they were ambushed by a party of French Indians. One of the Indians, who Washington said was "not fifteen steps off," fired directly at the Virginian's chest, yet the bullet did no harm to him despite being discharged at such close range. The firing Indian, it is reported, fell to his knees to worship "the giant his shotgun would not kill" (quoted from Washington's diaries of 1753 by Lonnelle Aikman in Rider with a Destiny (1983).
As a captain in the French & Indian war, Washington developed severe dysentery, as the British were attempting to liberate Fort Duquesne from the French. Determined nevertheless to participate in the battle, he tied several pillows to his saddle to lessen his pain. During the fierce combat, his horse was shot out from under him twice but each time he found another horse and remounted with his pillows. Seated high on his pillows, he was an easy mark for the hidden riflemen.
An unseen rifleman fired at his face and pierced his hat. Two more bullets scorched through his hat…. Then hot lead pierced his uniform, but he remained untouched. Eyewitnesses were both stunned and frightened. The myth of the invincible George Washington, an American Achilles, was born during that battle (Connell, p. 61).
In a letter George wrote to his brother John in 1755, he said of the battle: "By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation, for I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me."
The times when George seemed almost miraculously preserved from death were described in Patriot Sage (ed. Gary Gregg and Matthew Spalding.)
His immunity to gunfire seemed almost supernatural…. Once he rode between two columns of his own men who were firing at one another by mistake and struck up their guns with his sword—the musket balls whizzed harmlessly by his head. Time and again during the Revolutionary War musket balls tore his clothes, knocked off his hat, and shredded his cape; horses were killed under him; but he was never touched. What mortal could refuse to entrust his life to a man whom God obviously favored?
A biography by John Alden described what happened at the Battle of Princeton during the Revolutionary War:
[Washington] preferred to risk his own life to achieve success rather than to remain safely behind his men and perhaps in consequence to receive reports of defeat. Conspicuous on a white horse, he rode forward within thirty yards of the British line, urging the men to follow him in attack. The smoke of gunfire enveloped him. His men feared that he was slain, but he was unscathed. The Patriots rallied behind him" (George Washington, A Biography, 1984).
Washington firmly believed that it was "Kind Providence" that protected and led him. In a letter to Samuel Langdon (1789), he wrote:
The man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude towards the great Author of the Universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested on 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.
Then there is the famous Indian prophecy: In 1772, when Washington was on a business trip traveling through the Ohio valley with a group of hunters, an aged Indian chief of imposing appearance rose to his feet at the camp fire, bowed to Washington with great deference, and addressed the group with these words:
I am chief and ruler over my tribes. My influence extends to the waters of the great lakes and to the far Blue Mountains. I have traveled a long and weary path that I may see the young warrior of the great battle. It was on the day when the white man's blood mixed with the streams of our forest, that I first beheld this chief. I called to my young men and said, mark yon tall and daring warrior? He is not of the red coat tribe—he hath an Indian's wisdom and his warriors fight as we do—himself alone is exposed. Quick, let your aim be certain and he dies. Our rifles were leveled, rifles which, but for him, knew not how to miss—twas all in vain, a power mightier far than we shielded him from harm. He cannot die in battle. I am old and soon shall be gathered to the great council fire of my fathers in the land of shades but ere I go there is something bids me speak in the voice of prophecy. Listen! The Great Spirit protects that man and guides his destinies—he will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire" (George Washington, the Christian, 1919, by William J. Johnson).
These stories are important preludes to the most extraordinary experience of all. In the darkest days of discouragement at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777, Washington was deeply concerned about his men and the prospects of their desperate war for freedom. As was his habit, the commander turned to prayer for help from God. Then, alone in his quarters, he looked up to see standing across from him a beautiful lady. Her sudden appearance startled and transfixed him. As he related afterwards to Anthony Sherman and another officer, the atmosphere seemed to grow luminous, and after some time as he gazed fixedly in wonderment at the lady, he heard her address him: "Son of the Republic, look and learn," while pointing eastward. He then was shown a vision of European countries from which a cloud moved across the Atlantic and enveloped America. He heard groans from America, but eventually the cloud moved back across the ocean. Then the lady again said, "Son of the Republic, look and learn," and he was shown a vision of America filling up with towns and cities from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Next, in another vision, he was shown the inhabitants of America battling against each other until a bright angel with a crown bearing the word "Union" placed an American flag between the warring parties and cried, "Remember, Ye are brethren," after which the inhabitants threw down their weapons and became friends again around the flag.
In a final vision, he was shown hordes of armed men coming across the ocean from Europe, Asia, and Africa and attacking America, devastating the whole country. But finally, a bright angel rolled back the dark cloud over America and the attacking armies, and the inhabitants of America were left victorious. The angel proclaimed in a loud voice: "While the stars remain and the heavens send down dew upon the earth, so long shall the Union last." The lady addressed him once more, saying "Son of the Republic, what you have seen is thus: three great perils will come upon the Republic. The most fearful is the third, but the whole world united shall not prevail upon her. Let every child of the Republic learn to live for God, his land and the Union." She then disappeared from his sight.
This is a brief summary of the visions. It is most moving to read the entire account as recounted in The National Tribune of December 1880 (available online and in the Library of Congress), and repeated in Janice Connell's book. The Blessed Mother Mary has often appeared at times of great need and dangers. Since George Washington had a business partnership with Daniel Carroll, the brother of the Jesuit Fr. John Carroll, it is most likely that he would have shared his vision with Fr. Carroll. Then in 1792, as the first Archbishop of America, John Carroll made a solemn and official consecration of the new nation to Mary Immaculate in 1792.
Washington continued his faith in the guidance of "Kind Providence" as he served in Congress and as President of the young nation, which he believed was destined to unfold the loving plan of Kind Providence for the benefit of her people whom God loved. He was aware of the importance in the developments of world history. He had written to General Thomas Nelson in 1778 that the Hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this [Revolutionary War] that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations (Connell, p. 96).
Washington consistently shared his religious convictions on the national stage, while always being respectful of different denominations and other religions. The phrase used at the conclusion of the presidential oath, "So help me God," and the gesture of kissing the Bible were improvisations of Washington. His prayer life was private but its fruit was public. He always considered that he was a beneficiary of God's merciful providence and a servant of His plan to accomplish justice and peace in the new nation. According to Connell, "Washington prayed often that he might adhere to God's loving plan for his life of service to his new nation" (p.80). When retiring from his command of the Continental Army, he wrote to the governors of the 13 states, concluding with this prayer:
I now make it my earnest prayer that God you preside in His holy protection… that He would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity, humility and pacific temper of mind which were the Characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion [Judeo-Christianity], without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation. —The Circular Address to the States, June 8, 1783
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man ought to respect & to cherish them…. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure—reason & experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
These verses will be a back bone in regard with what I desire to share with you and if you have some personal providential stories from your families we could use in regard to this subject, I would appreciate anything you might have that would be something that might help us in this project.
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT PROVIDENCE
Genesis 50:20 (NKJV) "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."
Psalm 103:19 (NKJV) "The Lord has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all."
Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV) "A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps."
Proverbs 16:33 (NKJV) "The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord."
Isaiah 14:24 (NKJV) "The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, ‘Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:'"
Isaiah 45:9–12 (NKJV) "Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?' Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands'? Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?' Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?' Thus says the Lord, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: ‘Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me. I have made the earth, And created man on it. I—My hands—stretched out the heavens, And all their host I have commanded.'"
Isaiah 46:10 (NKJV) "Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,'"
Jeremiah 18:5–6 (NKJV) "Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the Lord. "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!"
Romans 8:28 (NKJV) "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
Romans 11:36 (NKJV) "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."
Ephesians 1:11 (NKJV) "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,"
PROVIDENTIALLY A PART OF YOUR LIVES,
PASTOR CLEDDIE KEITH