As we are now at the midpoint of the July 4 weekend, it is perhaps a good time to look back at what the Founders accomplished and why. True, they were all men believing that women were too gentle and fragile, to survive in the rough and tumbler world of politics, although one would think the example of some female monarchs would have dissuaded them from that belief.
And, they were all lily-white and, for the most part, aristocrats, men who believed in the importance of virtue and character, values that are clearly lacking in certain current day politicians. They had limits for many held slaves. But they were extraordinary by their originality of thought, as historian Gordon Wood noted.
It’s easy to pass judgment on people who were from another age, who reflected not just their time, but the very best of their time. The Founders believed in the future, a future in which their ideas would become the foundation of an expansion of freedom, not its limitation, as some today hold.
Prayer for the Day
Ever Present God, open to us a new vision,
One that goes beyond our preconceived ideas;
Shake us from our slumber, awakening in us a new heart,
One that extends your promise of justice to all.
Clothe us with your Spirit and invest in us a new insight,
Kneading us into your loaf of life for all to eat.
In the name of the One who is your Bread of life,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Let us abhor Superstition and Bigotry, which are the Parents of Sloth and Slavery. Let us make War upon Ignorance and Barbarity of Manners. Let us invite the Arts and Sciences to reside amongst us. Let us encourage every thing which tends to exalt and embellish our Characters. And in fine, let the Love of our Country be manifested by that which is the only true Manifestation of it, a patriotic soul and a public Spirit.
William Livingston, first Governor of New Jersey (1923-1790)
Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge people fairly?
No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.
The wicked go astray from the womb; they err from their birth, speaking lies.
They have venom, like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ears.
Psalm 58: 1-4