The records of the Second Continental Congress, indicate that it was a very warm day in Philadelphia when the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence met to put their names on the document that changed human history. Never before had subjects of a monarch declared that they had certain unalienable rights given them by “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God.”
Like any document created by human hands, it, of course, had flaws. At that time half a million people were “in chains,” as John Adams put it in his argument, but compromise was inevitable to secure the vote for independence and the signing of the Declaration.
Compromise with its acceptance of what is distasteful is sometimes necessary. There are lines, however, that we cannot cross. Making the determination what and where they are calls for prayerful discernment, a realization that sometimes half a loaf is better than none, but knowing where to draw the line. It’s easy to fault people in the past for what we may consider unnecessary compromises but we did not live in those times. The question for us today is where are our lines and what can we not compromise.
Prayer for the Day
Searching for ways to free ourselves from a past that chains us,
We come to you, O God, for the promise of freedom you offer;
Grasping at the frayed edges of our youthful dreams,
We look for the healing that only you can bring.
Plagued by the aimlessness that clouds our vision,
We pray for your grace to direct us.
In the name of him who came to give us clearer vision,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The flames kindled on the 4th of July 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume these engines and all who work them.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
…is to be understood that the principles of the Declaration of Independence bear no relation to half the human race?
Harriet Martineau, English social theorist (1802-1876)
The desire of the poor you have heard, O Lord, you make their heart firm
Your ear listens to do justice for the orphan and the wretched,
And none oppress anyone in the land.
Psalm 10: 17-18