Independence Day Revisited

This past week our nation celebrated its 235th anniversary. Much has happened. Our country has come a long way since those days when 55 men, meeting in Philadelphia, signed their names to a document declaring independence from Great Britain. That document - the Declaration of Independence - is among the most significant in the world.

This year I have been reading through William Bennett's "The American Patriot's Almanac." (By the way, I highly recommend this for anyone who has an interest in history). The insights and stories for each day have brought new meaning to being an American. I would like to share with you what he wrote for July 5. Dr. Bennett quoted from a speech that President Calvin Coolidge gave on July 5, 1926 in Philadelphia commemorating the 150th anniversary of the writing of the Declaration. I was moved by what President Coolidge said. Read through it carefully:

Our forefathers came to certain conclusions and decided upon certain courses of action which have been a great blessing to the world....They were a people who came under the influence of a great spiritual development and acquired a great moral power.

No other theory is adequate to explain or comprehend the Declaration of Independence. It is the product of the spiritual insight of the people. We live in an age of science and of abounding accumulation of material things. These did not create our Declaration. Our Declaration created them. The things of the spirit come first. Unless we cling to that, all our material prosperity, overwhelming though it may appear, will turn to a barren scepter in our grasp. If we are to maintain the great heritage which has been bequeathed to us, we must be like-minded as the fathers who created it. We must not sink into a pagan materialism. We must cultivate the reverence which they had for the things that are holy. We must follow the spiritual and moral leadership which they showed. We must keep replenished, that they may glow with a more compelling flame, the altar fires before which they worshiped.

Did you hear what President Coolidge said? The Declaration of Independence is really a spiritual document. It was written by men who had a spiritual purpose about them. And that the success we have enjoyed as Americans over the years has been because of these spiritual roots that have held our nation together these many years. People, especially political leaders, do not talk like that any more. Seldom is any reference made to God, except at the close of a speech with those perfunctory words, "God bless America." In fact, it seems that we are doing everything possible to eliminate all references to God from our history and from our contemporary culture. I think if President Coolidge were here today he might say to us, "It is time to return to those roots that made our nation what it truly was. It is time to get back to those principles of faith that guided our founding fathers." Sadly that does not seem to be the language our politicians share today.

Friends, God cannot bless America if our nation's leaders and educators continue their bent to walk as far away as possible from those principles of biblical truth. The day will soon come when God will deal with us as He dealt with Israel of old - we will be ruined from forces from the outside but not before we have been ruined from forces within. It is time to wake up and to heed those words of 2 Chronicles 7:14.