On the fortified bluffs above New York City, George Washington addressed one of the first gatherings of an American army. It was two days before America declared itself a nation.
“The time is now near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves. … The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army.”
Washington, a man with little religious formation, was asserting that American independence depended on the men before him and, ultimately, on God. The Continental Army lost that early battle. It took five years and unimaginable hardships and courage to secure victory and the blessings that came with the dedication and sacrifice of this greatest of American founders and his fellow American patriots. Washington was truly a spiritual father to our country, a God-given gift to those born in America.
On a wind-swept day 87 years later, Abraham Lincoln made the battlefield address at Gettysburg, his words forever part of our guiding prayer:
“… That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Washington and Lincoln found in their hearts and souls the sublime common sense of recognizing that truth and freedom were a gift of God and both men had the grace and humility to recognize that gift was a nation under God.
The world today has many leaders with the progressive hope of utopia without the true God. Americans can follow them or follow the unique and exceptional gift of the life works of Washington and Lincoln in keeping our nation one nation under God.