Celebrate the Constitution With Prayer
Today marks the 222nd anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. On this day in 1787 delegates to the national convention signed and publicly presented a system of government designed to secure our common defense and common liberties.
We who have lived under its great blessings owe a great debt to our forefathers, who fought countless battles to preserve and defend its principles. Their great success can be measured by the fact that we live under the oldest governing document in the world. Such stability carries of the curse of taking things for granted.
A new column by the Honorable Phill Kline reminds us that the Constitution itself was not a given.
The delegates gathered in Philadelphia had wrangled with one another for months, failing to come to agreement on key provisions. At this critical hour of frustration, Benjamin Franklin rose for the first time in the convention to address his fellows. Given the rampant historical revisionism plaguing our public schools and discourse – it may surprise you to learn that Franklin rose to urge his fellow delegates to turn to God for help:
“In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not thought once of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine Protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered….I firmly believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel. I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business….”
It would be the height of arrogance not to appreciate the profound fact that the Creator answered those prayers.
And, given the multitude of internal threats to life and liberty we now face, it would be the height of folly not to recognize the profound need to petition that same Creator for help.
We who have lived under its great blessings owe a great debt to our forefathers, who fought countless battles to preserve and defend its principles. Their great success can be measured by the fact that we live under the oldest governing document in the world. Such stability carries of the curse of taking things for granted.
A new column by the Honorable Phill Kline reminds us that the Constitution itself was not a given.
The delegates gathered in Philadelphia had wrangled with one another for months, failing to come to agreement on key provisions. At this critical hour of frustration, Benjamin Franklin rose for the first time in the convention to address his fellows. Given the rampant historical revisionism plaguing our public schools and discourse – it may surprise you to learn that Franklin rose to urge his fellow delegates to turn to God for help:
“In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not thought once of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine Protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered….I firmly believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel. I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business….”
It would be the height of arrogance not to appreciate the profound fact that the Creator answered those prayers.
And, given the multitude of internal threats to life and liberty we now face, it would be the height of folly not to recognize the profound need to petition that same Creator for help.
Posted at 9/17/2009 01:03:00 AM Link to this article 
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