ONE MAN’S FAITH - A NATION’S VICTORY

Wayne D. Leeper

 

   The general was alone when he left the encampment that day.  Normally he would have been accompanied by various aides and members of his staff.  Today, however, he was looking for solitude, not companionship.  The burden on his shoulders was virtually unbearable.  Not only was he responsible for the troops under his command but, in addition, the success of America’s experiment in freedom also depended on the decisions that he alone would be called upon to make.

   His army left much to be desired as far as physical assets were concerned.  Everything was in short supply including food, clothing, and shelter.  It was the dead of winter and his troops were doing their best just to stay warm as they huddled around the small campfires built throughout the encampment.  To be honest there was very little reason for the troops to remain there at all and many had actually left to return to the comfort of their homes.  Those who stayed looked to him for strength, direction and leadership.

   He found a small secluded area that would serve his purpose.  The rest of the story is told by a farmer who just happen to be out riding in the area.   

  The farmer, Isaac Potts, a Valley Forge resident later shared the story of what he witnessed that day with the Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden (1770-1851), who then recorded it in his “Diary and Remembrances.”

“I was riding with Mr. Potts near to the Valley Forge where the army lay during the war of ye Revolution, when Mr. Potts said, ‘Do you see that woods and that plain?  There laid the army of Washington.  It was a most distressing time of ye war, and all were for giving up the Ship but that great and good man.  In that woods (pointing to a close in view) I heard a plaintive sound as of a man at prayer.  I tied my horse to a sapling & went quietly into the woods.  To my astonishment I saw the great George Washington on his knees alone, with his sword on one side and his cocked hat on the other.  He was at Prayer to the God of Armies, beseeching to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was ye Crisis & the cause of the country, of humanity & of the world.

Such a prayer I never heard from the lips of man.  I left him alone praying.  I went home and told my wife.  We never thought a man could be a soldier & a Christian, but if there is one in the world, it is Washington.  We thought it was the cause of God & America could prevail.”

   It was the winter of 1777 and Washington understood that at such a time and under such dire circumstances that there was only one source for the help that he would need to establish  the freedom that he held so dear.  The odds against him succeeding by himself against one of the greatest military powers on earth were virtually insurmountable.  He had a task before him and a date with destiny which he knew he could not avoid.  All too well he realized that the fate of a young nation was in his hands, and he felt totally incapable of handling the situation alone.

   Some ninety years later Abraham Lincoln, another man facing a date with destiny, voiced what Washington may very well have felt on that day when he said:

“There have been many times in my life when I have been driven to my knees by the certain knowledge that my own ability was insufficient to meet the occasion.”

   Washington found the strength and help he needed to lead his troops to victory.  On December 28, 1783, upon the occasion of resigning his commission as General of the Continental Army, Washington closed his remarks with the following comment.

“I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life by commending the interest of our dearest country to the protection of the Almighty God and those who have the superintendence of them into His Holy keeping.”

   Five years later when he was called from retirement to become the first President of the United States of America, he brought that same faith to the Capitol with him.  It was a faith that had served him all his life.  Eight years later, as a part of  his farewell address to the nation he included the following statement:

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these finest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge in the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on the minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in the exclusion of religious principle." [Emphases added]

George Washington

Farewell Address to the Nation

September 17, 1796

   Today our nation  is once again faced with one of the greatest challenges it has ever had laid before it.  Once again we have been forced into a date with destiny which cannot be avoided or postponed. Once again a President must lead our nation into a war.  Not only the war against terrorism but a much greater war being waged within these shores for the heart and soul of America.  As Thomas Paine said so appropriately in 1776, “These are times that try men’s souls.”

   It is indeed good to know that at such a time as this we have a President who, like Washington and Lincoln, believes in the power of prayer.  May God bless him, and may God bless America.