Think Deep

Frustration set in, simply because I had an idea of what it was I wanted to write about, yet I couldn't find the precise words to say to portray my thoughts clearly. Wracking my brain and fighting off writers block, I dug deep and attempted to spill out my thoughts onto the Microsoft Word screen staring blank back at me. The topic was something I have always held firm and as well as something I knew an adequate amount of information about, yet I couldn't figure it out.  "But I firmly believe that, if completely separated, religion and government, our system of government would crash and burn. Ethics and morality would then have no fundamental reason to be practiced, for if there is no existence after death, what reason do I have to not act self-seeking, gaining power and wealth in the time I spend on earth?"

The above thesis seemed well enough, yet I still didn't know how to tie it all together. It wasn't until I read over a somewhat chilling quote from a portion of a letter sent to Thomas Jefferson from then second President John Adams. 

"Twenty times in the course of my late reading have I been on the point of breaking out, "this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion at all!!!"..."

This was a letter between the founding fathers of our country, "supposed" good Christian men, yet how could John Adams say the best possible world would be lacking religion, and still be a christian? Distraught and some what depressed over this, I decided look into this quote some more. What I found to be true, is the above quote, is usually used as an argument saying the founding fathers realized that government and religion should not exist, but that it was a quote taken completely out of context. The quote in its entirety states this,

"Twenty times in the course of my late reading have I been on the point of breaking out, "this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion at all!!! But in this exclamation I would have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company, I mean hell."

Upon discovery of the WHOLE quote i became somewhat aware and understanding of his situation. The second President of the United States, no doubt under a mass amount of stress, after all he had to find ways to keep success and progress afloat in a brand new country, was just as human as the rest of us are. Honestly, how many times have we all been frustrated with religion (christianity), and become upset or angered with God. It seems completely stupid but we all have been there, and it seems as though John Adams was there as well, at least twenty times. But what he continues on to say is exactly the truth of the matter. The world would be hell without christianity. Personally the faith of the founder fathers of this country amazes me. Upon reading many quotes by those same men and reading of their strong faith in God, I was somewhat convicted. Faced with the daunting task of creating this country what did they rely on? Lets again refer to John Adams for that answer, 

"The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were. . . . the general principles of Christianity. . . . I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God; and that those principles of liberty are as unalterable as human nature."

Faced with many challenges, minutely small compared to their tasks, is our faith the same? 

Matthew 17 verse 20... "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."