TERRE HAUTE —
Way back when (I’m talking waaaay back: Kennedy was president!) my family and I took a trip to Washington, D.C. We visited the museums and monuments and even the Capital and the White House. While touring the White House, I think my father must have thought I was going to sneak home one of Mary Lincoln’s vases or that great painting of Dolley Madison saving George Washington’s half-finished portrait during the War of 1812. All I know is that when we entered the State Dining Room, Dad was holding onto my hand so tightly I was about to lose circulation in my fingers.
Then, Dad pointed to the mantel and whispered to me, “See that? We need to pray that, too.” Then I read those words of John Adams: “I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this House, and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.”
That is an appropriate prayer for these upcoming weeks. Neither should we forget, nor let anyone else forget, things that were said by some of those who were ruling under the White House roof.
Theodore Roosevelt said: “Every thinking man, when he thinks, realizes that the teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and intertwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be, literally, I do not mean figuratively, but literally impossible for us to figure what the loss would be if these teachings were removed. We would lose all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals; all the standards toward which we, with more or less resolution, strive to raise ourselves.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower said: “Without God, there could be no American form of government, no American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first, the most basic expression of Americanism.”
And on Aug. 23, 1984, Ronald Reagan said: “Without God, there is no virtue, because there’s no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we’re mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what our senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”
Romans 13:1 says: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”
This is all food for thought (and prayer) in the upcoming days and weeks. Let us remember the words of Abraham Lincoln: “I have been driven many times to my knees with the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”
In this confusing election, there is nowhere else for us to go but to our God, the Savior of us all. Let us fall to our knees, asking for God’s guidance and leading.
And may God continue to bless America.
Verna Davis, speaker and writer, maybe reached at vrdspeaks@yahoo.com.
Religion
THE JOY LADY: Let us fall to our knees, asking for God’s guidance
- Religion
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- RELIGION BRIEFS: May 24, 2013
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Get in touch with prayer at Body Prayer workshop
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THE JOY LADY: We are not in charge. God is. Get over it, already.
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Cross Lane Church accepting shoe donations
Terre Haute residents are invited to donate their shoes to help millions of peopleworldwide with a shoe drive at Cross Lane Community Church on June 2.
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The Joy Lady: A good morning: everything that rises must converge
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Unity Presbyterian plans retirement open house
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Organist will be the featured guest at church
Organist Benjamin Kolodziej will be the featured guest at an organ recital at 4 p.m. on May 19 at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, 645 Poplar St.
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THE JOY LADY: Call your mom; tell her you love her, that you miss her
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Celebrate the women in your life with The Living Rosary
On Friday, May 10, join the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods for The Living Rosary and experience the grace and power many people have discovered by “praying by hand.”
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Good Friday service today at St. George Orthodox
St. George Orthodox Church at 1900 S. Fourth St., Terre Haute, will celebrate its Good Friday service at 7 p.m. today (May 3) and its Easter service at 9 p.m. Saturday. The Agape (Love) service will be conducted at noon on Sunday.
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Organist’s concert May 5
Organist Jonathan Rudy will be in concert performing works from the 1600’s to the present day at 4 p.m. on Sunday at Central Presbyterian Church, 125 N. Seventh St.
The concert is free and open to the public. -
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THE JOY LADY: Let us pray that our hearts be blessed by God
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THE JOY LADY: You can learn a lot from a box of crayons
Denis Omar is a handsome third-grader in Ocotillo, Honduras. The last time I was in his home, his colored chalk drawings decorated the concrete block walls. His mother said when she got tired of one drawing, she’d wash the wall and have Denis draw another.
- RELIGION BRIEFS: April 13, 2013
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BBQ fundraiser April 13 at Allen Chapel
Historic Allen Chapel’s annual barbecue dinner fundraiser is Saturday, April 13, in the Chapel at Third and Crawford streets. Serving will be from noon to 6 p.m. with a full-line of dinner, sandwiches, sides and desserts available. Chef Stephen Miller, formerly owner of the Black Skillet and now a caterer in Cincinnati, will again prepare the barbecue.
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THE JOY LADY: Most complaints tend to be pretty selfish
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Church briefs: April 6, 2013
What's going on this week at area churches.
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THE JOY LADY: Our attendance in worship services encourages other worshippers
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African children’s choir to perform at Mount Pleasant
The Watoto Children’s Choir, traveling from Africa, began its five-month eastern U.S. tour in Oak Bluffs, Mass., on Oct. 6 and are continuing the tour through Terre Haute, Lebanon, Indianapolis, Peru, Bloomington, Columbus, Evansville and Vevay, from April 16 to May 1. All performances are free and open to the public.
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