“The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: It connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.”

Is this true? If so, was it Adams who said it? The upcoming post about this quote will be all the more interesting if you have thought through your answer—just be sure to finish before next Thursday!

For another July 4 Puzzle visit last year’s post here.

As he would say:

“It’ll feel better when it stops hurtin’.”

“Everything will be A OK! Don’t worry ‘bout nutin.”

“I wouldn’t tease you!”

“A riggety jig and away we go, away we go. A-yo a-yo a-yo!”

“Not Good-bye, So-long.”

“Thank You for everything. . . . And guide, guard and direct us and draw us all into that closer walk with You. And Amen.”

Almost as far back as I can remember, I dreaded having itchy eyes and inflamed sinuses with every outdoor experience. Cool wet wash cloths and eye drops brought some relief but I began to think allergies were something I would have to live with. Amazingly, the Lord turned what I would have considered a curse into a great blessing. Through my allergies the Lord began motivating me to practice preventative medicine in regular ways and gave me the determination I needed to fast. . . .

Tip #1  Fast once or twice a week
    Fasting is giving your digestive system a rest. Fasting gives your “built-in janitor” the time to do a thorough house-cleaning, selecting and removing impurities of every kind. Drink lots of water during a fast. Expect weakness, achiness, and lack of energy. It is all worth it. Grow into it if you need to but aim for twenty-four hours. (Fasting begins twelve hours after eating). I find it works very well to skip a supper, breakfast and lunch, then eat a light but adequate supper on that evening. It’s also a big help to eat less meat and more vegetables/fruit the meal before entering a fast. Fasting can also be a valuable spiritual discipline and a time of reprioritizing. Do it as unto the Lord (Matthew 6:17-18).

Tip #2  Wear your bandanna while you’re weed-whacking!

Tip #3  Incorporate locally-harvested honey into your meals
   This worked wonders for James I remember. Figs and dates also loosen pollen grains that may be in the esophagus. And in general your body will appreciate it if you make the decision to eat what you know is healthy. (Everything tastes better after you’ve fasted anyway!)

Tip #4  Trace surface problems to root causes
   Often serious physical allergies such as asthma come from a root “spiritual” problem such as fear—the fear of being abandoned or left behind. When the root cause is taken care of the problem clears up.

So whether you suffer from allergies or know others who do, be encouraged. Allergies can be reversed. The Lord desires for us each to be ready and able to carry out what He designed us for. May He bring each of us to the point where what we thought was a curse becomes a testimony to His power and blessing in our life.

“The sciences have been compared to a circle, of which religion composes a part. To understand any one of them perfectly, it is necessary to have some knowledge of them all. Bacon, Boyle, and Newton included the Scriptures in the inquiries to which their universal geniuses disposed them, and their philosophy was aided by their knowledge in them. A striking agreement has been lately discovered between the history of certain events recorded in the Bible and some of the operations and productions of nature, particularly those which are related to Whitehurst’s observation on the deluge, in Smith’s account of the origin of the variety of color in the human species, and in Bruce’s travels. It remains yet to be shown how many other events related in the Bible accord with some late important discoveries in the principles of medicine. The events and the principles alluded to mutually establish the truth of each other.”

“. . . The only means of establishing and perpetuating our . . . government . . . is, the universal education for our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of The Bible; for this divine book, above all others, favors that equality among mankind, that respect for just laws, and all those sober and frugal virtues which constitute the soul of republicanism.”

-Benjamin Rush, late 1700’s

From a personal letter, later published as a tract, “The Bible in Schools”

by the American Tract Society, circa 1830

Here Dr. Rush references the command of trans-generational perpetuation of the Law from Deuteronomy chapter six, then continues: “[The people of Israel] flourished as a nation in proportion as they honored and read the books of Moses, which contained the only revelation that God had made to the world. The law was not only neglected but lost, during the general profligacy of manner which accompanied the long and wicked reign of Manasseh. But the discovery of it amid the rubbish of the temple by Josiah and its subsequent general use were followed by a return of national virtue and prosperity. We read further of the wonderful effects which the reading of the law by Ezra, after his return from his captivity in Babylon, had upon the Jews. They hung upon his lips with tears, and showed the sincerity of their repentance by their general reformation.

The learning of the Jews, for many years, consisted in a knowledge of the Scriptures…. Jews who wandered from Judea into other countries carried with them and propagated certain ideas of the true God among all the civilized nations upon the face of the earth….”

“… The benefits of an early and general acquaintance with the Bible … have appeared in many countries in Europe since the Reformation. The industry and habits of order which distinguish many of the German  nations are derived from their early instruction in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible. In Scotland and in parts of New England, where the Bible has been long used as a schoolbook, the  inhabitants are among the most enlightened in religions and science, the most strict in morals, and the most intelligent in human affairs of any people whose history has come to my knowledge upon the surface of the globe.”

-Benjamin Rush, late 1700’s

From a personal letter, later published as a tract, “The Bible in Schools”

by the American Tract Society, circa 1830

May 10—The Bates family exemplified orderliness and obedience when their dad said that it was time to go. Less than an hour later, around 1:15, James and Daniel also left for their trip back to Illinois. They however soon returned. A new house-building project was blocking our road and a bypass route had to be found. Then we began to wonder: “How did the Bates make it through?” The only thing we could figure was that the men working on the house had been on a lunch break between 12:00 and 1:00, leaving the road passable at that time. If the Bateses hadn’t left in the time God gave them, getting new directions would have been, for them, time-consuming, not to mention presenting the possibility of getting lost in the-middle-of-nowhere West Virginia. Honoring and obeying authority is God’s way of helping us “bypass” a host of unforeseen roadblocks. 

May 11—Voting Day. Almost everyone remaining at home came down with flu-like symptoms to one degree or another. It was terrible! But on the previous Sunday evening, Dad had given a message from James 1 about sharing Christ’s joy as we weather the trials. Now was our chance to “rejoice … knowing this, that the trying of [our] faith worketh patience … that [we] may be [mature and complete, lacking] nothing”! David’s broken arm also needed to be set that day. There is no doubt that the enemy was doing whatever he could to keep us from casting our vote. With that perspective and much grace from God, all of us were able to vote and after returning from town my queasiness never seriously bothered me again. We were also tremendously grateful that James and Daniel had left soon enough not to be effected.

May 14—it was supposed to rain in the afternoon so we went to mow the lower section of our property in the morning. After I took care of the area around the pond and trimmed the rest, Jonathan took over, finishing before lunch. Still the sun was shining. As a matter of fact it didn’t even sprinkle until 6:40. I began to think I could have done “more important things” and maybe even put off the mowing altogether until Saturday. When morning dawned, my doubtful thoughts quickly vanished. From our dining room window we saw that in the night a tree had blown down right across the lawn. I looked at Jonathan. The surprise on his face mirrored my own. Both of us were glad we didn’t put off the job that Dad said was important.

Don’t worry too much about finding the perfect time to do a job. Stay in touch with authority. Do the most important things first.

I. In the constitution of the human mind.

1. … Memory [develops during childhood]

2. /[Before age seven] children are more capable of receiving just ideas

3. The influence of early impressions is very great upon subsequent life…

4. Habit

5. We remember longest the knowledge we acquire by the greatest number of our senses.

6. Events … described in the Old and New Testaments are calculated, above all others, to seize upon all the faculties of the mind of children.

7. Native preference of truth to fiction

8. In old age [memory tends to revert to] the knowledge acquired early in life.

-Benjamin Rush, late 1700’s

From a personal letter, later published as a tract, “The Bible in Schools”

by the American Tract Society, circa 1830

(Paragraphs two through nine)

     It is now several months since I promised to give you my reasons for preferring the Bible as a schoolbook to all other compositions. Before I state my arguments, I shall assume the five following propositions:

1. That Christianity is the only true and perfect religion; and that in proportion as mankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts they will be wise and happy.

2. That a better knowledge of this religion is to be acquired by reading the Bible than in any other way.

3. That the Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world.

4. That knowledge is most durable, and religious instruction most useful, when imparted in early life.

5. That the Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life.

-Benjamin Rush, late 1700’s

From a personal letter, later published as a tract, “The Bible in Schools”

by the American Tract Society, circa 1830

(First paragraph)

Benjamin Rush was known as one of America’s three most influential men, along with Washington and Franklin. He was a physician and scientist, and also helped to found the nation’s first abolition society. In 1776, at 30 years of age, he was one of the youngest to sign the Declaration of Independence. It is because of patriots and statesmen as he that American liberty stood the test of time.

“… Whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).