If only John Adams were alive today

Imprimis, the “national speech digest” of Hillsdale College, recently had a remarkable article about John Adams, second president of the United States (1825-29), co-author of the Declaration of Independence, and author of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the “oldest written constitution still in use anywhere in the world today” (see “A Man Worth Knowing”). Historian David McCullough sees in Adams a paramount example of the ultimate leader — not only in that he was a totally selfless individual devoted to the service of his fellow man and of his country but also in his unflinching admiration of God:

His faith in God and the hereafter remained unshaken. He was as devout a Christian as ever served in our highest office. His fundamental creed he had reduced to a single sentence: “He who loves the Workman and his work and does what he can to preserve and improve it, shall be accepted of Him.”

Would that he were still alive and in a position to influence leaders and citizens alike of all nations on earth. We pilgrims in a godless age might find it hard to believe that once upon a time intelligent men and women not only believed in God but were almost preoccupied with His glory as seen in His creation. Adams, for instance, was “thrown into a kind of transport” one evening when he looked up and was struck with awe by the “amazing concave of Heaven sprinkled and glittering with stars” which he recognized as a gift of God.

This sense of wonder never left him. At the age of 80 he wrote a history of France in which he confessed his admiration for his creator in words that cannot fail to move:

… I find my imagination… roaming in the Milky Way, among the nebulae, those mighty orbs, and stupendous orbits of suns, planets, satellites, and comets, which compose the incomprehensible universe; and if I do not sink into nothing in my own estimation, I feel an irresistible impulse to fall on my knees, in adoration of the power that moves, the wisdom that directs, the benevolence that sanctifies this wonderful whole.

Of course, he would no doubt have abandoned his belief, don't you think, if someone had explained to him how an infinitely dense and tiny glob of matter had once upon a time “exploded” and somehow contrived to stretch itself out into the nebulae, suns and planets Adams spoke of, and how chemicals lazing around under sunlight on earth had learned how to link arms and turn into living things. Yeh, sure. No; these intelligent people saw the obvious — the intricacies of nature required an explanation that involved supreme intellect in their planning and supreme power in their execution. We can only hope that these were people living hundreds of years ahead of their time. Come on, believers, let's pray that the world will come to its senses, see the Workman's glory in His work, and so enjoy the life, liberty and happiness the Founding Fathers wished for the future citizens of America and which our heavenly Father will eventually bring to all mankind.