In 1798, Founding Father John Adams warned: “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
With that Adams quote as a backdrop, when I researched the Tennessee legislature’s Joint Resolution 803 last month, I had no idea just how relevant and timely it would be for a column this month. The attempted assassination of Donald Trump last weekend gave me pause to look at that Joint Resolution, declaring July a Month of Prayer, with a greater sense of urgency.
Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee signed a Resolution asking citizens to pray and fast for the month of July, a resolution in keeping with those of our founding era. Both chambers overwhelmingly approved the Resolution, which passed in the Senate 27-1 and in the House 82-6.
The Resolution affirms that “God, as Creator,” has the “authority to judge and bless” the states and our nation, acknowledging that our leaders must seek “the Creator’s favor,” much as President John Adams did in 1799. The Resolution quotes that proclamation:
"[This day] be observed throughout the United States of America as a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that the citizens on that day abstain, as far as may be, from their secular occupation, and devote the time to the sacred duties of religion, in public and in private; that they call to mind our numerous offenses against the most high God, confess them before Him with the sincerest penitence, implore his pardoning mercy, through the Great Mediator and Redeemer, for our past transgressions, and that through the grace of His Holy Spirit, we may be disposed and enabled to yield a more suitable obedience to his righteous requisitions in time to come; that He would interpose to arrest the progress of that impiety and licentiousness in principle and practice so offensive to Himself and so ruinous to mankind; that He would make us deeply sensible that “righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” [Proverbs 14:34]"
This Resolution is in the mold of our nation's the great founding resolutions. Its kinship to those resolutions affirms our devotion to American Liberty.
The Resolution continues:
"BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call upon all those who are physically able and spiritually inclined to do so to join in a thirty-day season of prayer and intermittent fasting as we begin a new fiscal year as a means of seeking God’s blessing and humbling ourselves to receive His Grace and Mercy, transforming ourselves, our communities, our State, and our Nation."
The Resolution notes specific issues that our nation faces, including surging violence committed by citizens and noncitizens, failure of public schools, the epidemic of drug and alcohol addiction, overdose deaths from fentanyl being muled across our southern border, human trafficking, children suffering from broken homes, and corruption of our federal government.
A letter from the Resolution sponsors invites citizens to “read or have HJR 803 read in our church services; Examine our lives in light of God’s Word and confess of our sins; Acknowledge that we, as the Church, have failed to stand for the principles of God, ask for His Forgiveness and Mercy, and commit to stand firmly on those principles going forward; For those who are able, join in prayer and intermittent fasting as a means of demonstrating our desire for repentance.”
Contacting Bill Lee, our State Senator Bo Watson, and district Rep. Patsy Hazelwood for comment on their support of the measure served as a reminder of why I take great pride in our family’s historic Tennessee ancestry, as well as the rise of good and righteous political leadership across our state — the “Great State of Tennessee” now being among the most conservative in the nation.
Governor Lee, a man of strong faith, responded: “I’m proud to join the General Assembly in recognizing July as a month of prayer and fasting as we thank God for his many blessings, ask his forgiveness for our shortcomings, seek his wisdom in all circumstances, and ask for continued favor upon the great State of Tennessee.”
Senator Watson responded: “The vast majority of Tennesseans believe in the power of prayer and supplication. HJR 803 states many of the spiritual values that we hold dear in our Great State and reaffirms our belief in a Creator and his presence in our daily lives as individuals, a state and a nation. As the psalmist writes in Psalms 22:28, ‘for dominion belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nations.’”
Rep. Hazelwood responded: “Ephesians 6:18 says, ‘And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.’ Our state and country today are facing some very difficult issues, you might say evils. I think we have proven we cannot solve these challenging times or overcome these evils solely on our human efforts. Like John Adams, I believe we need to recognize that if America is to continue to be favored by the Lord, then we must reaffirm the foundation on which our nation was founded. We must turn to God, and this resolution calls on us, as God-fearing citizens, to do just that, as only He can heal our country.”
A friend and former legislator, Chris Clem, summed up the Resolution: “Like John Adams, we need to recognize that if America is to continue to be favored by the Lord, then America has to remember our foundation of faith. This resolution calls on us as God-fearing citizens to fear and honor God. Only God can heal our land. This resolution is designed to call on God — not voters.”
Amen.
A 1776 John Adams quote as a bookend: “I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”
Through all the contemporary gloom, I still believe as Ronald Reagan did: “America’s best days are yet to come. Our proudest moments are yet to be. Our most glorious achievements are just ahead.”
Mark Caldwell