Messages 2008
Divine Providence.
April 18th, 2008
Santa Cruz, California
Received by FAB
I am here, Benjamin Franklin.
When we founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, our fates seemed uncertain. Whether the gallows or liberty, we did not know.
The Revolutionary War went very badly for us at first, and this, of course, caused great consternation. My efforts in France greatly aided our cause, and when some American victories occurred, we gradually saw the war turning in our favor.
There was a widespread feeling amongst those colonists acquainted with the heady wine of Enlightenment thinking, that something providential occurred when independence came. We could perceive our own faults, and the economic factors that influenced us. But above and beyond these factors, we also perceived a higher perception of government, which was brought about, we felt, by divine providence.
As events unfolded, and the Articles of Confederation yielded to the Constitution, we saw our original sense of a higher destiny confirmed.
I described all this because I wish to say, with all the conviction that this higher spirit world affords me, that these noble efforts were not achieved in vain, and that, in short, the Republic will not founder, as you sometimes have thought, even though your soul knows the contrary.
Let me illustrate my point with a specific example. At the beginning of the war, very few predicted our success. The British Army was one of the mightiest forces on the planet, and the Colonial army was ragtag and inexperienced.
But despite this inauspicious beginning, history records that we were successful. We were all aware of the horrors of war. We understood that it meant the barbarity of killing. But what sustained us was a sincere desire for liberty. This feeling was passionately shared by those colonists who supported our cause, of which there were many. The fact that many colonists were either uncommitted or supportive of England simply confirmed, in our eyes, the miracle of the English surrender at Yorktown.
And so it has been in many other places and times. Obviously, justice has not always been done. But if one studies history carefully, one can see divine providence more frequently than is generally supposed.
Which is all for the purpose of encouraging you to believe that despite circumstances to the contrary, America will survive this present crisis, despite all the forces that seek to destroy the principle for which we founding fathers were willing to sacrifice all.
Do not forget that there are many Americans who are now consciously and courageously carrying the torch of freedom, and divine providence will continue to manifest, as it did so many years ago on these same shores.