I just recently read Seven Miracles that Saved America. I enjoyed it, learned some things and got an added bonus that I'll get to at the end of this post. I just want to focus on two of the miracles, one that has been with me my entire life and one I lived through and never thought much of, certainly not that it was a miracle.
The first is the constitution of the U.S. I believe it is a divinely inspired document. I know that it established a governing system that far exceeds all others that have ever existed in the world. I know that it created a country that has, by virtue of the rights and freedoms we are given, allowed us to enjoy life in a way most people who have lived on this planet never even dreamed of. I have had my eyes opened to how special this country is several times as I was able to see it through the eyes of people who had just come from another country. I probably felt the strongest sense of patriotism and pride in being an American when I witnessed my husband and hundreds of others being sworn in as new citizens.
After I read about how the constitution came to be and how it solved all the issues that each state had when considering a federal government that would unite them, I was amazed at how perfect it is. It seems inconceivable that mere men could come up with such a simple and short document that would be the supreme law of the land, granting the federal government power only in so far as it is spelled out in this document, leaving the rest to the states that are united by it. How could men with different opinions and desires come up with this powerful system that could unite what would become such a large and diverse country, population-wise as well as geographically? It even wisely included the way it could be changed, not impossible but not too easy. Having grown up under this rule of law, it just seemed natural, but looking at what happens in other countries, I can see why it's so special. This perfection didn't just happen. It really was a miracle that it came together at the time that it did in the way that it did.
The second one was the miracle of Ronald Reagan surviving being shot two months after his inauguration. The bullet missed his heart by one inch. He lost half of his blood. He could have died. Somehow I didn't think about that at the time. It was just a failed attempt on his life. It didn't seem so bad since he survived. I also didn't understand how important it was for our country and the world that he did survive. Everyone has been talking about how he told Gorbachev to tear down that wall and brought on the end of the Cold War. His economic policies are credited with improving what had been a very troubled economy. His desire for a strong military reversed the trend to downsize and helped to bring about that end to the Cold War. His charm and aggressiveness is said to be the difference between him being able to do those things and someone else with similar policies not being able to do the same thing. For that reason, the authors of the book believed him surviving that shooting to be a miracle.
These two I had not thought of as miracles. Yet in reading of them, I see how important they were and what an impact they had on our country. And I see how much we need similar miracles right now. Our constitution is being ignored on a grand scale. I miss the old days when someone tried to do something and it was loudly decried as unconstitutional and therefore stopped. Nowadays unconstitutional activities are being carried out by our federally elected officials, and nothing is being done to stop them. Instead of the cry, "That's unconstitutional," what we hear is, "The constitution is an outdated document." We need a miracle to save our constitution.
Our economy is in utter turmoil. Our military is stretched too thin. There is never a concensus on if we are doing the right thing with our troops. We are making friends with our enemies and supporting them until they turn on us. They don't even hide their hatred for us. The desires to destroy us are declared loud and clear, and yet our leaders ignore those statements and offer aid and comfort. We desperately need a miracle of a leader who will take the necessary and most likely unpopular steps to correct the course we're on.
The bonus I got from reading this book, and from the other examples of miracles especially, is hope. I realized that when things were at their worst and all seemed lost, that there was no way to win, something inexplicable happened that allowed those who were trying to do the right thing to succeed and come out on top. We seem to be heading for the greatest catastrophe we could imagine, economically as well as disasters of nature and man, war on the largest scale ever seen. It seemed like I either had to ignore what is happening and live in ignorant bliss as long as possible or I could pay attention to everything going on in the world and live with fear and dread. After reading of the miracles that saved America, I now know I can live with hope for the miracles that will come to save us again, not just America but all the people of the world who are living worthy of divine protection and guidance.
As the song says, "I am not afraid anymore."
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