If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?

I was in search for a special word for the New Year when I recalled these words from one of the founders of our republic. It was spoken at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on Thursday, June 28, 1787, George Washington presiding. At 81 Benjamin Franklin was the oldest of the delegates. It was actually a call for prayer, and that may be why I see it as our special word for 2007, for our nation has never needed to be in prayer more than now.

Franklin, as with most of our founding fathers, may not have been an orthodox Christian, perhaps not even an orthodox theist, but his “practical” faith was such that he believed “the birth of a nation” called for the guidance of a Divine Providence. He prefaced the above statement with “Sir, I have lived a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- that God governs in the affairs of men.”

Unless one believes this -- that God is at work in our lives -- there is no reason to pray. This is what I fear, that we pray less because we believe less in the sovereignty of God. If indeed we believe that he rules the universe, and that we are accountable to him, then we will seek his guidance in all that we do.

There is one fact alone that speaks volumes in this regard -- that we as a people are overwhelmed in debt. Not only our national debt, but that the average American family has a credit card debt of $7,000. We are enslaved by plastic and consumed by a want for things. Such debt shows how spoiled we are, having to have things we don’t need and cannot afford. Even more serious, such indebtedness reveals a people undisciplined and irresponsible. It also reveals an insipid selfishness and covetousness. We pile up debt because of our own selfish desires. It certainly isn’t reflective of philanthropy!

We spend money we do not have for our own gratification. Indebtedness robs us of our freedom, causes worry and depression, and brings tension to our marriage.

It is unlikely that a praying family -- one seeking God’s guidance -- would allow credit cards to take control of their lives. Can you imagine a Ben Franklin, who urged that “A penny saved is a penny earned” and who made frugality a virtue, would allow himself to be buried in debt?

Franklin reminded the delegates that they had sought the help of “the Father of lights” in their struggle for independence, and that he had blessed them. He also noted that for weeks they had sought in vain to create a constitution but with little progress. They were “groping in the dark” due in part to “the imperfection of Human Understanding.” He figured it was time to seek God’s help again, for “without his concurring aid” they would not succeed. He went on to say:

I therefore beg leave to move -- that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that service.

While some of the delegates saw no need for prayer, the motion might well have passed. It was determined, however, that the delegation did not have the money to pay for clergy.

I suspect “Dr. Franklin” himself, as many addressed him, could have gotten heaven’s attention with appropriate and meaningful petitions. These quotations from other situations in his life would suggest that. They will also serve as wisdom for the coming year.

A few years earlier, July 4, 1776, at the signing of the Declaration of Independence he is quoted as saying, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

In a private letter in 1773 he wrote; “There was never a good war or a bad peace.” Then there is: “God helps them that help themselves.”

From his Poor Richard’s Almanac: “Work as if you were to live a hundred years, pray as if you were to die tomorrow.” Also from that source: “Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead.”

I quote this one to Ouida, also from the Almanac: “A little house well filled, a little field well tilled, and a little wife well willed, are great riches.” Then there is this one: “There are three faithful friends -- an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.

Early in his 20s he prepared an epitaph for himself, which is deeply theological and uniquely crafted. It is understandable that one who believed in such an afterlife would be a man of prayer:

The body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer (like the cover of an old book, its contents torn and stripped of its lettering and guiding), lies here, food for worms; but the work shall not be lost, for it will (as he believed) appear in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the author.

Notes

Ouida joins me in wishing for you an enriched New Year, filled with grace. We are both nursing colds just now, but the future is bright.

All these essays, now 158 of them, are available at www.leroygarrett.org

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