There are so many great stories about the founding of the United States, and of course, on the eve of the celebration of the signing of our Declaration of Independence, it’s a great time to go over them.
I have some stories in mind, but I needed some research done to remember the details. Some of the stories I considered writing about include the story of the search for a writer for the Declaration; I also considered individual stories about some of the men who signed: John Adams, and the larger-than-life signature of John Hancock. And of course, there is George Washington to consider.
What I needed was a book with details, and so I turned to the Pulitzer prize-winning book, 1776, by David McCullough. We have two versions. It was the first book that Tony really got into when we started homeschooling (way back when he was in 8th grade). He read it over and over, and carried it with him through the house, showing us pictures, and reading passages that moved him. Needless to say, that copy got a little worn.
So for his 18th birthday, we bought Tony the Illustrated 1776, a special version of the book that included lots of new illustrations and also re-created the actual letters and documents the book references, stowing them in special pouches inside the book.
I searched for the paperback version in our library, but I couldn’t find it. (I later found that Tony had it hidden away upstairs!) But on the top shelf, I saw the illustrated version, so I reached for it. . .
. . .but I got more than I bargained for: The book, which comes in a case, was far heavier than I thought. It not only fell on my head, but it bounced off my outstretched hands and landed on the floor, on the exact corner of the case, breaking the case and dumping out the book. (Or maybe it broke when it landed on my head, I’m not sure.)
Very concerned, I picked everything up and laid it out on the table. The book was fine. It was just the case that had ripped. Tony was outside picking berries, so I went out, rubbing my head, and confessed what I did right away. He was very forgiving, and came in to take a look.
Tony knows how to bind books, and so he advised me on how best to repair it, then kindly told me that it didn’t matter how it looked; what mattered was the contents, he said, and went outside. Oh dear.
As I worked, I became frustrated with myself, because I really wanted to write in honor of July 4th. But as I worked to repair 1776, the symbolic nature of what had just happened became obvious.
I looked at the things that I had assembled so that I could make the repairs: A piece of paper to act as a reinforcing material, an X-acto knife, glue, water, a palette knife for smoothing the glued paper, a glue brush to thin the glue and spread it around, a flashlight to see my way while I worked, a weight to hold the joint in place after I had glued it, and paper towels to keep things clean and protect the table.
Each one of these physical objects, as symbols, has directly to do with not only the founding of our nation, but also with where we are today! As I worked, Beau came up and said, “Hey, mom. This is kind of symbolic, isn’t it?” That’s the “Fullers Four” in action!
A piece of paper to act as reinforcing material
I used a piece of copy paper to create another layer on the inside of the case, to make the joint stronger. What does the piece of paper symbolize?
The Declaration of Independence, of course! And also, the Constitution of the United States, ratified later to cement us as sovereign states forged into one unified country. How do these documents work to make us stronger? They provide a common set of beliefs that we can all hold to, no matter where we come from originally.
The Declaration speaks about the colonies assuming a “separate, but equal station” with England. And from there, “self-evident” truths emerge: All men are created equal and their rights come from God; because they come from Him, no man can take them away. Government exists by the consent of those who are governed, and the government’s purpose is to protect the people’s God-given rights from being abused.
Instead of being a bully, our government is supposed to protect the people from bullies!
The Constitutions lays out the power structure, and draws the boundaries. The federal government’s powers are separated into three separate-but-equal parts: The Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches. States have the right to govern certain areas, and the federal government basically acts as back up and has very few powers of its own. The rest of the areas not mentioned are left to the people to manage.
No matter who we are or where we originally came from, these ideas can be agreed to by everyone. And when the people get behind them and enforce them, they have true power. Have the people done their job? Do you know your responsibilities under these documents? Give it a chew.
A flashlight to see my way while I worked
“Thy Word is a light to my path, and a lamp for my feet.” (Psalm 119:105)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
“For Zion’s sake, I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.” (Isaiah 62:1)
We have to be able to see in dark places when we are working, so that our work will be good. The flashlight helped me see into the darkness of the broken case so that I could apply the glue and the paper into the right place and smooth it flat, so it would protect the book.
When we attempt to work in dark places where evil reigns (temporarily, which is the only way evil reigns!), we need the truth to show us the way. We need wisdom. We need God’s mercy, so that we think of the people who have done evil things as individuals in need of salvation. We all are in need of forgiveness from other people and from God, and if we withhold forgiveness from others, we are in danger of losing it from God. (Luke 6:37, Matthew 6:14,15)
And once we can see, we might find things that need to be removed.
An X-acto knife, for trimming unnecessary material
Part of all upkeep is the need to get rid of things that don’t work or are no longer needed. The same is true for our country. But while we have a legislative body that makes the laws we live by, there is no separate provision for removing laws. Congress can repeal laws, but in fact, they make far more laws than they repeal.
DOGE is part of that cutting process. The need for careful precision is what I want to point out. Anytime we do away with something, whether it’s part of our law or part of our budget or part of our bodies(!), we need wisdom to make choices, and precision to only remove what is necessary without causing collateral damage.
But we need DOGE desperately! How much work can you get done when you are tripping over things and you can’t even find the corners in a room or depth of a closet? There is so much waste, fraud and abuse in our government, and one of the things DOGE has done is investigate where the money is going, and let us know. We need those audits for accountability! I try not to waste my money, and I’m sure you do the same. I don’t want the ones who represent me to waste the resources I have invested with them. But how would I know if it’s all done behind closed doors?
“As iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” (Proverbs 27:17)
We need to lovingly challenge each other to keep ourselves sharp, and ready for action!
Glue to hold it together
Once everything is cut to size and dry-fitted. it’s time to glue it in place.
We the people, our beliefs and how we act on those beliefs, are the glue that holds this country together. Forces have tried to tear us apart in every conceivable way. We have been separated by race, by religion, by political parties, by age, by sex, by class, and by almost everything. A culture that is fractured in so many different ways is doomed, unless there is an underlying glue to hold it all together.
That glue is your actions! We are the ones that give the government its power, and we can decide how we, as individuals, are going to believe and act. We do not have to accept the idea, for one example, that it’s all right for one sex to denigrate the other sex. Under our Declaration, all people are created equal, under God. That means that each one of us was created in the image and likeness of God, so therefore we all have the same equal rights. We are all worthy of respect. The same concept goes for the other categories, like race, age, class, religion, etc.
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another. . .” And so begins the Declaration of Independence, explaining how the government of England betrayed the colonists and made it impossible for them to live and be taxed without any say in what happens with their own money. And because the colonists were not respected by King George and his agents, they declared their independence!
From 1776, this is the painting by John Trumbull,
“The Declaration of Independence 4 July 1776.”
Robert R. Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin.
But to take such a step took amazing courage. Benjamin Franklin urged unity among the colonies, because “If we do not hang together, we will surely hang separately,” he said. We are stronger together; when the people unite, they can throw off the bands of a bully nation.
Water, to thin the glue so that it penetrates the paper better.
So what helps people connect with each other? It’s the ability to communicate, or freedom of speech, to be able to hold convictions and talk about them openly without being jailed or punished. It’s also the ability to communicate at all, which can include the ability to read, to have a common language with the people around you (or a translator), and today, that includes the technology to communicate over distance via internet and phone, or social media.
The right amount of water helps the glue to work better, and to penetrate deeper. Too much water in the ratio makes the glue worthless. So too much talking (too much water) without much reference to the things that bind us together (the glue) can also tear us apart.
Watch our for the end result of the media you are hearing! If it makes you want to listen to others and understand, it’s glue. If it makes you angry and you begin to approach others with bigotry or haughtiness, then it is not glue. Trusting those kinds of communication, or even listening to it, will influence you. It can destroy our culture and our country. Guard your heart, and discover the truth by looking at the results. (Matthew 7:17)
A palette knife for smoothing the glued paper
We need the sharp knife to cut away what is bad, and we need the smoothing knife to help the wounds to heal. This x-acto knife cut away the extra paper, and I used the palette knife to smooth the glued paper into a harmonious layer.
The palette knife that smooths away the rough spots and helps reinforce the unity of the piece is like love. Love gives us an open heart toward others so that we don’t react in anger at the slightest provocation. It allows others to be themselves and to hold conflicting viewpoints without feeling threatened. After all, God gives each one of us that privilege, even when we disagree with Himself! He gives us time to work it out without coming down on us every second. His grace is there to gently lead us into the path of understanding. It is not His way to crush us into compliance because He wants us to love Him.
When big changes happen, some people get hurt. It even hurts our minds when things change too fast, even if it is welcome change. We all need grace, and those who have been deceived need it most of all.
A glue brush to move the thinned glue to cover everything
This seems to me to be the power of the press. Media moves us by introducing new ideas, showing us what one person thinks about a topic and how they communicated that to someone else. But in this project, when I used this brush to move the glue, the brush was too stiff, and it tore the moistened paper, which had already stuck to the glued surface.
A press that is harsh or filled with propaganda, only supporting the talking points of one side, or presenting the information in a way designed to deceive, can destroy the fabric of our society. It can push us into a direction we would not normally go, and research shows us how easily this happens.
In 2012, congress repealed the Smith-Mundt Act, a law that was enacted after World War II to protect the people of the United States against propaganda coming from our own government. This was repealed, in a law called “The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act”. (Oh, the irony. I think they are laughing at us.)
Think about why this was done, and consider what came not long after in 2020. There is no greater way to destroy trust than to know in your heart that someone may be lying, and that it has been planned in advance and was done on purpose.
The truth is important. Any deception alters our perception of reality, and I like to know where the doors, and the walls, and the floor are, don’t you? We all need to know that our own dollars are not being used to manipulate and deceive us. We need the press to inform us so we can make our decisions and move in unity, not tear one side apart.
Illustrated 1776 by David McCullough.
A weight to hold the joint in place while it cures
The weight is authority. We must respect and trust the authority over us, or we cannot believe that the structure (our founding documents) will hold.
The weight is also time. When we get used to doing something and it is a part of our routine and shared understanding, it unifies us without us having to think about it. This is why education about the true story of our country’s founding is so important.
Prager U created a fun way to celebrate the 4th of July with your kids that teaches our history as part of a ritual, like the Passover. This is an idea of how we can share and celebrate US history with younger generations, and keep it fresh in our own hearts, too. Oh, the stories we could tell! (Or read from a book!)
Paper towels to keep things clean and protect the table.
The paper towels are like law enforcement. They work to support the goals we have all agreed upon in the beginning. They protect those who need protection. They sop up extra glue where it’s not needed so that no damage is done. (Remember that the glue is how we act on our beliefs. When we act in a way that harms someone else’s rights, that is where law enforcement needs to step in and “sop us up” so we don’t hurt others.)
Law enforcement also protects by serving those in the community, and we have benefited from this multiple times. Police can help when your car breaks down, shielding you from oncoming traffic, like the time my tire blew out on an on-ramp. They can also investigate when you feel that a law has been broken. That is their job. They swear an oath to the Constitution. Law enforcement doesn’t work for a political party; they work for the people.
And that’s it! That’s how you Restore 1776!
But I have one more word before you go watch fireworks: This morning the Lord led me to read Ezekiel 37:1-14. That is the story of the reanimation of the dry bones that lay in the valley, so that they became a mighty army. It was a prophetic vision that the prophet Ezekiel had, which represented the miraculous restoration of the nation of Israel.
I thought about why the Lord would put that section of scripture into my mind this morning. The restoration of a nation that had strayed from Him, but was founded by Him in the first place. The restoration of a nation from the ground–or the bones–up. They came together and grew muscles, tendons and then skin. And then the Lord told Ezekiel to prophecy to the wind to breathe into them the spirit of life and they not only came awake, but they came alive!
As an individual, if you rest in Him, God will restore your soul, and lead you into the paths of righteousness. (Psalm 23:3) And when a nation of people (We the People) have our souls restored, then the restoration of the nation is already complete. We ARE this nation.
God can restore the spirit of 1776, which is based on his plan for us: To know of Him (to read the truth and to teach others–this is education), to follow Him in obedience (treating others the way we want to be treated–this is morality), and to live fruitful, abundant lives (which pleases and glorifies Him, and so He will bless us!)
The restoration of 1776 all depends upon you. What a glorious hope and an awesome responsibility! May you have a blessed, thoughtful celebration of our nation’s founding, my fellow Americans! And if you are from elsewhere, I pray you, too, can share in the blessings of true liberty, which can only be found in relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Fullers Four 