This is a wonderful time of year in the United States – a time to celebrate the signing of that magnificent document of freedom, the Declaration of Independence. Written by Thomas Jefferson, it was signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Hancock, among others. It is a privilege each year to commemorate this document and the brave individuals who put their names and their lives on the line for us.
Like many other Americans, I love to study the history of our country, especially our “Founding Fathers”. I love to read about them to find what made them great.
George Washington stated, “It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible.” And John Adams is famous for saying, “Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God … What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be.”
Another famous American, of the 19th Century, Mary Baker Eddy, found the Bible to be even more than this. After a lifelong, deep search, she found it to contain laws of God that are actually a demonstrable science of healing. Her life and healing prayers proved that turning to the Bible and understanding its truths as spiritual laws can bring freedom from disease and the effects of accidents. She also explained how this biblical revelation brings mankind redemption from all sorts of bad life-choices. She called these laws Christian Science.
In her monumental book on healing and salvation, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, she wrote, “Like our nation, Christian Science has its Declaration of Independence. God has endowed man with inalienable rights, among which are self-government, reason, and conscience.” As we understand the laws of God’s healing and redeeming power, we are “declaring our independence” from fear and its effects, and this brings release from destructive behavior and illness.
It’s a great thing to open a Bible and find our God-given rights to abundant life, liberty and happiness, including freedom from pain and suffering. As loved children of an all-powerful and all-good God, we all have these divine rights, no matter where we live.
