We Need Another Samuel Adams! (The man-not the beer!)

Hello Hump Day Readers, hope you all had a great weekend and took the time to open your “deck-chair” and be amazed at God’s creation. As we start toward November’s elections, I shudder at the horrible attack ads that come for every party. While here in New Mexico, one of my favorite things is to look up the attack to fine the truth; sadly, for the most part, the ads are completely wrong. Which brings me to Samuel Adams, John Adams’ second cousin. You hear so much about John, and the others who helped frame our Constitution, as well as their heroism in the Revolutionary War. However, John Adams always hailed his second cousin as “truly the Father of the Revolution and early framer of the Constitution.”

I thought you may like this bit of history below, taken from the recent long article from both the Smithsonian and the National Archives Historical Files. The first sentence alone gives me hope that some of the politicians today would embrace such a moral stand!

“Deeply idealistic—a moral people, Adams held, would elect moral leaders—he believed virtue to be the soul of democracy. To have a villainous ruler imposed on you was a misfortune. To elect him yourself was a disgrace. At the same time, he was unremittingly pragmatic. Power worried him; no one ever believed he possessed too much of the stuff. His sympathies lay with the common-man in the street, to whom he believed the government must answer. A friend reduced Adams’ politics to two maxims: “Rulers should have little, the people much.” And “privilege should make way for genius and industry.” Railing against the ‘odious hereditary distinction of families’, Adams fretted about vanity, frivolity and ‘political idolatry’. He did his best to contain himself when his colleague John Hancock—who traveled with ‘the pomp and retinue of an Eastern prince’—appeared in a gold-trimmed, crimson-velvet waistcoat and an embroidered white vest! His disdain of such ‘pompous crap’ as he called it, showed its hand when he was inaugurated as governor of Massachusetts in 1794. To maintain ceremonial standards, a benefactor produced a gold-laced carriage. Adams directed the coachman to drive his wife to the State House, to which he proceeded, at 71, on foot. “No person is higher than another” was his motto and part of his Puritan humility and faith.

One historian said “Adams defends the charter like Moses with his tablets, or Luther with the Epistles.” Adams warned the new colonies that “Neither religion nor liberty can long subsist in the tumult of altercation, and amidst the noise and violence of faction.” He refused to believe that prejudice and private interest would ultimately trample knowledge and benevolence because he believed that self-government was inseparable from governing the self; it demanded a certain asceticism. He wrote anthem after anthem to the qualities he believed essential to a republic—austerity, integrity, selfless public service—qualities that would, sadly, become more military than civilian. The contest was never for Adams less than a spiritual struggle. Faith was there from the start, as was the scrappy, iconoclastic spirit, as were the daring, disruptive excursions beyond the law. A man of principle and humility, and a man who lived his faith in God.”

Wow—can I get an ‘Amen’ for Samuel? One must agree that we need more men and women in our political arena with such credentials and honest convictions. In reality, we need it in our entire country, too. Scripture gives us a plethora of chapters on honesty and humility. After reading about Samuel Adams, I thought of several Proverbs-here they are:

10:9—“People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed”
11:3—“Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people”
21:3-“To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice”
and last is-“Better to have little, with godliness, than to be rich and dishonest.  (From the NLT)

In closing, I urge you all to pray for our upcoming elections. Pray for those running for office and pray for those who are voting. Remind yourself that none of this is about party lines! Instead, it is about exactly what the Proverbs above tell us, as well as the fine example of one of our early Fathers of the Constitution, Samuel Adams.

Imagine what could happen in our country if honesty, humility, and integrity would fill our political offices from the smallest of towns to the throne of Washington D.C. Maybe, just maybe, we will find our way back and God will once again fulfill his promise from 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT) “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

Amen, may it be so, AMEN!