Everyone wants ‘Peace on Earth’. Is it really possible? President John Adams was a genuine peace-maker, even to his own detriment.
One of my most popular Deep Cove Crier articles, with almost 17,000 online readers, has been my article on John Adams’ good friend Benjamin Franklin. Both were founding fathers of our neighbour to the south. My American relatives have told me that Adams is the greater man.
Adams’ greatest strength and weakness was that he was a passionate peace-maker, even at the cost of sabotaging his own re-election as the second American President. Napoleon in 1797 captured 300 American ships, six percent of the American fleet. (1) The ‘hawks’ in Adams’ own Federalist party desperately wanted to go to war with France, but Adams negotiated a peace treaty that allowed him to disband Alexander Hamilton’s unnecessary and costly army. Hamilton, the commander of this army, took this as a personal insult, and dedicated himself to splitting Adams’ own Federalist Party. John Adams wrote his wife Abigail saying that he knew “Hamilton to be a proud-spirited, conceited, aspiring mortal, always pretending to morality…as great a hypocrite as any in the US…” (2)
With two Federalist presidential candidates, the Republican presidential candidate, Thomas Jefferson, won the election on the 36th ballot after a deadlocked Congressional tie vote. (3) Jefferson, who had foolishly endorsed the blood-thirsty French Revolution, was wisely mentored by Adams. At his final State of Union address, President Adams stated: “Here and throughout our country, may simple measures, pure morals, and true religion, flourish forever!” (4) His final prayer as he left the House was: “I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof.” (5) Despite strong political differences, Adams and Jefferson ended as good pen pal friends, both dying in 1826 on the significant American July 4th holiday. (6) Jefferson acknowledged Adams as ‘the colossus of independence.’ (7)
John Adams was both passionate about liberty and yet cautious about our human tendency to selfishness. James Grant commended Adams for “his unqualified love of liberty, and his unsentimental perception of the human condition.” (8) As such, Adams produced constitutional boundaries that guarded people’s essential freedoms of life and liberty of speech, assembly, and religion. The US Congress praised Adams for his “patriotism, perseverance, integrity and diligence.” (9) Adams insightfully commented: “our Constitution was made only for a moral & religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” (10) The root of equality, said Adams, was the Golden Rule – Love your neighbour as yourself. (11)
Adams has been described as one of North America’s greatest bibliophiles. He loved to learn, reading voraciously in wide-ranging areas of interest, including the Bible. Equality for Adams was grounded in equal access to education for all: “knowledge monopolized, or in the Possession of a few, is a Curse to Mankind. We should dispense it among all Ranks. We should educate our children. Equality should be preserved in knowledge.” (12) His prayer for his children was: ““Let them revere nothing but religion, morality, and liberty.” (13)
One of Adams’ strengths was that he was deeply honest, even to his own political detriment. Unlike the worldly-wise Benjamin Franklin, he would say exactly what was on his mind. Adams urged Franklin to get more exercise, saying that “the sixth Commandment forbids a man to kill himself as it does to kill his neighbour. A sedentary life is tantamount to suicide.” (14) James Grant commented that “like the mythical George Washington, he seemed incapable of telling a lie; he was naturally and organically honest.” (15) Adams once commented: “The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount contain my religion.”(16) Adams was indeed an unusual politician. He found the endless political bickering to be painful and pointless, commenting that “a resolution that two plus two makes five would require fully two days of debate.” (17) Adams was known as a foul-weather politician, only drawn to serve his country because of the intense crisis. He would have much rather been anywhere else: “The longer I live and the more I see of public men, the more I wish to be a private one.” (18) Adams was a latecomer to American Independence, preferring to work for reconciliation with the British. While Benjamin Franklin had favour and therefore initial funding from France , John Adams eventually obtained key loans to the United States from the cautious Dutch. Because of his endless negotiations in France, Holland and England, Adams only saw his dear wife Abigail for a grand total of three months over six years. (19) He wrote to Josiah Quincy: “Happy is the man who has nothing to do with politics and strife.” (20)
One of Adams’ first assignments in Congress was to draft a resolution appointing a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer throughout the thirteen colonies: “that we may, with united hearts and voices, unfeignedly confess and deplore our many sins, and offer up our joint supplications to the all-wise Omnipotent, and merciful Disposer of all events; humbling beseeching him to forgive our iniquities, to remove our present calamities, to avert those desolating judgments with which we are threatened, and to bless our rightful sovereign, King George the third.” (21) Sadly King George dismissed Adams and his colleagues as ‘wicked and desperate persons.’ (22)
King George’s thirty-three thousand British troops resulted in thirty-five thousand American deaths by sword, sickness, or captivity. (23) Adams knew that without heart-forgiveness, American independence would quickly become as barbaric as the French Revolution: “In a time of war, one may see the necessity and utility of the divine prohibitions of revenge and the Injunctions of forgiveness of Injuries and love of Enemies, which we find in Christian Religion. Unrestrained, in some degree by these benevolent Laws, Men would be Devils, at such a Time as such.” (24)
In 1815 he wrote his own gravestone epitaph: “Here lies John Adams, who took upon himself the responsibility of the peace with France in the year 1800.” (25) My prayer is that we too may be passionate peace-makers like President John Adams.
The Rev. Dr. Ed Hird, BSW, MDiv, DMin
-an article previously published in the Deep Cove Crier/North Shore News
(19) McCullough, p. 271 “At last, on June 11th 1782, Adams negotiated with a syndicate of three Amsterdam banking houses — Willink, Van Staphorst, and De la Lande & Fynje — a loan of five million guilders, or two million dollars at five percent interest. It was not the ten million dollars Congress had expected…”; Grant, p. 196.
(20) Grant, p. 157.
(21) Grant, p. 153.
(22) Grant, p. 152.
(23) Grant, p. 256.
(24) Grant, p. 184.
(25) Grant, p. 383.
P. S. Click this Amazon link to view for free the first two chapters of our new novel Blue Sky.
“I’m afraid there’s been an accident…”
Sandy Brown and her family have just moved to Spokane, Washington where her husband, Scott, is pastoring a new church. With a fresh start, Sandy is determined to devote more time to her four children. But, within weeks of settling in their new life, the Brown family is plunged into turmoil.
Sandy receives shocking news that her children aren’t safe, which brings back haunting memories of the trauma she experienced as a girl. Then, the unthinkable happens…
A brutal attack puts Sandy on the brink of losing everything she’s loved. Her faith in God and the family she cherishes are pushed to the ultimate limit.
Is healing possible when so many loved ones are hurt? Are miracles really possible through the power of prayer? Can life return to the way it was before?
Blue Sky reveals how a mother’s most basic instinct isn’t for survival… but for family.
If you’re a fan of Karen Kingsbury, then you’ll love Blue Sky. Get your copy today on paperback or kindle.
-The sequel book Restoring Health: body, mind and spirit is available online with Amazon.com in both paperback and ebook form. Dr. JI Packer wrote the foreword, saying “I heartily commend what he has written.” The book focuses on strengthening a new generation of healthy leaders. Drawing on examples from Titus’ healthy leadership in the pirate island of Crete, it shows how we can embrace a holistically healthy life.
To receive a personally signed copy within North America, just etransfer at ed_hird@telus.net, giving your address. Cheques are also acceptable.
-Click to purchase the Companion Bible Study by Jan Cox (for the Battle of the Soul of Canada) in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca
-Click to purchase the Companion Bible Study by Jan Cox (for the Battle of the Soul of Canada) in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca
To purchase any of our six books in paperback or ebook on Amazon, just click on this link.
There is something about the Christmas season that starts you singing. Many people hardly ever sing in public. Yet Christmas can turn them into instant musicians, belting out Jingle Bells, Away in a Manger, or I wish you a Merry Christmas. My best friend as a teenager was a self-professed atheist, but he loved to sing Christmas Carols. I will always remember going door-to-door with my atheist friend singing Silent Night, Holy Night and raising money for the local Christmas Stocking Fund.
One of the best loved carols of all time is Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Charles Wesley, the brother of the famous John Wesley, wrote this carol in 1739. Charles wrote over 6,500 hymns, making him the most prolific hymn-writer of all time. Charles was born on December 18th, 1707, the 18th of 18 children. His father, Samuel Wesley, an Anglican priest in Epworth, had a very profound impact on his life. Both Charles and his brother John had a first class education at Oxford, where Charles worked on his MA On May 21st, 1738, Charles underwent a life-changing conversion which significantly released within him his gift of song-writing. Almost every day Charles would be writing another brand-new hymn. Both Charles and his brother John were ordained Anglican priests. In those days, Anglicans never sung hymns in church. They only sang the psalms. Hymn-singing and carol-singing was seen as a very radical thing to do.
At times, Charles and John Wesley would encounter great opposition as they went around singing and preaching the gospel. In February 1747 at Devizes, the two brothers were attacked by a mob which surrounded their house, broke the windows, tore off the shutters, and flooded the house with water pumped from a fire engine. In response, Charles wrote a hymn which they sang as they left town. Sometimes the beautiful songs themselves would tame the unruly mob, and turn them away from violence.
Hundreds of thousands of lives were affected by these two musical brothers. Some historians credit the Wesleys with having prevented the French Revolution from reoccurring in 18th century England. Instead England went through a spiritual revolution that greatly improved the lot of the working class. At that time, adults and even children could be legally hanged for 160 different offenses –from picking a pocket to stealing a rabbit. In London, 75% of all children died before age 5. Among the poor, the death rate was even higher. In one orphanage, only one of 500 orphans survived more than a year. Alcohol abuse was rampant, even among children, with over 11 million gallons of Gin consumed in 1750. Charles and John Wesley believed that changed hearts could lead to a changed society. Their impact on 18th century society was phenomenal in the areas of health, politics, prisons, economics, education, music, and literature.
Few people realize that the carol Hark the Herald Angels Sing took over 120 years to finish. The tune that we now use to sing this carol was actually composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840. Fifteen years later, an English musician W.H. Cummings applied Mendelssohn’s music to Wesley’s carol. Felix Mendelssohn was a Jewish believer in Jesus who is famous for reintroducing Johann Sebastian Bach to the musical world, as well as for his oratios Elijah and St. Paul.
As we sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing each Christmas, let us do so with a new thanksgiving for the sacrifices and dedication of those who have given us the heritage of Christmas Caroling. My Christmas prayer is that the words ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Glory to the Newborn King’ may touch the hearts of many men, women, and children during the Holidays.
P. S. Click this Amazon link to view for free the first two chapters of our new novel Blue Sky.
“I’m afraid there’s been an accident…”
Sandy Brown and her family have just moved to Spokane, Washington where her husband, Scott, is pastoring a new church. With a fresh start, Sandy is determined to devote more time to her four children. But, within weeks of settling in their new life, the Brown family is plunged into turmoil.
Sandy receives shocking news that her children aren’t safe, which brings back haunting memories of the trauma she experienced as a girl. Then, the unthinkable happens…
A brutal attack puts Sandy on the brink of losing everything she’s loved. Her faith in God and the family she cherishes are pushed to the ultimate limit.
Is healing possible when so many loved ones are hurt? Are miracles really possible through the power of prayer? Can life return to the way it was before?
Blue Sky reveals how a mother’s most basic instinct isn’t for survival… but for family.
If you’re a fan of Karen Kingsbury, then you’ll love Blue Sky. Get your copy today on paperback or kindle.
-The sequel book Restoring Health: body, mind and spirit is available online with Amazon.com in both paperback and ebook form. Dr. JI Packer wrote the foreword, saying “I heartily commend what he has written.” The book focuses on strengthening a new generation of healthy leaders. Drawing on examples from Titus’ healthy leadership in the pirate island of Crete, it shows how we can embrace a holistically healthy life.
To receive a signed copy within North America, just etransfer at ed_hird@telus.net, giving your address. Cheques are also acceptable.
-Click to purchase the Companion Bible Study by Jan Cox (for the Battle of the Soul of Canada) in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca
-Click to purchase the Companion Bible Study by Jan Cox (for the Battle of the Soul of Canada) in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca
To purchase any of our six books in paperback or ebook on Amazon, just click on this link.
When I was fifteen years old, my friends and I went Christmas Carolling door to door to raise money for the Vancouver Sun’s “Stocking Fund”. We were an unlikely bunch to be Christmas Carolling. My best friend was a self-professed atheist from a family of atheists. My other two friends were Jewish, and I was a lapsed Anglican who skied on Sundays at Mount Seymour. We vigorously sang the Christmas Carols and raised a lot of money. But I for one, never stopped to really listen to the words.
I have always loved Christmas Carols, but I find that year after year, the carols become more special and meaningful to me. I no longer just love the familiar tunes. I love the words as well, and the Christmas message behind it. Webster’s Dictionary defines a carol as
A song of joy, rapture or gladness; as, the carol of birds
A hymn of praise, especially in honour of the Nativity (birth of the baby Jesus).
The word “carol” is derived from the Medieval Latin “chordula” which means a dance to the flute. The word “carol” can be broken into two original Greek words: choros = dance and dulos = flute. I cannot think of a better word to celebrate my joy at the birth of the “Lord of the Dance”.
What are your favourite carols? O Little Town of Bethlehem is a popular one. Other favourites are O Come All Ye Faithful, Away in a Manager, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Joy to the World, Silent Night, We Three Kings, While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks. Many of us, whether we are active churchgoers or not, can sing a number of these from heart.
My challenge to each of us this Christmas is to listen more carefully to the words as we sing. For example, “O Come All Ye Faithful” encourages us to “O Come Let Us Adore Him, Christ the Lord”. “O Little Town of Bethlehem” has us singing “O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today”. “Away in a Manager has us singing “Be near me Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay close by me forever, and love me I pray”. And finally the very popular carol “Joy to the World” has us sing “Joy to the World! The Lord has come; let earth receive her King; let every heart prepare Him room.”
My prayer for Christmas is that as many seekers once again sing their favourite Christmas Carols, the words will jump from the pages into their hearts.
The Rev. Dr. Ed Hird, BSW, MDiv, DMin
-previously published in the Deep Cove Crier/North Shore News
P. S. Click this Amazon link to view for free the first two chapters of our new novel Blue Sky.
“I’m afraid there’s been an accident…”
Sandy Brown and her family have just moved to Spokane, Washington where her husband, Scott, is pastoring a new church. With a fresh start, Sandy is determined to devote more time to her four children. But, within weeks of settling in their new life, the Brown family is plunged into turmoil.
Sandy receives shocking news that her children aren’t safe, which brings back haunting memories of the trauma she experienced as a girl. Then, the unthinkable happens…
A brutal attack puts Sandy on the brink of losing everything she’s loved. Her faith in God and the family she cherishes are pushed to the ultimate limit.
Is healing possible when so many loved ones are hurt? Are miracles really possible through the power of prayer? Can life return to the way it was before?
Blue Sky reveals how a mother’s most basic instinct isn’t for survival… but for family.
If you’re a fan of Karen Kingsbury, then you’ll love Blue Sky. Get your copy today on paperback or kindle.
-The sequel book Restoring Health: body, mind and spirit is available online with Amazon.com in both paperback and ebook form. Dr. JI Packer wrote the foreword, saying “I heartily commend what he has written.” The book focuses on strengthening a new generation of healthy leaders. Drawing on examples from Titus’ healthy leadership in the pirate island of Crete, it shows how we can embrace a holistically healthy life.
To receive a signed copy within North America, just etransfer at ed_hird@telus.net, giving your address. Cheques are also acceptable.
-Click to purchase the Companion Bible Study by Jan Cox (for the Battle of the Soul of Canada) in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca
-Click to purchase the Companion Bible Study by Jan Cox (for the Battle of the Soul of Canada) in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca
To purchase any of our six books in paperback or ebook on Amazon, just click on this link.
With two Federalist presidential candidates, the Republican presidential candidate, Thomas Jefferson, won the election on the 36th ballot after a deadlocked Congressional tie vote. (3) Jefferson, who had foolishly endorsed the blood-thirsty French Revolution, was wisely mentored by Adams. At his final State of Union address, President Adams stated: “Here and throughout our country, may simple measures, pure morals, and true religion, flourish forever!” (4) His final prayer as he left the House was: “I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof.” (5) Despite strong political differences, Adams and Jefferson ended as good pen pal friends, both dying in 1826 on the significant American July 4th holiday. (6) Jefferson acknowledged Adams as ‘the colossus of independence.’ (7)
Adams has been described as one of North America’s greatest bibliophiles. He loved to learn, reading voraciously in wide-ranging areas of interest, including the Bible. Equality for Adams was grounded in equal access to education for all: “knowledge monopolized, or in the Possession of a few, is a Curse to Mankind. We should dispense it among all Ranks. We should educate our children. Equality should be preserved in knowledge.” (12) His prayer for his children was: ““Let them revere nothing but religion, morality, and liberty.” (13)
One of Adams’ first assignments in Congress was to draft a resolution appointing a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer throughout the thirteen colonies: “that we may, with united hearts and voices, unfeignedly confess and deplore our many sins, and offer up our joint supplications to the all-wise Omnipotent, and merciful Disposer of all events; humbling beseeching him to forgive our iniquities, to remove our present calamities, to avert those desolating judgments with which we are threatened, and to bless our rightful sovereign, King George the third.” (21) Sadly King George dismissed Adams and his colleagues as ‘wicked and desperate persons.’ (22)
In 1815 he wrote his own gravestone epitaph: “Here lies John Adams, who took upon himself the responsibility of the peace with France in the year 1800.” (25) My prayer is that we too may be passionate peace-makers like President John Adams.
Sandy Brown and her family have just moved to Spokane, Washington where her husband, Scott, is pastoring a new church. With a fresh start, Sandy is determined to devote more time to her four children. But, within weeks of settling in their new life, the Brown family is plunged into turmoil.
Sandy Brown and her family have just moved to Spokane, Washington where her husband, Scott, is pastoring a new church. With a fresh start, Sandy is determined to devote more time to her four children. But, within weeks of settling in their new life, the Brown family is plunged into turmoil.
Edhird's Blog 