A Springtime Prayer to 'Preserve, Protect and Defend' Our Constitution

by Lawrence Kadish • March 25, 2024 at 3:00 pm

As we remain wary and guarded against assaults from within and from beyond our borders, we need to turn within and contemplate the words of the Bible that serve to fortify ourselves and our nation. We should follow in the footsteps of great American presidents who put their hands on a book filled with holy words and vowed to "....the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Pictured: George Washington takes the oath of office as the first president of the United States, on April 30th 1789 at the Old City Hall, New York, in an 1876 lithograph by Currier & Ives. (Image source: Metropolitan Museum of Art)

We are a nation that respects the Constitutional separation of "Church and State," but we are also a nation founded on the moral authority found within the Bible.

At a time when Easter is upon us and Passover is weeks away, it is important to reflect on the role of prayer in strengthening a nation that daily celebrates its democracy.

It is not by accident that George Washington placed his hand on a Bible when taking the oath of office of as America's first president. Also, no small wonder that Abraham Lincoln continuously returned to biblical themes as he brought our nation through the agonies of the Civil War. Or that Franklin Delano Roosevelt invoked a "righteous might" when asking for a declaration of war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

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