Revolution by Eric Metaxas

"Many people called 1777 'the year of the hangman.'" Eric Metaxas, Revolution

This book... I don't even know where to start. But, one idea sinks in, we owe people. We owe these brilliant, self-sacrificing, forward thinking people who could hardly have given more than they did so that we can have what we have now. They lived in the shadow of the noose. They did courageous and impossible things. Of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration, nine died in the war. Several were financially ruined. Some were forced to live on the run. A few suffered most terribly by having family sorely mistreated by the enemy. They did all this in the middle of a  human experience, so they had sickness, toothaches, family concerns, and financial worries to boot. And grief, it must have been excruciating. Because of the time they lived in, they lost loved ones, frequently. (Sam Adams lost his first wife and four of his children before the Revolution got started.) Those that survived the revolution went on to sacrifice the rest of their whole lives so that we could pursue happiness.

And what is the pursuit of happiness anyway? They meant the pursuit of self-mastery. They meant the pursuit of virtue. It was never about, "I do what I want." It was something far finer. It is because of that finer purpose they were blessed and were able to help bring forth a miracle.

So, it bothers me quite a lot how misunderstood they are today. It bothers me that the misunderstandings are purposefully spread for political purposes especially when understanding would bring so much collective gratitude and a unity that would promptly civilize us a bit. We need our heroes; we need the real heroes. The men and women of the revolutionary period fit that designation. 

We are a blessed people. Those blessings came from God and the great and moral leaders he sent to found this country in order to prepare it for the gospel. They weren't perfect, they even irritated each other as they considered, debated, and even fundamentally disagreed on this or that idea or course. But, informed by the Bible, they built this country on sacrifice we can hardly comprehend. They were truly good and truly extraordinary and truly God-fearing. 

I have been forever fascinated by the founding. I have enjoyed many biographies of the founders and I just wasn't certain that this book was needed even if we are celebrating the 250. I am pleased to be wrong. This isn't the story of the founding. It's more important than that. This is the story of the providential founding of the county. This is the necessary history of the revolution, one of those books that you re-read and refer to. I hope you read it. 

Samuel Adams: 

I have long been convinced that our enemies have made it an object, to eradicate from the minds of the people in general a sense of true religion & virtue, in hopes thereby the more easily to carry their point of enslaving them. Indeed my friend, this is a subject so important to my mind that I know not how to leave it. Revelation assures us that "Righteousness exalted a nation." Communities are dealt with in their world by the wise and just Ruler of the Universe. He rewards or punishes them according to their general character. The diminution of public virtue is usually attended with that of public Happiness, and the public Liberty will not long survive the total extinction of morals. pg. 341