A time to keep Washington's spark alive

Peter A. Lillback

is the author of George Washington's Sacred Fire and president of the Providence Forum and Westminster Theological Seminary

George Washington knew a lot about fire. It was the only source of light in the darkness before the incandescent light created the modern world.

His youthful diaries tell of his tent catching fire and his escape - by a hair's breadth - with his life.

As president, he spoke of the sacred fire of liberty, a flame entrusted to all Americans, especially on our nation's birthday. But long before he spoke those words, as a schoolboy, he transcribed the "Rules of Civility." The 110th and final rule taught, "Labor to keep alive in your Breast that Little Spark of Celestial fire Called Conscience." These words guided his life like a candle through the dark.

As commander of the Revolutionary Army, he followed his victory at Trenton on Christmas Day 1776 with a stroke of genius. The ruse was to keep fires burning all night in the American camp and slip away in the darkness to take Princeton and the military stores that the British had left behind when they went to aid the hapless Hessians at Trenton. The European powers took note of Washington's cunning, and his fame flamed high.

Washington knew that fire was dangerous and deceiving as it pierced the darkness. But he also knew it represented the divine.

Never did fire burn more brightly than when he spoke as the first president under the Constitution. The hitherto fearless leader said with trembling lips, "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty was an experiment in republican government entrusted to us!

But something seems to have gone wrong with the experiment. What was hoped to be an eternal flame is beginning to flicker and dim.

What is happening to the sacred fire that Washington bequeathed to us? Could it be that the problem with the sacred fire of liberty in America is that we no longer believe that it is, or know that it was meant to be, a sacred or holy flame? Do we understand that America's sacred fire will only burn as bright as "that Little Spark of Celestial fire Called Conscience"?

Our Founders understood that the separation of church and state did not mean the separation of God and government. Washington reminded the nation in his Farewell Address that "religion and morality are indispensable supports of our political prosperity." Our Founders' logic went something like this:

To be free, you need a republic.

To have a republic, you need a Constitution.

To have a Constitution, you need morality.

To have morality, you need religion.

This is why the fire that Washington saw lighting America's future was a sacred fire, indeed, a "Celestial fire." This fire from above dispelled the darkness of human bondage by authentic freedom, by liberty in law.

So what's gone wrong? Simply put, we've rejected the wisdom of our Founders. We've attacked religion everywhere we can, thanks to the tireless efforts of organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union. And since we've removed religion from the public square, it's no wonder that national morality from Main Street to Wall Street to Pennsylvania Avenue is disintegrating before our very eyes. And if religion and morality are gone, what's next?

It's our Constitution. There are signs of this around us. Courts no longer abide by it, changing its meaning and precedents at will. Are the executive and legislative branches committed to this document that gave us our sacred fire of liberty? Did the health-care bill seek to honor the Constitution, or seek to bend it or break it? Did the bailout of the mortgage industry follow the Constitution, or amend it without regard to the will of the people? After all, the Constitution begins with "We the People . . ."

We must rekindle this flame before darkness falls. Let's ignite a spark with Rule No. 110, "Labor to keep alive in your Breast that Little Spark of Celestial fire Called Conscience." For after all, "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted" into your hands.

So don't curse the darkness. Instead, light a candle that can light a thousand more with George Washington's Sacred Fire of Liberty.