“That Spirit which alone suffices to quiet hearts & which seems to come forth to such from every dry knoll of sere grass, from every pine stump & half-embedded stone on which the dull March sun shines will come forth only to the poor & hungry & such as are of simple taste. If thou fillest thy brain with Boston & New York, with fashion & covetousness, and wilt stimulate thy jaded senses with wine & French coffee thou shalt find no radiance of Wisdom in the lonely waste by the pinewoods.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

John Adams wrote, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other” (Message from John Adams to the Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts, Oct. 11, 1798).

What a shame that we attempt to address the inadequacies we see around us by amending and increasing government without first acknowledging our moral shortcomings. We are erecting scaffolding around a weak core. I know that if we will humble ourselves, and focus our efforts on teaching correct principles established by God, we will rejoice in the heavy burdens that are lifted from this people.