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Member referral program. Distance learners who get a friend to sign will earn a feat in the program — and you’ll both get a free shirt. Just tell them to put your name in the “referred by” slot on the application. Members in the RVA club, bring a friend and the same goes for you!

METTLE MAKER #508: Habitude 7 of the Founding Fathers

Join us in cultivating the 7 Habitudes of the Founding Fathers! Step into their mindset and embrace their ideals. Embody the view that personal self-government is a prerequisite for political self-government. It’s the the perfect way to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence and honor the great men who made it a reality. Post your experiences with this exercise using the hashtag #7H250.

Habitude 7: Prayer

Whenever the topic of the beliefs of the founding fathers is brought up, what follows is a lively, often acrimonious debate. Atheists want to paint the founders as non-Christian deists, Christians take the opposite stance, and arguments about philosophy soon follow. For our purposes, philosophy is wide of the mark. This little book is about their habitudes – that is, we are concerned about their habitual dispositions and behaviors. Let’s remember that what we do often says far more about what we believe than what we say.

According to his adopted daughter Nelly Custis-Lewis, George Washington spent the final hour of the day in private prayer and reflection. “It was his custom to retire to his library at nine or ten o'clock where he remained an hour before he went to his chamber.” This mirrors the custom of the great Patrick Henry who, according to his grandson P. H. Fontaine, had the habit “each day around sunset, to retire to his law office for an hour of prayer and meditation.”

According to his autobiography, Ben Franklin began his day with one or both of the following prayers:

"O powerful Goodness! bountiful Father! merciful Guide! Increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest. Strengthen my resolutions to perform what that wisdom dictates. Accept my kind offices to thy other children as the only return in my power for thy continual favours to me."

or

"Father of light and life, thou Good Supreme! O teach me what is good; teach me Thyself! Save me from folly, vanity, and vice, from every low pursuit; and fill my soul with knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure; Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss!"

All but three of the founding fathers were Protestants, and as far as we know, all of them were baptized (either traditionally in water or in Spirit as the Quakers) except for the atheist Thomas Paine. But even though he was not technically baptized, Paine was confirmed into the Anglican Church by the Bishop of Norwich, and it was in this church that his marriage to Mary Lambert was performed in 1759. He even proclaimed, “I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life.”

The founders were mostly Anglicans, but there were also Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Quakers, Lutherans, and even three Catholics (Charles and Daniel Carroll and Thomas Fitzsimmons). Virtually all of them were on church rolls, were married in churches, participated in churches, attended church, quoted scripture, and invoked the divine in the public square.

Suffice to say that, to one degree or another, the founders prayed. And you should too. “But why?” you might say to yourself. “I can skip this one habitude of the founders and it’s no big deal. I’ll be able to instill in myself a heaping helping of their indomitable spirit.”

But here’s the problem with that line of thinking. The wellspring of their courage, energy, hope, and love for peace and justice was their worship of a great and good God from whom goodness and righteousness flow. If you believe human rights are proffered by a King or a Congress, you can give up on them when you are outgunned. But who can be timid when believing that laws and rights are God-given? Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that “the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God” guarantee that men are of an equal station, and that “all men are created equal,” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” That which is God-given can be temporarily obstructed by evil but can never truly be taken away!

Presumptions like the above aside, as a practical matter, we know that prayer has concrete benefits for those who practice it. Prayer,

· calms the nervous system

· dampens negative emotions like anger

· decreases anxiety and stress

· enhances mood

· increases pain tolerance

· promotes rest

· improves mental and physical health outcomes

· strengthens the marriages of couples who pray together

Not that we should pray because it benefits us, of course. Prayers are best when they are humble and done for the benefit of others. Even if you are an atheist or agnostic, just try it. Let go of your prejudices and pay no attention to what others say about who God is or is not. Allow yourself to conceive of a Higher Power who created existence itself and cares for you. Call this God whatever you want – the Great Spirit, the Creator, Heavenly Father, the Highest Good, the Supreme Ultimate – it doesn’t matter. Just go toward him with your own unique viewpoint and let yourself bloom where you are planted. The Father’s house has a room for each and every one of his children. He will welcome you inside his home warts and all, despite your many faults and quirks. Accept the gift of wellbeing, calm, hope, comfort and peace that comes with belief. Tap into a power greater than your own, and don’t look back.

Praying is an act of appeal, reverence, respect and/or thanks to something larger than yourself – but first and foremost, praying is asking. If you are praying you are simultaneously admitting (a) that you are smaller than something transcendent and (b) that you are in need of something that you do not have. If you’ve never prayed before, or if you haven’t prayed for a long time, here are some suggestions for places to begin. Try one or all three:

· Say your prayers before bed. It’s very childlike and right out of an old-time story book but you’ll be surprised how effective it is for changing your outlook for the better. If you can’t think of anything to say, use or modify this prayer: “O God, I love and adore you with all my heart. I thank you for my creation and for having preserved me this day. Pardon me for any evil I have done today, and if I have done anything good, be pleased to accept it. Protect me while I take my rest and deliver me from all dangers I pray Thee. Amen.”

· Say a prayer when you arise in the morning. Something like this will work nicely. Use as-is or modify as needed. “Saint Michael the archangel, supreme leader of the heavenly armies, watch over me this day and guide my thoughts, desires, actions and beliefs such that I may be aligned always with the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.”

· Say grace before meals. “Bless us O Lord and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.”

· Say a prayer when you feel stressed or at loose ends during the day. Memorize and recite a short and simple prayer to use whenever you feel as though you are losing track of your better self. “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)

· The Lord’s Prayer or Our Father: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.”

· The Fatima Prayer: “O my Jesus, save us from the fires of hell; lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy. Amen.”

· The Hail Mary: “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

· The Prayer of the Heart: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Now, it’s worthy of note that people aren’t generally very well disciplined. In the same way that becoming a good soccer player might be hard without a team and a coach, it might be hard to maintain a strong prayer life without a church and a pastor. If you don’t do so already, consider attending church.

But whatever you do, don’t discount the importance of prayer. Follow in the footsteps of the founding fathers in that regard and perhaps you too can be the spirit of a revolution — a revolution in your heart and soul, a revolution in your culture, community, or wherever the Creator sees fit stir things up for the better.

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Sacred Reading for Sunday, 8/2/26

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Lectio Divina is an ancient way to interact with the Bible. Its four elements are reading, meditation, contemplation, and prayer. CLICK HERE for the Sunday Lectio exercise. To watch daily mass, CLICK HERE. For daily gospel reflections in your email box, SIGN UP HERE.