Wisdom from a Founding Father

Samuel Adams, one of our country’s Founding Fathers, played his traditional role as father of the bride when he passed along a proverbial bit of wisdom to his daughter’s fiancé, a man named Thomas Wells. It went like this:

“I could say a thousand things to you if I had leisure. I could dwell on the importance of piety and religion, of industry and frugality, of prudence, economy, regularity and even Government, all of which are essential to the well-being of a family. But I have not time. I cannot however help repeating piety because I think it is indispensable. Religion in a family is at once its brightest ornament and its best security.”

In other words, religion is the family’s North Star.

Hmm…true?

There are some troubling trends (lots of them) in America to measure Mr. Adams’s wisdom against. Here’s a smattering of stats about the growing complexity and diversity of families:

  • The number of children living only with their mothers has doubled in the past fifty years—from 7.6 to 15.3 million—as divorce, remarriage, and cohabitation have risen. (U.S. Census Bureau).
  • One in four parents living with a child in the U.S. today are unmarried, compared to one-in-ten 50 years ago (Pew Research Center). More than 50% are solo mothers and 12% are solo fathers.
  • A larger share of solo parents live in poverty compared with cohabitating parents—27% versus 16%.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. On their surface, these statistics are concerning.

The stressors on children and teens are enormous. Routines disrupted. Peer disconnection despite a constant social media presence. Interruptions in medical and therapeutic care. Economic hardship. Morbidity and mortality among young ones. Antisemitism. The trauma of race-based violence and other forms of racism. A strained child-care system.

Looming larger than ever are their avenues of escape. Drugs, isolation. Dare I fail to mention it…teen suicide. (How about that little computer in their hands that connects them to the world—the brightest and darkest parts?)

Here’s a pandemic-related truth old Sam Adams might say is contributing to this mess. In three years, the number of U.S. adults who believe they have a unique, God-given calling or purpose for their life has declined a staggering 20%.

What do you think? Is God riding off into the sunset? Did Samuel Adams offer helpful advice to his son-in-law-to-be all those years ago?

Can’t you just hear Mr. Adams screaming from his grave, “I told you so!” Can it be he was on to something, a formula for success we once embraced but have forgotten?

Social scientists can point to a myriad of studies to prove the narratives they want to advance. I took a course in college called “How to Lie With Statistics.” Quite revealing.

And yet, I believe there’s truth out there, waiting to be discovered. There’s something intuitive in the advice our Founding Father shared. Something that rings true, at least to me. And not just about piety or religion.

Into The Sunset

Foundational principles tried and proven, ones we can cling to—like those Adams promoted to his family—can provide a road map for healthy living. There are no guarantees in how things will shake out in our families. Karen and I continue to bear our share of troubles, chief among them, our daughter’s plunge into the darkness of the drug world. But without faith, we would be as lost as her…without hope. It’s been the beacon that helps to guide us home when the storm waters get rough.

If God is riding into the sunset, maybe we should follow Him.

I’m just sayin’.