IN GOD WE TRUST

"The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout persons throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize the Deity on United States coins. From Treasury Department records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November 13, 1861. It was written to Secretary Chase by Rev. M. R. Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, and read:

Dear Sir: You are about to submit your annual report to the Congress respecting the affairs of the national finances.

One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins.

You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were not shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation? What I propose is that instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the words PERPETUAL UNION; within the ring the allseeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath this eye the American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the number of the States united; in the folds of the bars the words GOD, LIBERTY, LAW.

This would make a beautiful coin, to which no possible citizen could object. This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed. From my hearth I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.

To you first I address a subject that must be agitated."

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The irony of the Rev. M.R. Watkinson's suggestion is that what was once meant for the acknowledgment of The Almighty has become an overlooked statement imprinted on the very thing that most people find themselves placing their trust in - the almighty dollar.

The state of our economy is at the top of the list of platforms for this coming election's presidential hopefuls. The falling U.S. dollar is a concern for all those involved in global trade. The fear of America being picked apart by countries to whom we are in debt weighs heavy on the back part of the minds of every hard-working American.

The American Dream is fast becoming nothing more than a fantasy to a nation who's people are individually in debt up to their eyeballs. We're wasting our lives at jobs we don't like to pay for things we don't really need. Materialism will only last a lifetime and is never worth the sacrifices we make to gain the money to sustain it's hold on us.

Money is just a concept. Purchasing goods and services with pieces of paper and metal is merely an idea that we place faith into. If we're not careful, chasing money becomes its own religion with money itself as our god and materialism as the lifestyle of worship to this god. Money is a god who's value always changes. But Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8).

If every bill and coin disappeared from my pocket and bank account today, my trust would remain in Christ. If tomorrow there was no food in my house or no roof over my family's head, my trust would still remain in Christ. My job is not my source. My paycheck is not my source. God is my source for all.

No matter what sort of financial need you might be in as you read this, God's desire to meet your need remains the same. No matter how bleak the situation may seem, God knows what he is doing. Trust Him enough to let Him do what He needs to do through your circumstance.

Although the value of the U.S. dollar may not be the same as it was in 1861, always remember that God is as worthy of our national motto today as he was then - IN GOD WE TRUST.