It turns out, April 30 has been a big day for America throughout its history.  Five hundred thirty-two years ago today, Christopher Columbus received from Spain his commission of exploration, which led to his seafaring discovery of the land that would eventually become known as America.  Two hundred thirty-five years ago, on April 30, 1789, on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington took the oath of office to become the first President of the United States.  And just fourteen years after that, on April 30, 1803, the United States under the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million—a transaction known as the Louisiana Purchase—which more than doubled the land mass of the United States.  With so much of our history tied to today, it’s kind of a wonder that April 30 isn’t a national holiday.

But all these events got me thinking—not just about our nation, but about the course of history itself; about everything that had to happen for the United States as we know it to exist at all.  It is popular today among some historians, as Arnold Toynbee observed, to view history as just one random thing after another—that the existence of the United States is as much coincidence as anything.  But George Washington, in his 1789 inaugural address, saw things quite differently.  He said: “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States.  Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.”

So, when you think of your country—and of the whole course of history generally—do you mostly see a series of coincidences, or the Hand of Providence?  And whichever way you answer, why?

Have a wonderful day.