National Day of Prayer set for May 5 at Noon

Displayed in my office is a picture of George Washington kneeling next to his horse on snow covered ground. The framed picture is one of my favorite, as it draws comments of admiration from many that visit my office.

The inscription etched in colonial script goes as follows: ‘The Prayer at Valley Forge: I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God and those who have the superintendence of them into his holy keeping.” – George Washington.

The picture, painted by Arnold Friberg, is a reflection of a testimony from a Valley Forge Quaker named Isaac Potts and recorded in  "Diary and Remembrances" of Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden, a Presbyterian minister and a Princeton graduate (Original Manuscript at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Call no. PHi.Am.1561-1568) (found at prayeratvalleyforge.com) as follows:

"I was riding with him (Mr. Potts) near Valley Forge, where the army lay during the war of the Revolution. Mr. Potts was a Senator in our state and a Whig. I told him I was agreeably surprised to find him a friend to his country as the Quakers were mostly Tories. He said, "It was so and I was a rank Tory once, for I never believed that America could proceed against Great Britain whose fleets and armies covered the land and ocean. But something very extraordinary converted me to the good faith."

"What was that?" I inquired. "Do you see that woods, and that plain?" It was about a quarter of a mile from the place we were riding. "There," said he, "laid the army of Washington. It was a most distressing time of ye war, and all were for giving up the ship but that one good man. In that woods," pointing to a close in view, "I heard a plaintive sound, as of a man at prayer. I tied my horse to a sapling and went quietly into the woods and to my astonishment I saw the great George Washington on his knees alone, with his sword on one side and his cocked hat on the other. He was at Prayer to the God of the Armies, beseeching to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was ye Crisis and the cause of the country, of humanity, and of the world.

"Such a prayer I never heard from the lips of man. I left him alone praying. I went home and told my wife, 'I saw a sight and heard today what I never saw or heard before', and just related to her what I had seen and heard and observed. We never thought a man could be a soldier and a Christian, but if there is one in the world, it is Washington. We thought it was the cause of God, and America could prevail."

As I considered the subject of this column I was invited to attend the National Day of Prayer ceremony in Culpeper on May 5th 12pm at the Courthouse (rain location – Culpeper Baptist Church). It reminded me of the picture on my wall and the power of faith and humility in leadership.

Jim Charapich, President/CEO of the Culpeper County Chamber of Commerce