Did the hand of God have anything to do with the birth of America? There’s a great new movie that gives a resounding, “Yes,” and it’s called “The American Miracle.”
It’s based on the best-selling book with the same title by Michael Medved, a popular radio show host, author, political commentator, and film critic. Medved hosts the new movie, weaving commentary throughout the film, which features on-screen insights from Paul Kengor, Jane Cook, Professor Robert George, Mary Thompson, Stephen Meyer, and many others.
Recently, I interviewed Medved about “The American Miracle” for a radio segment. He told our listeners, “[The founding fathers] agreed on one thing, which was that there was a higher power that was directing their events and was allowing them to do amazing things.”
He continued, “In fact, George Washington, when he was delivering his First Inaugural Address as our first president in 1789, thanked ‘the Invisible Hand,’ as he saw it, who had guided their success in the Revolution.”
Medved added that he had actually thought about using that phrase, “The Invisible Hand,” as the title for the film---but then he feared people would think it was a horror movie!
“The American Miracle” comes out soon, and I’ve gotten to see a sneak peek of portions of the film, and it’s wonderful.
The film is a docudrama with a beautiful intermixing of dramatic reenactments and great commentary.
Actors in the film include Daniel Shippey as George Washington, Pat Boone as the older Thomas Jefferson, Kevin Sorbo as the young Jefferson, and even Richard Dreyfuss, However, the star of Jaws doesn’t act, he makes some remarks that show his appreciation for what America has to offer.
Very early in the film, words on the screen declare: “When a people does not know the history of their nation, they can quickly lose the freedoms that millions have fought and died for.”
Just before the title graphics of “The American Miracle,” the film defines the word “Providence”: “the belief that all things are ordered and regulated by God towards His purpose.”
Providence is an uncommon concept in our secularized society, but American history has many examples of what could be interpreted as God’s hand on the creation of the nation.
The first such example highlighted in the film is that two key founders of America, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both died the same day---exactly 50 years after July 4, 1776. Adams’ last words were to the effect that all is well since Jefferson still lives (although he had died earlier that day).
Through the long Revolutionary War, weather favored the American cause in example after example. Such as the fog that rolled in and allowed the American troops to use all boats available in order to cross the East River in New York and thus escape from Brooklyn Heights to Manhattan. That event took place in August 1776 and has been likened to Washington’s Dunkirk.
But most importantly, God seemed to put His protective hand on George Washington, the military leader who was able to lead us to victory. The film re-enacts several examples where the father of our country could have been killed, such as in a 1755 battle during the French and Indian War.
A Native-American chief told his warriors to aim at George Washington. After several missed shots, he then told them to stop---as it seemed a higher power was protecting the young man.
An eye-witness to the battle was quoted as saying, “I expected every moment to see him fall. Nothing but the superintending care of Providence could have saved him.”
By the end of the massacre, Washington was the only British or American officer unharmed, with 714 Americans and British either killed or wounded (versus three officers and 30 men dead among the French and Indians).
In the movie, Dr. Robert George of Princeton notes, “Were these all just coincidences? Well, maybe they were. Logically, it’s possible---maybe---that coincidentally we had coincidence after coincidence after coincidence, all favoring Washington and favoring the American side. Leading to what would seem to be this miraculous victory of this American revolutionary. This rag-tag bunch over the greatest military power on earth. But Washington saw the hand of a supervening providence in these so-called coincidences. He saw miracles, where a skeptic or a cynic might see coincidences.”
Michael Medved remarks near the very end of the movie: “An isolated incident of fortunate coincidence or eerie congruence may count as an anomaly. But a long chain of seemingly haphazard, but consistently beneficial, occurrences suggests something else entirely. A pattern or more accurately, a design.”
“The American Miracle” is an encouraging film for generations of Americans to come. It makes a thought-provoking case for the film’s central premise: “America is no accident.”
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