In God We Trust

The evolution of the country, of humanity in general is an interesting thing. Because in this day and age you never know what will be important or who will make an impact upon mankind, I've always wanted to be a time traveler so that I could experience what life had to offer when "giants walked the earth". We can only get so much from our daily intake of movies, television, music, and print and while I appreciate the outstanding efforts of Paul Giamatti, I can't help but ponder what was the real John Adams like? Which brings me to the point of the Founding Fathers and God.
It has been a concern of mine that as we progress further and the years roll away, mankind is losing their way. When I served a mission I went to Oklahoma which is firmly entrenched in the Bible Belt or so I thought. Though the great majority of people do belong to a church and the things I saw lead me to believe that on the whole they follow Christ, there was a surprising number of people who didn't believe in anything. And I feel that this a trend that continues to grow. I had one young man (when I was serving in Norman, OK) who told me at the doorstep that he was atheist and that unless we could show him proof from a book that he wanted no part of it (coincidentally missionaries love to share the Book of Mormon, just ask any of them). Now this was always one of the hardest arguments for me to accept because of my beliefs. I know there is a God. He is our Father and it is his plan for us to return to Him. That is something that I know. Obviously there is much confusion out there and people are allowed to make their own choice. But when I look out into this world and see the wonders of it I cannot help but feel there is something more to all of this. It is so spectacular the intricacies of the human body down to smallest molecule and the grandeur of the universe about us. God created this. When you sit down and think about what you have been through, the happiness and suffering that combine to form human existence, the mundane things you have to do to subsist and the titillating moments that bring you joy. This is part of God's plan. Our forefathers left their countries in search of something better. For freedom to pursue happiness. And then they were part of something bigger, helping to found a great country that allows this freedom to all of it's inhabitants. And that happiness, true happiness, can be found as we come to know who created to us and who loves us enough to give us His son. Our Father in Heaven has put us here on this earth to allow us to become as He is, to experience the spectrum of human emotions so that we can mature and know what He knows. A father who loves His children. Where the current trend might be to pursue freedom from religion, I know that coming to know God is true freedom. Not bound by religion often under the guise as the philosophy of man. It is the wholehearted pursuit of coming to know your creator and taking comfort that there is a purpose to life. I have no doubt about that. I only hope that others can find that answer in time.