The New World Vision part III” by Rev. Christine Emmerling D.D. 6/15/2025

My talk this week is part 3 of The New World Vision series. This series is based on Corinne Heline’s work “America’s Invisible Guidance.” This work shares the spiritual foundation in which this country was founded upon.

Our next Founding Father of interest is George Washington, born of aristocrats, on a large farm in Virginia on February 22, 1732. From childhood Washington was deeply serious and thoughtful. His diary at sixteen reveals an outlook on life as mature as that of the average man of forty. It was commonly said of him that he was born “old.” As someone expressed “to understand him and his role in human affairs one must be able to see him encompassed by mystic silence and by the universe.”

On June 16, 1776, John Hancock, presiding officer of the Continental Congress, called upon Colonel George Washington to arise, and announced that he had the order of Congress to inform him that “by unanimous vote he was chosen to be General and Commander in Chief to take supreme command of the forces raised and to be raised in defense of American liberty.” At 43 he became Commander-in-Chief of the army.

In writing his wife Martha, of the offer and his acceptance he said: “Destiny has thrown me into this service.” Washington realized that the army he was building was called upon to undertake a task, perhaps greater than any body of like strength had ever attempted. But for all that, he had an inner assurance that was unshakable. He felt his army would prove un-defeated, and that it was the instrument by means of which there would be established a new and glorious nation. In this faith, a faith that with him was knowledge, he was able to survive every hardship and overcome every difficulty that stood between him and complete victory.

Washington’s Masonic connection began in the “Ancient” Lodge of Fredericksburg, Virginia, on November 4, 1752, where he was initiated into the order, at the age of Twenty. By 1770 all the modern (exoteric) Lodges in Pennsylvania had ceased to exist and the “Ancient” (esoteric) Lodges were being established throughout all the Provinces both North and South. It is significant to note that the Ancient Lodges were unanimous and ardent in their support of the Colonies while the moderns gave their allegiance to the Motherland.

The Masonic Hall in Boston was called the “Headquarters of the Revolution.” It is alleged that within those walls the famous Boston Tea Party was planned and later executed by Masons disguised as Mohawk Indians. “Ancient” Masons throughout the Colonies were everywhere active in the glorious cause of founding a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

The first military Lodge in the Continental Army was organized at the time of the siege of Boston during the Revolution. Many of the outstanding colonials were initiated, among them Alexander Hamilton and John Marshall. Almost all Generals of Revolutionary fame were Masons.

In the summer of 1776, thirty ships and 32,000 men anchored in the waters of the Hudson just opposite New York. His army never greater than 15,000, poorly trained, with barely enough food and ammunition was hardly a match.

They lost New York and Philadelphia to the English. During the terrible winter of 1777-78 his men were without tents, shoes, and barely enough food. Washington was under great criticism and blame, and followed by demands for his replacement. Conspiracies were among his own men to take his life and so bring the war to an end. Yet, Washington’s faith remained unwavering. The more hopeless the situation became, the stronger flamed the fire of his invincible spirit.

As difficulties increased, he spent time each day alone in prayer and meditation. It was said that he was never without the 91st Psalm. And I shall now read it:

“He who dwells in the protection of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from vain gossip. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you shall trust; his truth shall be your shield and buckler.

You shall not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flies by day, Nor for the conspiracy that spreads in darkness; nor for the pestilence that wastes at noonday. Thousands shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.

Only with your eyes shall you behold the reward of the wicked. For you, O Lord, are my trust; you have established your habitation in the highest. There shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

You shall tread upon the viper and adder; you shall trample under foot the lion and the great serpent. Because he has loved me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high because he has known my name. He shall come upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.” (End)

He ordered prayer to be observed in the army every morning, and the reading of Thomas Paine’s inspiring booklet “Crisis.” On Sundays if no chaplain was available, he read the Bible to his men and led the prayers, and would address them as “Christian soldiers.”

An Indian warrior, after meeting Washington, made his prophetic statement about him: “The great Spirit guides and protects him. He cannot die in battle. He is destined to become the Chief of Nations.” Washington was referred to as the “clairvoyant politician” because of his ability to look so clearly into the future and hence to predict forthcoming events with amazing accuracy.

It was on one occasion that he beheld a wondrous panoramic unreeling of three major events in the life of his nation. The following is a brief summary as recounted by one who had learned it from Washington himself:

“One afternoon when the General was in the privacy of his own apartment engaged in the preparations of an important dispatch, his consciousness was gradually shifted from this plane to another. It became completely centered on the inner planes where he found himself in the presence of an Exalted Being in a beautiful feminine form. Through her assistance he was to read and understand a portion of the Akashic Records pertaining to America’s future.

The first of the three events had to do with the Revolution in which he was himself engaged. He beheld an angel scattering clouds of dark mist upon both Europe and America which later merged in the mid-Atlantic. Then the sinister cloud moved westward until this country was enveloped in its murky folds. This was followed by flashes of fire together with the cries and moaning of a troubled people. Gradually the cloud was withdrawn, the war ceased and general rebuilding and development commenced throughout the nation.

A further unwinding of the cosmic scroll revealed another crisis, that of the Civil War. A dark cloud over Africa was seen approaching and finally enveloping this country, even to its smallest hamlets. Soon thereafter, brother was marshaled against brother in battle array. At length an angel appeared bearing the American Flag and wearing a crown of light upon which was inscribed in blazing letters the one word, “Union.” Again the cloud dissolved after which could be seen the extensive work of reconstruction and building up the nation from coast to coast.

The final scene Washington beheld dark, ominous clouds move toward this land and presently overshadowing it completely. They came from three directions – from Europe, Africa, and Asia. In the darkened light that shown from this shadowy mass, vast armies were seen moving in many directions over land and sea. There was a vast devastation, and pitiable were the cries of the millions locked in mortal combat. The struggle brought almost complete exhaustion. But at this stage, the appearance of legions of bright angels coming to their aid gave them fresh heart to renew the struggle and carry it to a victorious conclusion, whereupon a triumphant voice from above declared, that while the stars remain and the heavens send down dew upon the earth, so long shall the Republic last.” (End)

It was on October 17, 1781, that the surrender of Yorktown occurred and Washington sent a hurrying messenger to Philadelphia to carry the glad news. April 1782, the Army offered a crown to Washington. While refusing the crown, he said, “If you have any regard for your country, any concern for yourselves or posterity or any respect for me, banish these thoughts from your mind and never communicate a like sentiment again.”

He turned in his resignation as Command-in-Chief of the American Forces and left immediately for his home at Mt. Vernon, after being gone for the most of eight years. But, then he was called back to serve, on April 30, 1789, Washington was inaugurated the first President of the United States. He once said that it was easier to unite the army than to bring unity to his Cabinet. He had Jefferson, bold and daring, attracted a following of so-called radicals and other non-conservatives. Adams and Hamilton drew the ultra-conventional who were eager to return to the old days of monarchy. Washington stood between the two extremes.

His second term terminated on April 4, 1797. And during his Farewell Address, he said to the people: “Be kind, be united, be American.”

When he returned to private life following the Revolution, he was made an honorary member of the Alexandria Lodge and was serving its Worshipful Master when he was elected the first President of the United States. A valued possession of this Lodge is a portrait of General Washington wearing the collar and jewel of the Past master, together with an apron in which is centered the All Seeing Eye.

This Lodge became a sanctuary dedicated to Washington’s memory, and was filled with cherished relics commemorative of his life and time. In 1871, the building burned down, but the most important relics were saved. Later the Washington National Memorial was constructed in Alexandria.

The Masonic brother who designed the Memorial has this to say about it: “The conception as a whole was inspired by the ziggurat towers of antiquity erected near the harbors of the Mediterranean Sea to light the mariner home. Our thought is that the Masonic Fraternity of the spirit of which Brother George Washington was so ideal an embodiment, is in itself a shining beacon which would shine into every corner of the land.” (End)

The corner-stone of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. was laid with full Masonic honors on September 18, 1796, in the thirteenth year of American Independence. The President heard the long and imposing Masonic processional in which the members were all clad in the full regalia of their Craft. On this occasion Washington wore the Masonic Apron which the Marquis de Lafayette had presented to his beloved patron on his first visit to America after the Revolution.

The gavel used in the dedication ceremony of the Capitol was formed of a piece of marble from the building and is now in the possession of the Lodge at Georgetown which had participated in the cornerstone ceremonies. The trowel used was presented by Washington to the Alexandria-Washington Lodge. In Washington’s day the National Capital was known as the Federal City, it wasn’t until after his passing that the city was honored with the name of Washington.

It was on December 14, 1799, that his spirit departed from this earthly scene. Washington’s last words were “All is well”, a fitting close to a triumphant life. In the funeral service the mystic Masonic ceremonial was observed. The apron and crossed swords were removed from the casket as the brothers each bestowed their parting gift, a sprig of acacia, which is the Masonic emblem of immortality, and then formed themselves into a mystic circle around the tomb.

The following Masonic prayer was dedicated to Washington: “When your light shall be no more visible in this earthly Temple, may you be raised to the All-Perfect Lodge above and be seated on the right hand of the Supreme Architect of the Universe and there receive the refreshment your labors have merited.” (End)

This nation was so blessed to have had such a great spirit as George Washington. He who was not only the first to be initiated in the Fredericksburg Lodge, was the first Grand Master of the Masons in Virginia, the first American General, the first President of the United States, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.