Laus Deo

In Washington , D.C. there can never be a building of greater height than the Washington Monument. On the aluminum cap, atop the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., are displayed two words: Laus Deo.

No one can see these words. In fact, most visitors to the monument are totally unaware they are even there and for that matter, probably couldn’t care less.

These words have been there for many years: they are 555 feet, 5.125 inches high, perched atop the monument, facing skyward to the Father of the United States of America, overlooking the 69 square miles which comprise the District of Columbia, capital of the U.S.A.

“Laus Deo” - two seemingly insignificant, unnoticed words. Out of sight and, one might think, out of mind, but very meaningfully placed at the highest point over what is the most powerful city in the most successful nation in the world.

Those two words, in Latin, composed of just four syllables and only seven letters, mean, “Praise be to God!”

Though construction of this giant obelisk began in 1848, when James Polk was President of the United States, it was not until 1888 that the monument was inaugurated and opened to the public. It took twenty-five years to finally cap the memorial.

From atop this magnificent granite and marble structure, visitors take in the beautiful panoramic view of the city with its division into four major segments. From that vantage point, one can also see the original plan of the designer, Pierre Charles l’Enfant. A perfect cross imposed upon the landscape, with the White House to the north. The Jefferson Memorial is to the south, the Capitol to the east and the Lincoln Memorial to the west.

Why a cross? What about separation of church and state? Yes, a cross - separation of church and state was not, is not, in the Constitution.

Within the monument itself are 898 steps and 50 landings. As one climbs the steps and pauses at the landings the memorial stones share a message:
On the 12th Landing is a prayer offered by the City of Baltimore;
On the 20th is a memorial presented by some Chinese Christians;
On the 24th a presentation made by Sunday School children from New York and Philadelphia quoting Proverbs 10:7, Luke 18:16 and Proverbs 22:6. Praise be to God!

When the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid on July 4th, 1848, deposited within it were many items including the Holy Bible presented by the Bible Society. Praise be to God! Such was the discipline, the moral direction, and the spiritual mood given by the founder and first President of a unique democracy: “One Nation, Under God.”

Here is Washington’s prayer for America:

“Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose e example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

You may forget the width and height of “Laus Deo”, its location, or the architects - but no one who reads this will forget its meaning, or the words: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” (Psalm 127:1)

Laus Deo!

QuotaBills
All politics is applesauce. - Will Rogers

Be the chief but never the lord. - Lao Tzu

Lord, what fools these mortals be! - William Shakespeare

In politics nothing is contemptible. - Benjamin Disraeli

Political correctness is tyranny with manners. - Charlton Heston

English Wrestling Champion: A lord of the ring - Daffynitions joe-ks.com

Politics is just show business for ugly people. - Jay Leno

Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business. - Winston Churchill

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. - Psalms 55:22

Government cannot and must not replace private initiative. - Kim Campbell

Be of good courage and the Lord will strengthen your heart. - The Bible

Politics doesn't make strange bedfellows - marriage does. - Groucho Marx

A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves. - Bertrand de Jouvenel

Put your trust in the Lord and go ahead. Worry gets you no place. - Roy Acuff

To deceive a diplomat speak the truth, he has no experience with it. - Greek Proverb

Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed. - Mao Zedong

To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy. - Will Durant

The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day He created spring. - Bernard Williams

Blessed be Thou, our God and Lord of Hosts, who has not created me a woman. - Jewish Prayer

A filmmaker we almost lost to politics... my friend and colleague, Warren Beatty. - Jack Nicholson

Diplomacy is the art of saying, "Nice doggie" until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers

Ex-Presidents of the United States get state subsidies. Not so in Russia. You get no government support. - Mikhail Gorbachev

When governments become large, voters cannot exercise close oversight, otherwise known as political power. - Maggie Gallagher

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Frederic Bastiat

Idealism is like a castle in the air if it is not based on a solid foundation of social and political realism. - Claude McKay

It's only the mercy of the lord I ain't had a stroke already - and a coronary trombonus in the bargain. - Archie Bunker

If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand. - Milton Friedman

The only security men can have for their political liberty, consists in keeping their money in their own pockets. - Lysander Spooner

Lord save us all from old age and broken health and a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms. - Mark Twain

What is politics but persuading the public to vote for this and support that and endure these for the promise of those? - Gilbert Highet

I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other. - Napoleon Bonaparte

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it. - Voltaire

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy. - Groucho Marx

The workers' and peasants' government proposes to all warring peoples... negotiations leading to a just, democratic peace. - Lenin

I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience? - Mother Teresa

When I am abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my country. I make up for lost time when I am at home. - Winston Churchill

Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him, better take a closer look at the American Indian. - Henry Ford

Our ancestors believed in magic, prayers, trickery, browbeating and bullying. I think it would be fair to sum that up as 'Irish politics'. - Flann O'Brien

In politics, as in womanizing, failure is decisive. It sheds its retrospective gloom on earlier endeavor which at the time seemed full of promise. - Malcolm Muggeridge

Jokes of the proper kind, properly told, can do more to enlighten questions of politics, philosophy, and literature than any number of dull arguments. - Isaac Asimov

see also Government & Religious Sections

Laus Deo

George Washington’s prayer for America

30-Oct-2020