When Rev M R Watkinson wrote to a government official in 1861, he could not have envisaged the repercussions!
Watkinson wrote, “I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.”
Several ministers of the Gospel were concerned that the nation was failing to recognise belief and dependence upon God and feared that history would deem that heathenism prevailed.
It was the action of the Pennsylvanian pastor that began a process that is now enshrined in American law. He suggested that every coin in the land should testify to their trust in God. His proposal was enthusiastically received and from 1864 every coin from the humble cent to a 1000 dollar note, which was introduced in 1966, has borne the motto, “In God we trust.”
More than that, President Dwight D Eisenhower authorised legislation that the motto of the United States of America would forever be, “In God we trust.”
If we all did something more for God with the same passion as Watkinson only eternity will reveal the consequences.
Source: US Dept. of the Treasury. Submitted by: D Browne.
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