Romans 13 English Standard Version (ESV)
Submission to the Authorities
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,for he is God’s servant for your good.
But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.
Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
This post was edited May 31, 2020
George Washington, President of the United States
“This impressive bronze equestrian portrait of George Washington (1732-1799), the first president of the United States, is the oldest sculpture in the New York City Parks collection. It was modeled by Henry Kirke Brown (1814-1886) and dedicated in 1856.”
George Washington was the first president of the U.S.; we will elect the 46th president in November 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the city of New York and other major U.S. cities. Government response to the pandemic, both nationally and locally, has created both reassurance and resentment by citizens. And a series of incidents involving police brutality and private attacks against black citizens set off protests, riots, looting, and more violence.
President Washington, as Commander of the Continental Army, led the colonies in a revolt against rule by England, and in numerous conflicts since the United States has fought back against rule by any foreign power again.
But what of our own government? How much rule is too much? How much control, even for our own good, is enough or too much? That is a question we may be grappling with long after the virus goes away.
George Washington died at 67 years old, making him someone who today would have higher risk of dying of COVID-19. His physicians called his condition quinsy, a term we in the U.S. don’t use today. Quinsy means an abscess in the throat and/or tonsils. Today doctors would treat it with antibiotics and surgery, but neither were available in 1799.
“In the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the George Washington sculpture served as a touchstone for collective grieving and public expression, and became the central focus of a massive around-the-clock community vigil and a provisional shrine. These events reaffirmed the symbolic power of New York City’s most venerable outdoor work of art.”
Union Square Parks Monuments, copyright The City of New York
more thoughts about New York City at this link
watercress words by Dr Aletha 