All will end well

We shouldn't exist as a nation.  The odds were too great; the circumstances too difficult. And, then they got worse.

It is 1775. 

The economy is wrecked.  Supply of goods and services from Britain has been compromised; normal commerce is no more.  Fortunes have been decimated.

The Continental Army is slowing dwindling due to desertion.  The British are in the process of bringing stronger military leaders and more troops.  Then, a smallpox epidemic already present hits the Northeast with intensity.  For those who contract the disease, one third will die.  Those that survive will have experienced fever, exhaustion and open sores that affect the skin, the mouth and throat for weeks.  They may make full recovery, but many will go blind or enter into dementia.

In the midst of all of this, there is a dynamo at work, bringing order to the chaos.  His name is George Washington.  Losing Washington would be crippling beyond recovery.  Isn't it interesting, that at least in terms of small pox, Washington was in no danger?  Years before, a young George had accompanied his older brother Lawrence to Barbados in an attempt to heal Lawrence's tuberculosis.  While there, he contracted small pox and suffered with the effects for a month, the pock marks on his face a testimony to his survival.

Circumstances are dire in most every way.  What grounds Washington so that he is not overwhelmed at the immensity of the challenge?  He describes it this way: "I flatter myself that a superintending Providence is ordering everything for the best, and that, in due time, all will end well."