Hello, this is pastor gary from first baptist church of laplata. Has anybody ever told you to “Go fly a kite?” On this date in history in 1752, Benjamin Franklin made a kite out of a handkerchief and tied it to a some hemp string; he then tied some silk string to the end of the hemp and put a key on the hemp section. As a thunderstorm brewed over Philadelphia, Franklin flew his kite into the clouds. The ambient electricity traveled down the wet hemp string to the key. Because Franklin was holding the dry, silk end of the string under a covering, the electricity would stop at the key. When Franklin held out his knuckles toward the key, he received a shock. In this experiment, Franklin did not discover electricity, but he proved the relationship between lightening and electricity. My brothers performed a similar experiment when they decided to fly a kite in our neighborhood with wire instead of string. The kite fell across some electrical wires and my brothers proved the relationship between electricity and stupidity. Thankfully my brothers were not killed. God protects us even when we act ignorantly and foolishly. Psalm 103:14 says that God “remembereth that we are dust.” We don’t expect much out of dust, and neither does God, so He watches over us protecting us until His purpose for our lives is fulfilled. Back to Benjamin Franklin, his experiments lead to some new words that he coined including battery, conductor, and electrician. Additionally, Franklin invented the lightening rod which has saved countess lives and buildings through the centuries. Lastly, Franklin was the only person to have signed all four of our foundational national documents: The Declaration of Independence, the treaty of Alliance with France, The Treaty of Paris, and the Constitution. Study Mr. Franklin: you will be shocked to learn how intelligent and important this great American was.