At the end of a far more violent and bloody struggle in our nation’s history, our wise and tragedy-forged leader, Abraham Lincoln, gave voice to a vision that many struggled to accept. How could we overcome the loss, the violence, the rhetoric, the offenses, the hurt, and the deep and enduring pain?
Yet, holding on to the traumas of the past would have only cost more precious lives and prolonged the terrible suffering. Forgiveness, and embracing the things that make us alike rather than the things that make us different, was the only path forward.
Though there were still struggles to overcome including the assassination of our leader, and the betrayal of the Johnson administration from Lincoln’s high ideals, we eventually found a path that led us closer to that great and noble vision:
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan–to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.”
Regardless of our politically charged feelings today, let us remember the two greatest commandments. Let us love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and let us love our neighbor as ourselves.
In considering the love we should have for our neighbor, we learn from 1 Corinthians 13 (CJB):
“Love is patient and kind, not jealous, not boastful, not proud, rude or selfish, not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not gloat over other people’s sins but takes its delight in the truth. Love always bears up, always trusts, always hopes, always endures.”
God bless each and every one of you today.