WHATCHA' THINKIN' LINCOLN?

 

The memorial is as iconic as the man it symbolizes.  On the start of this President’s Day weekend, today is the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.  On Mt. Rushmore and the penny and the five-dollar bill and in the most recent ranking of US Presidents placed at number one, Lincoln’s leadership and demeanor are the one most needed today.  

As this second impeachment trial of the 45^th President draws to a close, my focus turned to the Second Inaugural address of President Abraham Lincoln. Those remarks include the oft quoted “with charity to all and malice toward none.” The nation had split apart, fought a bloody Civil War and as that conflict concluded needed to come back together, to be one nation.  

The day after the war ended while attending a celebratory ceremony Lincoln had the band play “Dixie,” the anthem of the Confederacy. 

 

The words spoken and the action by Lincoln revealed the depth of his character and his commitment to the intense labors needed to heal the nation. The greatest storyteller ever to hold the office of President of the United States knew how dearly the Southern states held the song “Dixie.”  I recall being at a bar in Charleston and the band struck up the tune Dixie.  The majority of persons stood, their eyes welled with tears and the sang vigorously.  I remain hard pressed to name any song from the Northern states that would illicit such an emotional response. 

 

Lincoln chose his “better angels” and sought to heal not to humiliate.  In that grand game of conversation “What If?” I often wonder how reconstruction would have unfolded with Lincoln at the helm. I also wonder how the needed mending and unifying in our current crisis will unfold and what is asked of each of us to “bind the nation’s wounds.”   

 

 

 

 

KEEP BEING AND BECOMING

 

My mother taught Sunday school for over 67 (!!!) years.......a fond memory is her sitting at the kitchen table late on a Saturday evening, her bible open, other reference books stacked nearby, her notebook open, pen in hand as after a long day of a very long week doing all those delightful mom things she prepared her Sunday school lesson. 

That's a lot of years and decades to teach and to instruct well required reading and listening and learning and staying current. Too often in our individual and collective faith we can become rutted and stagnant, we stop reading, stop learning and in so doing fail to be engaged in a world that is constantly changing and growing. Personally, I think persons and communities of faith need to be relevant, real, response-able to the needs and issues of the day.

I miss talking with mom, discussing the issues, reflecting on the latest book we both were reading. When Anne Lamott or Sister Joan Chittister had a new book published, I'd buy two copies and we'd read and converse.  

When I lived and worked in Erie, I involved myself with the sisters of Mount Saint Benedict Monastery, the home house of Sister Joan Chittister.  When recounting my faith journey I credit the "Bennies" as being instrumental in my spiritual growth. These ladies live their faith.  They practice a radical hospitality, study and reflect and are present in every justice issue that impacts the community. Whenever I led any advocacy issue, I reached out to the Benedictines.  When they showed up at a rally the event took on an air of seriousness because the sisters were there.

The Benedictine Sisters taught me the practice of lectio divina (focused, meditative, spiritual reading), contemplative prayer, daily spiritual time and reflection.  

Central to the Benedictines is the "Rule of Benedict" which dates back to the Fifth Century.  The first line of the Rule is "listen with the ear of the heart." To do that requires notice, attention, quiet, reflect, response.  It's a process and one worth doing. (If anyone wants to learn more or would like to be my new spiritual "book buddy," let me know....as they say, "I'll hook you up!")