Most men would
consider the praise of friends and family enough to evaluate ourselves
successful. However, there are those rare individuals who
deserve to be remembered, by the entire world , with the honor reserved only for those who do great deeds in the service of
mankind. For those of us in the Sons of
Union Veterans of the Civil War; Abraham Lincoln is such a man As we approach the celebration of his birth later
this month, how are we telling the story
of this man who carried the our nations survival on his shoulders.
Who shall recount our martyr's sufferings for this
people? Since the November of 1860, his horizon has been black with storms.
By day and by night he trod a way of danger and darkness. On his shoulders
rested a government dearer to him than his own life. At its integrity
millions of men at home were striking; upon it foreign eyes lowered. It
stood like a lone island in a sea full of storms; and every tide and wave
seemed eager to devour it. Upon thousands of hearts great sorrows and
anxieties have rested, but not on one such, and in such measure, as upon
that simple, truthful, noble soul, our faithful and sainted Lincoln.
Henry
Ward Beecher
|
The words of from
Henry Ward Beecher, in the quote above, stand as a tribute to Lincoln and
provide an example for us to follow today .
We are the progeny of Abraham Lincoln.
To us passes the task of inculcating the public with the knowledge of
Lincoln; we must ensure he is given the adoration he so richly earned. We must fight to preserve the regular
celebration of his birthday as a singular national holiday. One Hundred and fifty years ago this March, Lincoln
surrendered himself to the harness of leadership at the most critical point of
our young republics life. In the midst
of the calamity of civil war he employed prudence, patience, and integrity to
bring forth the nation based on the lofty ideals of equality, our founding
fathers had conceived.
His occupation has become associated in our minds with
the integrity of the life he lived. In Lincoln there was always some
quality that fastened him to the people.
David Swing
|
We are the people
to whom Lincoln has been fastened. We
must accept custody of Lincoln's legacy and find the way to
accommodate our duty to history amid personal interest. We must act with due diligence or through apathetic neglect Lincoln's virtuous sacrifice will be
reduced to myth and innuendo.
Written by Mark R. Day, Feruary 1, 2011, Copyright Mark R. Day 1 February 2011, all rights reserved
Written by Mark R. Day, Feruary 1, 2011, Copyright Mark R. Day 1 February 2011, all rights reserved
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