Remarks Lincoln Tomb 4/14/18
President Agosto, President Cleveland, President Greenwalt,
Commander-in-Chief Rojo, Special Guest, Brothers and Sisters of the Allied
Orders, and Friends.
Regardless of the Weather and our personal comfort it is our
sacred obligation to be here honoring the Life and remembering the Death of
Abraham Lincoln the 16th and, to my mind, most significant President of the
United States.
Recently the Brothers of the Garfield Camp, SUVCW, in
Baltimore, gifted me with a small book titled Lincoln’s Daily Devotional. The book contains the original text of “The
Believer’s Daily Treasure or Texts of Scriptures arranged for everyday
use.” In life President Lincoln was
known to possess a copy of this work, which his pastor and presented to
him. This morning, I want to read the
passage which is designated for April 14th.
“Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal
life: and they are they which testify of me” John v.39” Lord, thy teaching grace impart, that we may
not read in vain; Write thy precepts on our heart, Make thy truths and doctrine
plain; Let the message of thy love guide us to thy rest above.”
I suppose at this point you are wondering were, I am going
with this. Well, I would like you to
envision Abraham Lincoln sitting in his study on the morning of April 14th,
1865 reading, contemplating, and reflecting upon the devotional. Would his mind like mine begin to associate
the events which had transpired those four long years of heartache and
bloodshed, which only five days earlier seemed to have come to an end in
Appomattox, VA, and wonder if his efforts in word and deed; would be a
testimony to future generations. Would
he ask himself if he been able to impart the value of granting grace to those
who had fought against us? Had he been
able to share his precepts of justice and etch them upon the hearts of his
countrymen? Did he make clear the truth
of his intent?
For me the answer is a resounding YES! Abraham Lincoln’s legacy resounds clearly in
our national memory and his words were not uttered in vain but enhanced and
expanded the very foundations of our beliefs about the character of
America. Listen to his message of grace
and hope for all Americans “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.” Listen to his instructions on precepts “Four
score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new
nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are
created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to
the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take
increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure
of devotion that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in
vain that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government
of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the
earth. Lastly listen to these Lincoln
Quotes “It is not my nature, when I see a people borne down by the weight of
their shackles - the oppression of tyranny - to make their life more bitter by
heaping upon them greater burdens; but rather would I do all in my power to
raise the yoke than to add anything that would tend to crush them” and “Our
defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage
of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted
the seeds of despotism around your own doors.”
May Lincoln’s words be the eternal light which shines in the
darkest of times, may they teach us humility, instill a love of peace, and
promote a sense of Grace for all mankind now and forever.
May the words of Lincoln be written on your hearts and may
those words guide us to live lives which testify to the power of his legacy.
May God bless the soul of Abraham Lincoln and grant his Grace
upon the United States of America
Thank you for your attention.
Written and given by Mark R. Day 4/14/18, Copyright by Mark R. Day 4/14/18, all rights reserved
