With malice toward none, with charity for all
The only thing evil can't stand is forgiveness
“With malice toward none, with charity for all…”
(from Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address: March 4, 1865)
There are many reasons why we the people are so divided these days but consider that Abe spoke the words above one month before the end of the brutal American Civil War.
Approximately one in four soldiers never returned home. An estimated 620,000 souls perished on the battlefields and there were about 1.5 million overall casualties. (Adjusted for population, that would mean over 6 million dead and 15 million casualties today.)
None of these numbers, of course, can effectively illustrate the deep cultural and social schism of those 4 years, 1 month, and 2 weeks.
So yeah, they also had more than their share of reasons to be divided — 159 years ago this week.
Scars still linger but this legacy does not invalidate the power and timeliness of such a goal:
“With malice toward none, with charity for all.”
How long will it take for us to accept that we’re fighting a spiritual war and there is no victory until we’re united?
Please take 3 minutes to gaze upon what is possible:
As Fred Rogers reminded us: “The only thing evil can't stand is forgiveness.”
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that man should teach us all a lesson ! how we can talk to people and how we can change their mindset by making them think things over again. So glad you found this beautiful tube clip! See, the tube is good for something!
I love that example. I had heard of it, but had never seen him before. Thank you for this. Someone recently said (in a setting I find myself in once a week) "how we can have compassion for people who do not agree with us?"(yikes, I know) I didn't answer, I was among many others, it wasn't directed at me. But next time that subject comes up, I will be using this man as my example. You can choose to have compassion, it's a power you wield. Imagine being so weak on compassion that you can't even have it for someone who disagrees with you on a few less important subjects (name your subject) when this man was able to surmount the most ridiculous level of disagreement about his very right to exist. My oh my. :) He's the best. Thanks for sharing this. Seeing him will make the story stick in my brain. I am a visual learner.