A Sacred Effort
By: Tim Shriver
President Lincoln, who we celebrate today, delivered his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865. Speaking to a divided nation in the midst of the bloody civil war, Lincoln famously ended his 7-minute speech by inviting his country to adopt the qualities necessary for healing:
“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 a lasting peace,
among ourselves,
and with all nations.”
In the audience that day was the great Frederick Douglass, escaped slave, abolitionist, author, orator, and often called, the "founder of the civil rights movement in America.” He had been beaten as a child, separated from his mother before he could remember, and subjected to near starvation and repeated violence until he escaped slavery.
After the speech, Lincoln received guests at the White House and Douglass was among them. Lincoln knew and admired Douglass, and he made it clear that he wanted to know Douglass’s opinion of the speech. Douglass recounted the meeting:
Recognizing me, even before I reached him, he (Lincoln) exclaimed, so that all around could hear him, "Here comes my friend Douglass." Taking me by the hand, he said, "I am glad to see you. I saw you in the crowd to-day, listening to my inaugural address; how did you like it?" I said, "Mr. Lincoln, I must not detain you with my poor opinion, when there are thousands waiting to shake hands with you." "No, no," he said, "You must stop a little, Douglass; there is no man in the country whose opinion I value more than yours. I want to know what you think of it?" I replied, "Mr. Lincoln, that was a sacred effort."
I offer those words to all of you who are doing the inner and social and political work of dignity: you too are making “a sacred effort.” Like Lincoln, you are living with the confusion and complexity and fear of a country in crisis. Like Douglass who lived under oppression and worked his whole life to end it, so many of you are working tirelessly to advance the work of justice and live in solidarity with those on the margins. Like Douglass, thousands of you are undeterred in the work of inclusion. Like Lincoln, you approach the work with a striking combination of strength and humility.
The historian Garry Wills noted that “Lincoln asked for charity, but he knew that the healing of the nation's wounds would be a complex and demanding process, and no one could be smug about it. All sides would have to question their own moral credentials.” That could describe so many of you. I saw that clearly over the last few days as my family was together on the campuses of Morehouse and Spelman colleges in Atlanta to celebrate the induction of my parents into the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel's Hall of Fame.
Cardinal Wilton Gregory presided at the first-ever Catholic mass in the King Chapel. Dr. Kevin Johnson led the choir in performing new music from the groundbreaking “Hip-Hop Mass.”
Dean Lawrence Carter celebrated our parents as Americans who shared common values and common commitments with Dr. King and his family. A beautiful portrait was unveiled. It was magical.
The next day, my family, Bobby, Maria, Mark, Jeanne, Linda, Rosemary, Sam, and Kathleen, gathered for the full premiere of the “Hip Hop Mass” at the Lyke House at Spelman.
The dancing, the singing, the acting—all were stunning.
But equally stunning were the stories of the performers and the spirit they brought to performing. “This gives me a chance to share my faith,” one actor said as if speaking for everyone. One after the other it seemed clear: humility and gratitude are the sustaining forces in their lives. Trust in God is their engine of strength; faith is their way of releasing love into the world. They are all in the midst of trying to find ways to heal our country, but seemingly with malice toward none.
Theirs is a “sacred effort” too. Here they are celebrating after the show:
In the dignity movement, no one has room to brag. In Lincoln’s time, the scourge of slavery destroyed the lives of millions and created a brutal war that led to the death of over 600,000 Americans. In our time, dehumanizing contempt has infected us all, but thank God, war has not come.
If Lincoln were here today, he might say that perhaps, contempt has survived so that we might finally see ourselves in it and with God’s mercy, know how to leave it behind. Perhaps he might invite us to realize that allowing our faith to guide us does not lead to a surrender to inaction, but rather inspires a call to action guided by love.
On this Presidents' day, millions of Americans are celebrating our current president while millions more are afraid of him. May we each, in our own way, try to summon the strength to treat each other with dignity and mount a sacred effort of our own “to bind up the nation’s wounds” and “achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace.”
In unity,
Tim
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