Monday, February 04, 2008

Lincoln: A Humble Instrument

In his 1863 "Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day", Abraham Lincoln asserted that American's had taken for granted God's kindness: "We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own".

Marvin Olasky writes in his article "Pilgrim Politician" (WORLD, Feb 9/16, 2008), that this proclamation "applied the Old Testament pattern - God's faithfulness, man's forgetfulness, God's discipline - to a new people who had become [to quote Lincoln] 'too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.'"

Lord, help us to not become too proud or deceieved that we could presume you never existed.

1 comment:

Chris Krycho said...

As always, a strikingly simple yet profound thought - and one particularly worth considering in this election year.

Thanks, my brother.