With thoughts from a former great president that still ring true today
ON A PERSONAL NOTE/By Maramis
I’m sure I don’t have to mention what day I am referring to, but I will mention what president I am referring to… not that most of you won’t already guess — it’s Abraham Lincoln.
Regardless of whether you like him or not, for whatever reason or reasons, some of the words he spoke still ring true today. Who can
argue with words he spoke so long ago, as though he had insight into the future, perhaps realizing that some words spoken in one century can be taken under advisement (as lawyers like to say) in any century.
While I can’t say any more about the unfathomable sadness of that day or debate the whys and wherefores of who was responsible and how it was done, I can certainly make an uncontestable statement as to the fact that other than those who were responsible and those who sided with that decision of incredible destruction, it was a day of great disbelief for the nation, incalculable destruction for the city, and inconsolable sorrow for many, especially for those families and friends who lost loved ones in any way as a result of that disaster.
will always be connected to that fateful day in 2001 more than to his “words of wisdom.” Fate doesn’t stop to check who the president is when events happen. Bush tried, but his words from that day were not nearly as strong as the words of Lincoln that still ring true to this day.
“I can hear you, the rest of the world can hear you and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.” —George W. Bush
Using the words “knocked down” in regard to what happened to the Twin Towers sounds like saying the buildings were “damaged.” There seemed to be little passion and little connection to the devastation, and I seldom hear George W. quoted even just a few years after that event. Yet we’d like to believe he did his best under the circumstances.
Maybe he did; maybe he didn’t. He also said, “The men and women of Afghanistan are building a nation that is free, and proud, and fighting terror — and America is honored to be their friend.” —George W. Bush
But enough about former President Bush. As I looked over the words Lincoln spoke, it was hard not to see the connection to the world of today, and the differences between what Lincoln said then and what politicians (including Biden) say today.
“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring
them the real facts.” —Abraham Lincoln Often, the people already suspect or know the truth, yet to hear our supposed trustworthy leaders (usually or always meaning our president, those whom he has appointed, and also those who speak for him) lie to us bald-faced, puts us all in the position of either not knowing what to believe, or simply not trusting our president or our government ever again. We are not getting the real facts!
“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” —Abraham Lincoln
Why does it sometimes seem as though those who are trusted to protect the Constitution open the door wide to those who would toss out this or that Amendment or try to rewrite it to suit their own agenda? Must we recruit, develop, and cultivate Guardians of the Constitution before we have to start all over again as a nation? And who could possibly fill the shoes today of those who stood in our forefathers’ shoes back in 1787 and worked together diligently to produce the best document they could to keep us going into the future, no matter what crises we would face?
“The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep’s throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty. Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of liberty.” —Abraham Lincoln
And so differing viewpoints based on which side of the “act” one is on determine a nation’s progress or disharmony. Can we spot the wolf?
“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it.” —Abraham Lincoln
Those who deny freedom to others understand not what they are doing, do not believe in a just God, or care not for any other than
themselves. It will come back to haunt them.
“I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.” —Abraham Lincoln
What politician can say that today, mean it, and follow through to the death?
“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.” —Abraham Lincoln
Slave traders abound today, whether at our borders, among the rich and famous, or among those who would just use others for their advantage.
People become a commodity instead of being our brothers and sisters, as God created us to be.
“No man is good enough to govern another man without the other’s consent.” —Abraham Lincoln
Would that we could all realize for whom we are voting on election day. Would that those who get elected could remember that.
“I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” —Abraham Lincoln
While important, it is not teaching others that matters most; it is the learning. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom.
(Proverbs 4:7)
“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” —Abraham Lincoln
It’s not how many times you fall down, as long as you get up one additional time and try again.
“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.” —Abraham Lincoln
Are we a country that just pretends to put stock in God by having the words, IN GOD WE TRUST on our currency? Whatever happened to really trusting in God?
“There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.” —Abraham Lincoln
While today our vision is focused on the Taliban, could we not all learn the lesson that attacking each other in this country, by mob
law, will only weaken us as a nation and make it easier for those who wish to destroy us to accomplish their mission?
“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” —Abraham
Lincoln
Can anyone dispute that? And if we can all agree that God is always right, then all we have to do is find a way to agree on how the God of
all (One God) would really want us to treat each other.
If we remember to take the best from the past for use in the present, maybe our future will not have another 9/11-type of disaster waiting
in the wings!
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Maramis Choufani is the Managing Editor of the Las Vegas Tribune. She writes a weekly column in this newspaper. To contact Maramis, email her at maramistribune@gmail.com.
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