On Nov. 19,1863, Abraham Lincoln stood looking over the rows and rows of crosses commemorating the graves of over 50,000 soldiers; he must have been overwhelmed at the sight. More than 50,000 lives of American soldiers from the North and the South: fathers, sons, husbands, brothers, uncles and cousins who loved freedom. One side was not bad or good. They were just men fighting for their homeland, each following the ideology of a political leader. Lincoln knew the war was not over. It would rage for another three years, but in his speech, he embodied the essence of his desire, and his words transcend time.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war…
We are engaged in that same war. It is not an American civil war. It is a war that is raging all over the world. Our news is riddled with reports of the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hezbollah wars. Protesters have brought down governments and fallen prey to military law. Even in America, protesters scream that they have been ill-used by the rich and powerful. They want their fair share of the spoil. These wars are not about equality, they are about supremacy. They are wars created by political ideology.
Daily we meet “… on a great battlefield of that war.” Anchormen and women give play-by-plays of the action and the casualties. Some victims of war die a literal death; some die in name only. They lose their honor and dignity, groveling in the sewer of lies and political expediency. What is the war all about? We are “… testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure.”
Some people think it would be better if we had a dictator so we could bypass the Congress because the process takes too long. They haven’t read history to find out what happens when a dictator comes to power. King George III would be a gentleman compared to the dictators who could take power in our day.
There are others who think we should abandon parts of the Constitution because it is old-fashioned and written by men who lived over 200 years ago. After all, what could they know about the modern world of computers, internet and space travel? People who want to abandon the Constitution are not familiar with the archetype of man. That is to say, the toys and the weapons may change, but the basic inner workings of man stay the same. Men are motivated by power and position, unless they yield to the spirit of the Lord.
The Constitution is a document that self-governs the inner man by making him accountable for his actions. There are few, if any, in the government today who would totally yield themselves to the spirit of the Lord. Political campaigning, even after an election, rumbles on year after year. The political winds shift and so do the opinions.
On the other side of the spectrum, some want to return letter for letter to the original document. They would even abandon some amendments. Of course, they would not get rid of the right for both men and women to vote, nor would they reverse the Emaciation Proclamation, which brought slavery to an end. But maybe the income tax amendment – the 16th Amendment – was too hastily drawn and passed. These people trust the Founding Fathers. They want to be left alone to do what they do best: create and work for the betterment of humanity. Now they must be engaged in a war for their very lives. They must fight day by day to preserve what the Founding Fathers created. They are angry at the political mumbo jumbo and the executive pen that seeks to remove the relevance of the Constitution.
Yes, “… we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”
The Gettysburg Address was not a political speech. Lincoln came to dedicate a cemetery of soldiers who had died on a battlefield. Parents and friends of the loved ones were in the crowd. His heart was swollen with sorrow. He recognized he could say nothing that would bring comfort to these grieving people. Their sons, brothers, husbands and fathers were cold in the silent graves marked by white crosses. Lincoln said:
"We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate – we can not consecrate – we can not hallow – this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract."
Lincoln did not say northern or southern soldiers, though he knew the war was not over. He recognized that if the nation was going to survive, the rebellious states must be brought under control. He knew many more young men would die. He knew the country would be ripped and torn in the aftermath of war. Famine and hardship would be the result, but he knew what must be done. The alternative was not an option. Why not just let the South become her own nation? They would be sister countries happily living side by side, right? No. Lincoln understood the archetype of man. He knew the insatiable quest for power that lives in the heart of man. He knew that border war would follow border war. Peace could only come when the country was united.
Lincoln expected to fade into history as other men, and he would have if he had not pulled the nation together. Lincoln’s concern was not for his own fame or power. He wanted those young men to be remembered. They had given all to preserve freedom and liberty for their families. He continued:
"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. 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 gave the last full measure of devotion… ."
Lincoln was speaking of Gettysburg, but there were also "honored dead" of the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Even today, young men (and women) died in World War I and World War II, the Gulf War, the Iraqi War and the Afghanistan War, and there are those who are giving their lives today. There are so many more lives to remember and honor than Lincoln could even imagine.
We must not let the vast number diminish the sacrifice of the one. Each soldier had a family, a mother and father who would never be the same. Some had spouses and brothers and sisters whose lives would forever be altered.
We must “… here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.” What a shame it would be to give these lives and the precious gift of freedom away because we want someone else to pay our bills. We want someone else to solve our problems. It would be a travesty to adopt the very tyranny our founders fought against. We do not need a dictator. We need the Constitution. Self-reliance and self-governance are the only form of government that has created long-term peace and has allowed people to create prosperity beyond anyone’s imagination. We cannot stomp on the graves of those who gave their last breath to buy that freedom and prosperity in exchange for a cell in the prison of history.
We are Americans with a tenacious heritage of independence and fortitude. We have the best blood of the American dream running in our veins. We must resolve, no matter what it takes, and say with Lincoln: “… 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.”
The cemetery at Gettysburg stands today as a monument to all soldiers who gave their lives for freedom. But there are other cemeteries and other monuments that commemorate our heroes. Let us commit on this Veterans Day that we will never forget their sacrifice.
