Lincoln’s Inspiring Vision For America

timesofindia

Standing before the towering statue of a seated Lincoln at Lincoln Memorial in Washington, one is inexorably drawn towards the stirring speech of the second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln inscribed on its walls. The simple , soulful opening lines of his final paragraph, “ With malice towards none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right……” seem to define Lincoln’s spiritual dimension as much as his political vision for America. Those words seemed to reach out to me; way beyond the historical and political contexts, for here was a man laying down the best humanist primer ever, though he found himself in the middle of the most turbulent crisis of his nation. In exhorting all to replace enmity and retribution with forgiveness and charity, Lincoln reaches out to all with his spiritual envisioning of how life ought to be lived best. In underscoring that America’s greatness will lie only in how it responds to the moral challenges of his time, Lincoln went beyond the political context. Deliberating all his life on the issues of slavery and inequality, he responded to this central moral challenge by asserting the humanistic ideal of every human born free and equal, an ideal which had been forged by his own working class background and trials. Lincoln’s personal spiritual faith triggered his political purpose as well, as he began to see himself as a catalyst, almost an instrument of God and destiny, in his endeavour to erase slavery and inequality. He envisioned a similar role for his country as well, wanting America to re-establish itself in the league of nations on the basis of its moral character. It was a tortuous spiritual and political journey , kept alive by his inner faith and efforts. He said, “...It is not a question that God is on our side, but it is my constant anxiety and prayer that this nation and I are on God’s side...” . The same heady mix of moral clarity and grounded pragmatism is seen in his oft-quoted letter to his son’s headmaster “…that all men are not just, all men are not true, but teach him (Lincoln’s son) also that for every scoundrel there is a hero; for every selfish politician , there is a dedicated leader; teach him to learn to lose, and teach him also to enjoy winning…”. It is a realist view of life, and at the same time, Lincoln holds up the high moral ideal as uncompromisingly as the one all should aspire to. He continues, “…teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidder, but to never put a price tag on his heart and soul,” It is this aspirational idealism of Lincoln’s that is truly inspiring. Despite grappling with issues of faith and spirit, with no easy answers, he still saw himself as an ‘active” instrument of Providence, not a passive spectator or victim of life’s injustice. It is said that he had a melancholic spirit but if anything, his melancholia seemed to arouse in him, a call to action, imbuing him with a tremendous sense of a spiritual resolve towards his duty, with a dispassionate determination to do the right thing in public office and in life in general. Modern leadership has much to learn from Lincoln’s sense of duty and destiny wherein he tried to walk the Middle Path keeping intact the spirit of humanity and that of universal justice while executing his duties both as leader and father.