By the Better Angels of Our Nature

When Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States in 1861, it marked the beginning of a painful series of divisions.  South Carolina seceded from the Union only six weeks later, to be followed by Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Texas.  Lincoln’s inaugural address was a somber yet eloquent overture to unity, one graced with the language of “the Almighty Ruler of nations” and “a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land.”[1] 

The last lines of this famous speech ring powerfully today. 

We are not enemies, but friends.

We must not be enemies.

Though passion may have strained

 it must not break our bonds of affection.

And in a final stirring crescendo, Lincoln rang the “mystic chords of memory” and heralded the swelling chorus of unity across the land. . .

 . . .when [we] are again touched by the better angels of our nature.

These poetic words ring with a truth that resonates in the deepest part of us.

By the better angels of our nature,

                                    we know that God designed us for relationship.

By the better angels of our nature,

                                    we know that unity is the distinctive mark of God’s reign.

By the better angels of our nature,

                                    we know that truth is more than a belief but a living commitment to love, forgiveness and humility.

By the better angels of our nature,

                                    we know that God is hidden in the stranger, the wanderer, the outsider.

As we ring in a new year, may we choose to live into understanding, reconciliation and unity befit the kingdom of God alive within us (Lk 17:21).  May we live, all of us as members of the one body of Christ, by the better angels of our nature.

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[1]             Stephen Mansfield, Lincoln’s Battle with God: A President’s Struggle With Faith and What It Meant for America, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012, p.111.