Few persons would think of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address as appropriate Thanksgiving reading.
Many among us for some strange reason preferring to imagine him delivering it under a searing sun and in soggy humidity, almost wet-wool-blanket heavy on sagging shoulders, his drooping in sadness.
Perhaps we confuse the month of the war with the month of the ceremony initiated to honor those who died at Gettysburg.
Actually, it was the Battle of Gettysburg, where the heat added to the miserableness of war and suffering.
Absurdly and challenging the imagination, over 7,000 soldiers died. The fighting lasted three days from July 1 through July 3 of 1863.
Lincoln’s spellbinding address at Gettysburg, which helped change the face and direction of the Civil War, was delivered on November 19, 1983.
The speech was also prelude to his declaration-one week later- making Thanksgiving an American tradition when he established the date as the last Thursday in November – the 26th that year-for the celebration.
His speech lasted two minutes. It is 275 words long. He did not scratch it out while riding along bump-for-bump on a train to the event.
He was known for painstakingly hovering over his speeches, laboring over them word for word. At least five versions of it are known to exist.
As we give thanks this year, it’s appropriate, we believe, to re-read the speech. Specifically, as we look ahead, let’s dedicate ourselves to what Lincoln described: “…. a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
It’s that simple — elegantly simple.
We often fail against Lincoln’s standard and today the anger and divisiveness among countrymen and women is at a fever pitch. The Thanksgiving table in many homes this year may be a scene of rancor and ugly discourse.
Lincoln’s plea was for understanding that the country come together under its founding principles and open the door for “… 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. “
This most recent election has ended with one party in control of the Senate and another in control of the House.
What’s wrong with that? Nothing. Let’s be thankful that democracy once again has worked.
The people came together and spoke with their votes amid the anguished cries of voter fraud, gerrymandering, and intimidation and brought us a sensible balance.
That’s something to be thankful for.