What is Worth Fighting For?

By -

 I started reading a 400 page book by Cokie Roberts called Capital Dames, The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868.

If history has taught me anything, it is highly unlikely that I will make it to the end.  I pick it up and read some, and then lay it back down.  Not because it isn't good.  It's very good.  I just get antsy, I guess. 

Anyway, one thing I have found while reading this book, which covers a lot of the politics of the time, is that nothing has really changed.  A different book I'm reading that contains Lincoln's speeches is fascinating, and leads me to draw the same conclusion.

I am no student of history (I'm working on it), but to read about all of the heated debates on slavery at the time and Lincoln's opinion that a nation divided half and half would not work is interesting.  At times, Lincoln had to correct an opponent's misinterpretation of what he said by revisiting his speech and standing his ground, all the while, in a gentlemanly manner, kindly resisting any accusation that his opponent intended to misguide constituents, but allowing for the possibility.

Two things come to mind when I read such accounts of political history:

First, we are never going to get to a state of utopia, where everything's right and perfect.  

And second, the history we are making right now will make a difference to those who follow in our footsteps, and it is worth getting right.

The decisions we make, the choices we stand by, have the power to help or hurt others for years to come.  Lincoln and his colleagues argued over states' rights to slavery.  My point is, the laws and fights they had, brought us to where we are today and were worth their efforts.

But what about today? What is worth fighting for?  

Pick your topic.  Whatever you are passionate about.  Then consider the historical impact of your stance.  Is this a hill you are willing to die on? Are you holding war on something that is so big (think climate control, abortion, etc.) that it will impact our world, and others, for centuries to come, or are you allowing something that will be insignificant in the history of mankind to come between you and your brother?

Be careful here.

God gave us free will to choose good.  Good for ourselves, others and our world.  It is a gift that we must use wisely and never abuse.  We are the beneficiaries--or victims--of the choices of people who have gone before us, and we should take our own legacy very seriously.

While we do not want to be on the wrong side of history, we definitely do not want to be on the wrong side of God.

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.com
#politics
#lincoln
#freewill




 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SAINT ELIZABETH, MOTHER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST- Feast: November 5

By -
Image
Elizabeth appears in the Gospel of Luke, where she is described as “righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly,”.  I imagine that she was warm, loving and obviously a safe harbour for young Mary, who was not married when she conceived.  When Mary came to visit her, Elizabeth was pregnant with St. John the Baptist and in her sixth month: “Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And how have I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, the moment that the sound of thy greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who has believed, because the things promised her by the Lord shall be accomplished.” 
Read more

The Memorare

By Helen Gonsalves -
Image
This popular prayer, a favorite of many Catholics, dates back to the 15th century and takes its name from the first Latin word of the prayer, "memorare," which means "remember." The Memorare is of unknown authorship, although it has been attributed to St. Augustine (354-430), St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) and, with more reason, to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090-1153). St. Bernard's sermons on Mary were famous, and it was his Cistercian monks in the monastery of Citeaux in the 12th century who popularized the name "Our Lady" for Mary. The Memorare has also been attributed to the French cleric Claude Bernard (1588-1641), known as the "poor priest" of Paris, whose homilies contain passages that echo its words. No matter who wrote this prayer, it was Father Bernard who did much to popularize it, teaching it in hospitals and prisons, where Mary's intercession was effective in working miracles of grace. The first manuscript of the Mem...
Read more

'Greater Love: Richie Fernando SJ', a joy-filled Filipino missionary

By -
Image
 I haven't been able to post for more than a week as I was giving an eight-day directed retreat to eight sisters of the Missionaries of Charity near Manila. While I had some access to the internet it was rather slow. I had intended to make a post here on the murder of Fr Fausto Tentorio PIME , a 59-year-old Italian priest, in the Diocese of Kidapawan, Mindanao, on Monday 17 October. I will save that post for a later date. As I was looking for a video about Father Fausto I came across one about Brother Richard Michael 'Richie' Fernando SJ, a Filipino Jesuit scholastic who died while trying to prevent a troubled and disabled young man in Cambodia from throwing a grenade. That was in 1996 - on 17 October. Father Fausto gave his life exactly 15 years later. I remember the mixture of sorrow and pride I felt when I read of the death of Brother Richie, pride as a missionary in the Philippines that a young Filipino seminarian had given his life so spontaneously in order to sav...
Read more