Monday of the Second Week of Lent
(Daniel
9:4b-10; Luke 6:36-38)
Just before
he was assassinated, Abraham Lincoln traveled to Ulysses Grant’s headquarters
near Richmond. After visiting wounded
Union soldiers, he walked to a tent separated from the rest. A doctor told him that he didn’t want to go
there. Asking why, Lincoln was told that
it housed injured Confederates. Lincoln responded
that there is where he wanted to go.
Inside the
tent Lincoln offered his hand to a sick rebel. The soldier asked the president if he knew to
whom he extended his hand. The president
replied that he didn’t. The man said,
“…you offer to a Confederate colonel, who has fought you as hard as he could for
four years.” Lincoln replied, “Well, I
hope a Confederate colonel will not refuse me his hand.” The colonel clasped Lincoln’s hand in both of
his. Afterwards he said, “I tell you,
sir, he had the most magnificent face and eye that I have ever gazed into. He had me whipped from the time he first
opened his mouth.”
Abraham
Lincoln radiated the mercy Jesus exhorts his disciples to practice. We are not to judge another’s character by
the color of his skin or by the brand name of her clothing. If we find ourselves on opposing sides, we
are to seek reconciliation. We must be
ready to forgive any offense committed against us. Living in these ways, we can hope that God
will show us mercy.
