A SIGHT TO BE SEEN

At this time of national strife, this familiar spot is precisely where my spirit longed to be.  I faced one way to take the picture of the Washington Monument and turned around to take the other picture of Lincoln. 

There was a light rain falling on the Capital streets. Enough for me take an umbrella, but not so much that I opened it. The misting made all the stone glisten under the street lamps.

The monument lighting made structures glow in the night. There was just enough light left in the sky to make out the clouds moving slowly.

Standing in this very spot at this very time was a powerful and surreal experience for me.  From the top of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial one sees the glow of the Washington Monument reflecting off the pond. This is the view Washington and Lincoln have of one another on earth. I stood here for some time as the day set.

The city is quiet for the moment. Most of it is closed. I chose to come to Washington D.C. early, well before the 1/6 rallies, because most tourists and "locals" are staying away.  For the time being the streets are oddly adandoned. 

Police cars surround every major attraction because if you are trying to tear down a

government that is where you let it know.  BLM signs blanket the fences around the White House. Saint John's Church opposite the White House is still boarded up. 

Because of Covid, most everyone has a mask on. That added to the surreal quality of the silent respect which the visitor signs at the Lincoln Memorial actually ask for. This is a place for silent meditation and reading. 

Lincoln's second inaugural address is engraved on the inside wall of his monument. Lincoln was assassinated 42 days after delivering that speech. Visitors glance over at it, but I noticed only a tiny percentage of the visitors bothering to read it all all. I'm afraid fewer still took in the message and it's meaning, let alone it's relevance in these times. I contemplated what Lincoln would have to say if by some miracle in heaven I could hear him. 

I watched as visitors, came up the steps and got their first close up view of the massive Lincoln statue. I could see visitors' eyes widen and their cheeks raise. Even with their mask on, I could witness the expressions of justified awe on their face.

Lincoln draws an international audience of every age and all demographics. I believe that everyone who is drawn to this monument, not just visits it, does so in reverence. Which is

actually rather ironic, considering that the Washington establishment in his day, including the mainstream media in his time, utterly despised him. A good share had outright contempt for him and ridiculed him in every way, from his governance to his appearance to his family.  Experts do believe Lincoln would have been impeached had he not first been assassinated.  Many then wanted the distinction of doing so. 

Washington created the Nation. Lincoln tore it apart in order for it to be put back together. In either case, it was a miracle that America happened ex has survived 245 years. 

Both Washington and Lincoln warned us about Partisanship. Both men gave the praise and glory to God. 

Washington warned us of foreign interference and too much centralized power. Lincoln warned us in a famous paraphrased passage from the New Testament that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”

But here's the thing which is most frightening to me today. Both men are considered evil racists according to the principles of "Critical Race Theory" which is the premise behind the NY Times "1619 Project."  

Some say we need to "build back better" some say we need to restore what made America great. One side is proposing that we stop using titles that denote gender like father, mother, daughter, son, grandfather and grandmother. One side is promoting family and biological gender. One side would remove praise of God from every institution and each occasion. While the other sees a nation in need of repentance and prayer. 

Washington and Lincoln would not be the men they were, and our Nation would not exist today, without the hand of Providence. But we cannot take up our bibles to defeat our fellow Americans. Our nation suffered through one Civil War - and one is enough.  

The evil powers and principalities that are attacking our nation are those which seek to divide us. They are those that seek to reduce our Sovereignty and Nationhood. They are those that tell us to put our faith in government rather than God. They are those that would tear down our Founders and cancel our Constitutional rights to free speech and bear arms. They are those that tell us what to think and say,  and what is true and false by their measure. They are those who remove our Liberties because citizens cannot be trusted with them.  

With the Declaration of Independence we claimed our personal and collective freedom and the right to pursue our individual happiness. But the Founders KNEW we would lose everything they risked and gave their lives and fortunes for if the people didn't PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM THE GOVERNMENT!  That is why they drafted and ratified the Constitution 11 years after we established our Independence.. 

Is Donald J Trump's time as President over? What will be, will be.  President's come and President's go. Very few leave a deep impression on a Nation.  History judged Lincoln very differently than the Washington establishment did in his day.  Whose to say what history will say about today. Whose to say whether America will maintain the Covenant that protected us and blessed this Nation with prosperity?

Selah