If you check out any sort of “this date in history” type of list, probably the first entry you’ll find for today is the Gettysburg Address.
Giving a fairly last-minute speech at the dedication of a military cemetery, President Abraham Lincoln took a few minutes to utter some of the most famous words in American history. It only took him a few hundred words to remind his audience of the founding principles of our country, and encourage them to go forward re-dedicated to those principles. As someone who sits down to tap out my thoughts pretty regularly, I have to say that I’m impressed with that sort of efficiency. And the fact that those few words have taken on such historical significance is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
It does seem that there is some disagreement among the scholars about the precise wording of the speech, though the variations aren’t great. And I think everyone is in agreement about the final few words: “. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that 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.”
Whether in honor of those lost in battle more than a hundred years ago, those fighting today on the other side of the world, or those who sacrifice in a myriad of ways in service to this country, I think it’s a resolution worth keeping.
Image courtesy Henryhartley via Wikipedia Commons
