Pastor's Perspective

Washington and Lincoln

It has long bugged me that we no longer celebrate two presidential birthdays in February as we did in my youth and young adulthood. Those who are old enough will recall that Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, and Washington’s on February 22 used to be recognized as holidays. Now we have “Presidents Day” as a single holiday on the third Monday of February. It is not the fact that we have lost a holiday that bothers me. In fact we have gained Martin Luther King’s birthday in January which not only makes up for that loss but, more importantly and very appropriately, celebrates a great hero of American society.

What bothers me about Presidents Day is that it diminishes the specific focus on the memory of our two greatest presidents. We should remember these great men, what they did, the principles that guided them, the values they held and the inspiration they have given to their own and subsequent generations.

George Washington led the Continental Army and indeed the whole nation through the crisis of the Revolutionary War. Years later he came out of retirement to preside at the constitutional convention and ultimately accepted the presidency. In that role he guided the young nation through its formative years and established precedents that have guided his successors ever since.

Lincoln articulated the case for restricting the spread of slavery and preserving the union in the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 and in his Cooper Union speech early in 1860. His election as president later that year sparked the secession movement leading to the Civil War. Lincoln led the nation through many setbacks to final success with steadfast confidence in the future of the union.

The religious beliefs of both Washington and Lincoln have been the subject of much debate over the years. Both men were somewhat unconventional in their approach to organized religion which has led some to question whether faith had any place in their lives. Nevertheless, there is ample evidence that both men held a strong belief in a just and merciful God and that belief was an important factor underlying their motivation and their values.

To illustrate, here is a statement from Washington:
          No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the
          Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have
          advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by
          some token of providential agency.
And here is one from Lincoln, who never formally joined a church:
          When any church will inscribe over its altar, as its sole qualification for membership, the
          Savior’s condensed statement of the substance of both Law and Gospel, ‘Thou shalt love
          the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy
          neighbor as thyself,’ that church will I join will all my heart and all my soul.

This month, let us remember our two greatest presidents and the faith that sustained them through their own and the nation’s trials.
J.F.P.

Pastor Potter has Office Hours on Wednesdays from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Prayer Room.

Prayer Room phone – 908 995-4531.

The pastor can be reached at other times at 1-800-273-8349 PIN 43 or cell 908-303 -6657