The Gettysburg Address
“"I should be glad, if I could flatter myself, that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes." ~Edward Everett, celebrated orator who spoke before President Lincoln at Gettysburg in a letter of congratulations to the President.
One hundred fifty-five years ago, President Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the most important and powerful speeches in the history of the United States. His speech was only 272 words long and lasted less than three minutes, but it’s import message should never be forgotten. President Lincoln was invited to speak at the dedication of the Military Cemetery at Gettysburg almost as an afterthought just two weeks before the dedication. The main speaker was famed orator, Edward Everett of Boston who was considered the nation’s most eloquent speaker of the day. Everett’s crafted speech lasted over two hours and he left many in the audience with tears in their eyes as he carefully recreated the famous battle that marked the turning tide in the Civil War. Yet, despite the President’s personal view that his speech was a poor and unimportant follow-up to Everett, his brief foray onto the stage and his humble words left an impact and transcended the day in such a manner that we still celebrate his speech to this very day. Below is the version that is inscribed on the walls of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., something we should all be familiar with and understand.
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- 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.”
Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863
As a nation, we are pitted against one another in a different kind of fight. This is not a fight about state’s rights and governmental autonomy or the institution of slavery, this is a fight of political ideologies predicated on a mind set of me versus you in such a polarized manner that compromise seems like an impossible dream. We must, as a nation, find a way forward…to communicate effectively and find common ground. We must, as a nation, search our souls and become more conscious of our behavior and actions as they impact future generations of caretakers as we pass our mantel to those that follow our footsteps. We must, as a nation, develop a sense of ourselves that we can pass down to our children with pride. The birth of our nation was conceived in the idea of liberty…the blood that was shed during civil war and every civil movement since then was to assure that all people are equal, and all should have an equal voice. I believe that this is an integral part of the American dream…we should all be able to stand together united as equals.
Just some food for thought today and we head into the Thanksgiving Holiday. I urge you to take time to reflect on the liberties you have and at what cost those liberties have attached to them. Take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.
Wm Reid
Best Home Care Services
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wmreid@bhcshealth.com