Monthly Archives: February 2010

THOSE FABULOUS FEBRUARY PRESIDENTS

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     February is the month Americans celebrate the birthdays of two unforgettable presidents: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  While we do this officially on President’s Day, many still prefer to do so on the dates they were born: Lincoln on February 12, and Washington on February 22.
     Lincoln was a man of many firsts: the first president to be elected without being a native of one of the thirteen original colonies; the first to have a beard; the first to be a Republican; the first to hold a patent; the first to be photographed at his inauguration and sadly, the first to be assassinated.
     At the age of nine, Lincoln made a promise to his dying mother that affected him throughout his life:  “I want you to live as I have taught you, to love your Heavenly Father and keep His commandments,” she had said.  And during Lincoln’s long hard road from poverty to the presidency, he never forgot those words or his promise.
     Writing in “The Man and his Faith,” G. Frederick Owen said of Lincoln: God, to him, was not the God of the philosophers, but the God of Nancy Hanks Lincoln and of the Bible. Religion to him was not a philosophy which he was to formulate, but a personal experience into which he was to enter.
     In spite of his high standards, his honesty and his regular Bible reading, however, Lincoln seemed to ever be on a search for a relationship with God he had not yet found.
Then came Gettysburg and his entire night of prayer before that bloody battle.  According to this praying president, seeing the graves of the soldiers who fell at Gettysburg moved him to absolute faith in his mother’s Lord.  No wonder his brief but powerful “Gettysburg Address” has endured.  It was delivered by a man who tearfully told his friends that he had now received “the best gift which God has given to men.”
     On April 21, 1891, a three day auction began to sell a collection of George Washington relics.  Among these was a letter from the former president to his brother, John, dated July 18, 1755. in which he told about his survival of a hail of French musket fire in battle. Describing his peril at that time, he wrote:
     “I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets go through my coat and two horses shot under me, yet I escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me.”

HOW VALENTINE LOVE CAN BE LOST

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The chosen Biblical text for many weddings is Paul’s eloquent description of love found in 1 Corinthians 13. These warm words frequently capture the hearts of lovers and are often chosen to either precede or follow their marriage vows. Why then do these same people often find their love declining? Why has the valentine atmosphere vacated their relationship? What causes love to be lost?

The answer to these questions may be found in the neglect of six words in this popular quote that explain what love is all about: “Love suffers long and is kind.” Without kindness, love loses its meaning and therefore doesn’t last.

I once wrote to a friend to thank him for a comment he made when I visited him shortly after his wife’s death. Reminiscing over their years together, he explained the reason for their long and successful marriage in one simple, yet profound, expression of love: “We were good to each other.”

There had been nothing complicated about their warm and lasting relationship. I doubt that they ever found it necessary to consult a counselor and at the time they were married few ministers gave much attention to premarital advice. Still they enjoyed many happy years together because they were good to each other; they were patient and kind.

An old song says, “You always hurt the one you love, the one you shouldn’t hurt at all.” That once popular tune could be the theme song of many hurting homes.

Looking back on more than twenty years of a good marriage, Jerry Jenkins, co-author of the best-selling “Left Behind” book series, explained how he and his wife kept their home a safe haven for love, writing: “We know each other’s weaknesses, and we don’t exploit them. Long ago, we discussed how unattractive it was to hear spouses bad-mouth

each other, or to find some quirk, some irritating habit, and make a joke of it. That’s not love. Love is building up each other.”

In his book “Love is the Greatest,” George Sweeting says “People are always hungry for kindness” and adds, “Kindness then ought to be a natural part of relating to those we love, but sometimes it’s when we’re with those closest to us that being kind is most difficult.”

Preparing his readers for such times, Sweeting wrote: “A large part of being kind is the patient willingness to put up with the abuse or ridicule that comes our way. Usually that patience is needed most just when it is exhausted.”

If you long to be consistently kind but find your patience running on empty, try Peter Marshall’s well known prayer: “When I am wrong, dear Lord, make me easy to change, and when I’m right make me easy to live with.”

My friend and his wife had discovered how to welcome God into their marriage and He made their mutual kindness possible. They were faithful in the services of their church, prayed together and were eager to help others. The love of God flowed through their marriage and brought an atmosphere of kindness to their home.

Be kind to your valentine today.

You can’t start being kind too soon because you never know when it will be too late.