We often hear/read about Mr. Lincoln’s disregard for organized religion. I freely admit he did abhor the unlettered, unlearned calvinis, of his day. At one point in his life he produced a screed against religion so vile his supporters gathered up every copy, burned them all, forbade him to repeat a word of it and, so, saved his political career.
Still, Mr. Lincoln never submitted to Christian baptism. As a result the more tactile believers of his day and our own decided he was never committed to our Lord. I beg to differ.
In my thoughts today I am indebted to Jon Meacham, the noted Lincoln historian, for his book And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle (New York: Random House, 2022). In this book Meacham gives us insight into Christian influences on Mr. Lincoln. He shows us the kind of Christian Mr. Lincoln could respect. Meacham details what I have previously called Lincoln’s conversion experience during his turbulent years in the White House,all of which took place during the American Civil War.
In a letter to General Davila E. Sickles, who lost a leg in battle at Gettysburg (P. 303), Lincoln wrete:
”In the pinch of your campaign up there…..oppressed by the gravity of our affairs, I went into my room one day and locked the door and got down on my knees before God Almithy and prayed to Him mightily for victory at Gettysburg. I told him we couldn’t stand another Fredericksburg or Chancelorsville. And I then and there made a solemn vow to Almighty Godthat if he would stand by our boys at Gettysburg I would stand by him. And he did and I will.”
Lincoln, ever the politician, offered a transactional vow to God. Lincoln always lived in the practical temporal but, this time, ventured into the spiritual eternal. He acknowledged his own need of God. The most Lincolnian portion of this deal was he made it for others, not himself. He offered himself up as the lesser, weaker, needier partner. He did what he would usually do, offering himself for the Union and for the soldiers of the Union.
I could hope Mr. Trump would deepen his walk with God during his second term. He had to wait four years for it, but, then, Mr. Lincoln got only a small portion of his second term. By then, the “dreadful math” he often cited to Grant had worn his opponent. Slavery was ended, the Union saved. Mr. Lincoln died before he could have led the nation to reunite. We have been the poorer for it for 169 years. Perhaps Mr. Trump, who will begging his second term as despised as Mr. Lincoln was in his first term, will prove to be more than his enemies think.
I hope so. I am very glad Mr. Lincoln had his conversion experience. I hope Mr. Trump finds his way to his knees on our behalf and for his own sake.