The Second Go 'Round

Of all the experiences that made this Fourth of July in the DC area so memorable, the Lincoln Memorial stands out.  We went for the fireworks display over the National Mall and sat at the base of the memorial.  Reading over the two speeches engraved onto the stone temple walls - the Gettysburg Address and the Second Innaugural Address (shown in the photo at left), I was struck by how relevant they are for our nation and our world in this time of war.  Lincoln's remarks about caring for the soldiers, orphans and widows struck a chord that I preached on Friday night.  I also couldn't help but connect one verse from the Second Innaugural Address to Israel's situation vis-a-vis Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah.  Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu comes to visit Washington tomorrow with those "parties" on his mind and surely his agenda.  It is the second go around for him and I certainly hope it goes better than the last one (it's actually his fifth meeting with Obama but widely seen as a "do-over" for the last one).  I don't think I am a fatalist or war hawk though I am sure some do.  Lincoln's Second Innaugural is appealing because it so strongly deplores war and yet so clearly recognizes that loving peace and hating war do not mean you jettison your core values and do anything and everything to placate a hostile enemy.  Speaking of the South and the North in the Civil War, Lincoln said: "Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive and the other would accept war rather than let it perish."  I am not sure how much the parties in the Middle East deprecate war.  I do believe, however, that Lincoln's quote could describe their postions, only the nation in question is Israel.  I can only hope that the next line in Lincoln's speech - "and the war came" - is not our next line too.