Abraham's Eyes | Part I | Divided

Writing an essay about Abraham Lincoln, who is widely considered to have more books written about him than any other person in History (with the exception of Jesus), feels a bit futile; sort of like reviewing C.S. Lewis on Goodreads. A bold strategy, especially when you didn't start caring one bit about US History until Hamilton was released on Disney+. But for what it's worth...here are my two Cents. Thanks for being here with me today. 

A few weeks ago my husband took me on a day trip to our state capitol. Not having grown up in the Land of Lincoln myself, he thought I might enjoy getting to know more about this place we call home at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.

I learned so much about our country's 16th president and his profound legacy, from his humble beginnings growing up in blended family of 7 living a one-room log cabin, to becoming the president known to have led the Union to victory in the Civil War and freed the slaves. 

But my favorite Lincoln fact that I learned that day? 

He had grey eyes.

"His melancholy dripped from him as he walked," recalled his law partner when speaking of Lincoln's depressed demeanor. 

"Lincoln went crazy. I had to remove razors from his room - take away all knives and other such dangerous things." Words from his best friend after his second suicide watch, both due to heartbreak.

I learned about the image above from an artist commissioned to paint a mural of Lincoln at the museum. You may recognize it from the five dollar bill. Take your hand and cover the right side of his face. See the haunted expression in his eye, the slight downward curvature of his mouth. Now cover the left side of his face. A slightly different expression, this time his lips curling upward just barely, a more relaxed gaze in this eye. 

Abraham's Eyes present a countenental (Yes, I just made that word up. See root word: countenance) paradox. His expression was Divided. 

Divide [verb]  

1. to separate into two or more parts, groups, sections, etc.
2. to cause to be Separate, distinct, or apart from one another 
3. to sever, cleave, cut off, or remove 

Of all the awful scenes that Lincoln witnessed during his travels in the South, it was Division that he found to be the cruelest conduct toward slaves. 

He described a troubling encounter during one of his travels down the Mississippi River in his early adulthood in a letter to a friend; twelve black slaves had been purchased at auction and were being taken off to a Southern plantation. 

"They were being Separated forever from the scenes of their childhood, their friends, their fathers and their mothers, and brothers and sisters, and many of them, from their wives and children - and going into perpetual slavery where the lash of the master is...ruthless and unrelenting." 

Twenty years after he wrote these words, Lincoln was elected president of the United States in 1861. Just over a month after his inauguration, first shots were fired by Confederate troops, marking the beginning of the Civil War. 

Here's another fact I Long Pond.ered about Lincoln: His goal wasn't to get everyone to change their minds about the morality of slavery. His goal was to restore the Union, believing that a House firmly United upon the principles of the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal, would eventually weed out the bad roots of human injustice.     

"Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall." (Luke 11:17, NIV)

These are Jesus' words as recorded by the apostle and medical doctor, Luke. Luke's Gospel account of Jesus places a certain emphasis on Jesus' Humanity. Authors and Artists tend to leave fingerprints of themselves in their work, I've discovered.

In the spirit of countenental paradoxes, I imagine Jesus' face to resemble that of Lincoln's when, after preaching about divided kingdoms in Chapter 11, goes on to say two chapters later: 

"Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but Division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be Divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." (Luke 12:51-53)

Did these words unsettle you? They unsettled me. I always try to pay attention to strong emotional reactions when reading Scripture. It's these verses that Jesus wants to speak to me through. 

The Kingdom of Heaven demands Unity to stand. Jesus' coming resulted in, and continues to result in, Division. Both are True. What a Paradox. 

In times of uncertainty or crisis, we look to the past for bold examples of leadership. After signing the emancipation proclamation, Lincoln said, "If my name ever goes down in history, it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it." 

I feel that my whole soul is here: Church. Pay Attention. Where are we are Divided? And what harm is it causing this "Nation"? And what can we do about it? 

Jesus has offered us Emancipation and has asked us to join His Kingdom army. Let us use this Freedom not to further Divide ourselves, but to fight for Kingdom of Heaven Unity, as One Kingdom, under our God, InDivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.