Next to "Ike" this is probably the most famous nickname given a President. Abraham Lincoln was born two hundred years ago today, in a log cabin in Kentucky. His father, Tom, had no formal education but was a talented carpenter. Lincoln's mother died when he was nine. His father remarried a year later. Sara Bush Johnson Lincoln was considered an influencing person in his life. They moved to Illinois in 1830. He became interested in politics. He had always opposed slavery. In his younger years he had attended an anti-slavery Baptist Church. Churches were split on the issue for many years.
Lincoln became a lawyer in 1836. He entered politics and was nominated for president by the Republican party in 1860. Only weeks after being sworn into office the Civil War began when Fort Sumter was fired on by South Carolina. Who has not heard or read the Gettysburg Address? We also learned about the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862. He lived to see the surrender of Lee to Grant, and the end of the Civil War on April 7, 1865. Five days later, while attending a play at Ford's Theater called "Our American Cousin", he was murdered by John Wilkes Booth. He and Mary Todd Lincoln had four boys. Only one of them lived past eighteen. Because of the times he led this country through, many call him our greatest president.
Some presidents have served through relatively quiet times. Those men may have had abilities that could have made them "great", but today they are hardly remembered.
Still others served in turbulent times and so will be remembered. So it is, I guess, with all of us. Few are called to greatness. All are called to serve. My name will not be remembered in history with a Lincoln Memorial or Washington Monument. That really matters little. The only time I want my name to be remembered is when God sees it written in the Book of Life. We are all called to be servants... of God and of people. That servanthood may be obscure and humble. It does not matter. We are simply to serve. Stovepipe hats off to Abraham Lincoln today! His portrait is on the five-dollar bill. I think I can hear him calling out....HELP!!!