As part of a resolution in 1863, President Lincoln shared the following:
“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in number, wealth, and power as no other Nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us.
“It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended power, to confess our … sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” (John Wesley Hill, Abraham Lincoln, Man of God, 4th ed., New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, p. 391.)
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
My Beginning Thought
Winston Churchill is one of my heroes. Recently I spoke to some at-risk high school students who had worked very had to get accepted into college. I shared with them the following quote that my two oldest daughters previously shared with me. Winston Churchill said,
"Success in never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts."
There is a lot of truth in this simple quote. First, we are a work in progress. There is no success on this earth that gives us finality. There is always something else to accomplish. There is always an area in our life where we can improve. In fact, society looks at each of us and asks, "what have you done for me lately?" Second, failure is a blessing. It is only through failure that we truly learn. Failure is a necessary part of life. It is to be expected and it is never fatal. We need to look at our failures as a lapse, not a permanent relapse. Failure is overcome the minute you get back up. That is why courage is so important. Courage turns our failures into stepping stones, rather than stumbling blocks. When all is said and done, "it is courage that counts."
"Success in never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts."
There is a lot of truth in this simple quote. First, we are a work in progress. There is no success on this earth that gives us finality. There is always something else to accomplish. There is always an area in our life where we can improve. In fact, society looks at each of us and asks, "what have you done for me lately?" Second, failure is a blessing. It is only through failure that we truly learn. Failure is a necessary part of life. It is to be expected and it is never fatal. We need to look at our failures as a lapse, not a permanent relapse. Failure is overcome the minute you get back up. That is why courage is so important. Courage turns our failures into stepping stones, rather than stumbling blocks. When all is said and done, "it is courage that counts."
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