Today is the 2ooth anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln--born in a log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky (now LaRue County), near the town of Hodgenville. The Kentucky frontier can be pretty wild even today (certainly it was in 1972 when Linda lived in Magoffin County and in 1978-79 when we lived in Knott County). But in 1809 it must have been something. The woods and openings were alive with panthers, black bears, possibly buffalo, copperheads, timber rattlers, every manner of wild creature. American Indians would have been around in certain places. The woods would be nearly trackless, the forest full of gigantic virgin timber, oaks, hickory, maple, chestnut, elm, pine, walnut--the richest, most diverse forest of its kind in the world (a forest type known as "mixed mesophytic"). And in this context, the greatest man in American history was born. Such an unlikely miracle.
There have been something like 14,000 books written about Lincoln, and I certainly am no expert. Out of everything you can say about him, I want to mention three things that especially strike me:
1. Lincoln overcame many periods of deep depression--in an era when treatment for severe melancholy was primitive and the sufferer was blamed for his or her pain. This is good to know, especially for any of us who've ever suffered psychic pain. You can recover to the point that you can make great contributions to the world.
2. Lincoln probably failed more than he succeeded. Lincoln stumbled often, but he didn't stay down. He dusted himself off and got back to work. This is the story for so many people we regard as successes. You fall down; you get back up.
3. Lincoln was our greatest speechwriter. How could we not call him, with Walt Whitman, among our greatest poets. This is important to me especially--because words count. They can change the world!
Happy Birthday, Abraham Lincoln!
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