JOY and PURPOSE in meaningful work will keep you sane in the Last Days!
Imagine the loss of a son, a mentally troubled wife, the weight of a civil war you look like you are losing while you work with a divided cabinet under the scrutiny of a critical press. Add to his the sinister forces of Hell descending upon you night and day to drive you back into a state of depression – a dark hole you dug out of a decade earlier.
Lincoln survived the onslaught and conducted his affairs with the wisdom of a sage because of three things.
1. The strength of intercessors. The North had pockets of great revival and believers were on their knees throughout the great Civil War.
2. Lincoln threw himself into his work.
3. Lincoln kept his sense of humor.
In the midst of all this Lincoln kept his sanity largely by
refocusing his mind on his life mission and humor. A consistent theme in Lincoln's life is his deliberate management of mental focus. This is a form of cognitive therapy before the term was invented.
Shenk and biographer Ward H. Lamon cited an example in an 1842 letter from Lincoln to Speed:
“I think if I were you, in case my mind were not exactly right, I would avoid being idle. I would immediately engage in some business, or go to making preparations for it.”
More useful practical advice would be hard to find. Again, the fundamental understanding (contrary to Freudian perspectives) is that the mind turned “outward” to worthy pursuits is likely to shape a more desirable, bearable, and sustainable interior landscape
Here is some Lincoln research I want to share with you…penned by an unknown author.
“Lincoln used humor as a diversion. Carl Sandburg quoted one contemporary observer who didn't understand this dynamic (and who must have been blind to the melancholy on Lincoln's face) as saying “can this man Lincoln ever be serious?” There were times when Lincoln's humor was simply good-natured fun. Sandburg told the story of “a newly elected Congressman came in, and Lincoln knowing him to have a sense of humor, said ‘Come in here and tell me what you know. It won't take long.'” On other occasions Lincoln's humor had a more pointed edge.”
“The following example comes, again, from Sandburg:
[Lincoln asked General McClellan why heavy gun emplacements were located north of Washington]. McClellan replied: ‘Why, Mr. President, if under any circumstances, however fortuitous, the enemy, by any chance or freak, should in the last resort get behind Washington in his efforts to capture the city, why, there is the fort to defend it.' The precaution, said the President, reminded him of a lyceum [public hall] in Springfield. ‘The question [up for debate] was, ‘Why does man have breasts?' and after long debate was submitted to the presiding judge who wisely decided ‘that under any circumstances, however fortuitous, or by any chance or freak, no matter what he nature or by what the cause, a man should have a baby, there would be the breasts to nurse it.' ”
Sandburg and most other Lincoln scholars saw Lincoln's humor for what it was: a wise and practiced form of diversion. A way of keeping his mental and emotional self distanced from the pressure that was his lot during the days of his Presidency.
God has been preparing a Lincoln in the wings. He will emerge as America enters its crucible with destiny.
