This year the Lincoln Memorial celebrates its 100th birthday and I’m recalling my first visit to that elegant limestone house in which our sixteenth President continues to hold court.
It was the summer of 1969 just a couple months before beginning my senior high school. I traveled with a youth choir consisting of fifty students from various churches in the state of Washington. Our East coast itinerary included a stop in Washington, D.C. because we had been invited to sing in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. As Senator Henry M. (Scoop) Jackson looked on with his signature smile, we sang “God Bless America.”
Following that memorable performance, I visited the Lincoln Memorial with the choir director and his wife. Excitedly climbing the steps to view Mr. Lincoln caused my heart to beat in double time. Looking into the marble face of my favorite President was a personal thrill that defied words.
At the time I was oblivious to what it must have been like that warm May day in 1922 when a former President, who was now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, spoke to the 50,000 in attendance. William Howard Taft, who had been head of the Lincoln Memorial Commission, formally presented the monument to President Warren G. Harding.
President Harding accepted the gift on behalf of the American people. Among the crowd, gathered at the memorial that had taken eight years to construct, was President Lincoln’s 78 year old son Robert Todd. Ironically, a monument that celebrated the memory of his father who had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, was christened by a segregated audience.
I am embarrassed to admit that I also was oblivious the day of my first visit to what had occurred at the Lincoln Memorial just six years before. In retrospect, I wish I had realized what it must have been like for a thirty-four-year-old preacher from Atlanta as he stood on that pillared platform. What I wouldn’t give for a chance to travel back in history and hear Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech among the integrated crowd of 250,000 who culminated their March on Washington at the famous monument.
Preparing to celebrate Presidents Day Weekend, I’m grateful for those two Chief Executives whose birthdays fall within this month. While an unvarnished read of history reveals that Washington and Lincoln were less than perfect specimens of humanity, their courageous contributions to our democracy are undeniable.
In recent time, Presidents Day has become more than a combined celebration of Washington and Lincoln’s births. It provides an opportunity to reflect on the legacy of all our Presidents. It gives students a chance to memorize trivia about past and present occupants of the White House should our children and grandchildren ever appear on Jeopardy.
As a person of the cloth, I’d like to suggest that Presidents Day can also have a more practical application. It provides a tangible reminder for people of faith to pray for our current President. A little more than a year into his presidency, Mr. Biden finds himself wrestling a pandemic that refuses to be pinned down. His agenda is frustrated by a divided Congress, a complicated economy marked by a spike in inflation and global unrest.
The current occupant of the White House is also beset by the ongoing plight of blacks who visit the Lincoln Memorial wondering when Dr. King’s dream will finally be realized. And whether you voted for him or not, our President needs our prayers. To that end, I offer this supplication as a starting point.
God, bless America. Not because we deserve Your blessing, but because we acknowledge our need of You. Please grace our President with insight, understanding, courage and a spirit of cooperation. May President Biden reflect the humility of Mr. Lincoln who governed with a team of rivals. Surround our Chief Executive with a company of wise counselors who will help to guide the decisions he must make on our behalf. This we pray in Your name. Amen.
Guest columnist Greg Asimakoupoulos is chaplain at Covenant Living at the Shores in Mercer Island.
Guest columnist Greg Asimakoupoulos is chaplain at Covenant Living at the Shores in Mercer Island.
Guest columnist Greg Asimakoupoulos is chaplain at Covenant Living at the Shores in Mercer Island.
