Keep Your Eyes on Russia

Vladimir Putin is gathering awesome power!
by Charlie Leck

Just when we finally thought Russia might be a friendly companion nation in the struggle for world peace and justice, there are signs of trouble that threaten the development of democracy in that nation. These developments are worth keeping our eyes on.

An election for parliamentary representatives is coming up in December and it will not be a fair one. The balloting procedure is too closely controlled by Vladimir Putin, the nation's incredibly powerful and unchecked President. Vladimir Ryzhkov, one of the hopeful members of Parliament who was elected soon after the fall of the old Soviet Union, calls the process happening now "Selection Before the Election." Putin has the power to select which political parties are legitimate and which are not. It is not like a difficult chess game for him to figure out how to make the proper moves; rather it's less complex than Chinese checkers.

The ballot is so rigged this time that major players in Russia's democracy movement, including Ryzhkov, will lose. Sergei Mironov, a former staunch support of Putin, is now suggesting that the nation is looking like a certain forerunner well-know to all elderly Russians.

Anatoly Yermolin, who has been a significant opponent of Putin's ever expanding power, will lose. So will Viktor Pokhmelkin, who has been a consistent voice against corruption in law enforcement. Putin is about to sweep away the last vestiges of opposition. The election rules he developed are too favorable to the person in control. He has a firm grip on the Russian news media and over all the agencies of government.

United Russia, the party created by Putin will sweep into victory and sweep out nearly all significant opposition.

Mironov is quoted by the NY Times as saying: "I think the television broadcasts from the United Russia convention remind a lot of people of long-forgotten pictures from the era of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union."

Now, here's what may be happening. Constitutionally, Putin cannot run again next year. He's already served two consecutive terms. If the base of power gets transferred to his political party, however, Putin could become its powerful chairman and still essentially run the country. In such a position, and possibly combining it with the Prime Minister's position, Putin would become far more powerful than the next President of Russia.

Make no mistake! Russia's economy is relatively strong right now. Russia is freer than it was under communism. Many Russians credit Putin for this and his approval rating is very high. Yet, the incredible height and force of power that he is creating in one office of government is frighteningly reminiscent of past Soviet history.

What has all this to do with America and with you and me? Good question. I'm proud of you for asking. For almost seven years we have had an administration manipulating the strings of government that has essentially divorced itself from foreign policy issues. It has had no influence over Russian government and has not even been able to suggest more favorable and democratic policy. We have had no allies that we could rally as a counter-point to Putin's policy.

America loves to call itself the most powerful nation on the globe. What makes for power? History has shown us that it is far more than the single element of military dominance. Our problem is a current occupant of the White House who does not read and does not understand history.

One can only hope that Americans are learning just how incredibly powerful the individual vote is in determining the future history of our nation and that of many others. Our next President must be capable in matters of foreign policy. We must never again elect a dummy to that great office.

Ann Coulter Simply Goes toooooooo Far

What'd she say? Huh? Are you kiddin' me?
Why do people listen to her?
by Charlie Leck

Are you as sick as I about the comments of Ann Coulter in the last couple of days? My god, the woman is absolutely crazy. I've accepted her methods of getting attention in the past and I've even thought her clever on some occasions when she blasts her way on to the front page through the use of classic profanity and outrageous shock techniques.

Now she's teetering on hate mongering!

The frightening thing is that what she is saying is not terribly different than what a lot of right-wing, evangelical preachers are also saying – though in perhaps more subtle ways.

"Jews should be perfected!" Are you kidding me? Will Ann Coulter be the judge of when any one of us reaches perfection? This is somewhat outrageous, but she hadn't reached her climax with that! The moment was still ahead.

America would be a better place if Judaism was "thrown away" and America was totally Christian! [See the video of Coulter on the Donny Deutsch show!]

Is she not the wildest nut-bag in our nation? Does she hate diversity? Does she have any idea about what made us a great nation? Doesn't she understand what could pull us all down into the abyss?

Coulter was asked to describe the ideal America. "It would look like New York City during the Republican National Convention [2004]. In fact, that's what I think heaven is going to look like… People were happy!"

Why do people even listen to her? That's the question of the day. My answer may teeter on sexism. It's because she's a sexy babe! If some buck-toothed, pimply-faced, dirty-finger-nailed fellow from Alabama was saying this, he'd be put on the FBI's list of dangerous citizens. Believe me! If I was saying such things, I'd be put on the list! I'm probably on it because I suggested young people start giving our President "the finger." Ann Coulter just goes right on selling books, giving speeches to college graduates, and appearing on national television talk shows.

Andy Driscoll, on the Driscoll Newswire, says: "Ann Coulter is simply too damned pretty to be so incredibly insulting." He goes on to say that this is really the height of the drama of the "Beauty and the Beast."

This is the same Ann Coulter who was fired from the National Review (a blatantly conservative publication) when she submitted a column that proposed we invade Muslim countries, kill the leaders and convert them to Christianity.

Does it say something about our nation when one considers that Ann Coulter is "one of the leading political writers of our age?" [David Carr, NY Times, on Ann Coulter]

Bob Wietrak, of Barnes & Noble has said: "Every single book she has done has become an instant best-seller…Her fan base is phenomenal and she is in the media constantly. When she is in the media, it creates more media coverage. And every single day, the book sells more."

Why? Are we that sick? Do we want to hear her joke that Timothy McVeigh should have parked his truck in front of the NY Times building; that Cindy Sheehan, a grieving mother, is "a c-list celebrity trolling for a book deal;" or call Katie Couric "the affable Eva Braun?" Are we sick?

This is the woman who called John Edwards a faggot! That F-word is harsher and more obscene that the popularly known F-word. A few days after that utterance, she said the following about Edwards: "I've learned my lesson. If I'm gonna say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."

I'm not kidding! She said it! She said it on ABC's Good Morning Show!

Is it that I just don't have a sense of humor? Is it? Tell me! Or is it that she just doesn't have any sense? And if she doesn't have any sense, why are hundreds of thousands of Americans devoutly listening to her and reading her? Tell me that it's crazy!

This is the woman who said bombing Iran would be good for our economy. You think I'm kidding? She said it on the Fox News Cashin' In Show on September 15^th of this year.

This is the same woman who chided single women on their voting stupidity. Just last week she told the NY Observer: "If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president. It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine, but I don't think it's going to happen. And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women."

I'm telling you, I'm sitting here at my desk laughing my head off. The woman is a stitch. Now, I said "stitch!" How funny can one person be?

Only a couple of days ago, on "Tucker" on MSNBC, she referred to a long affair of John Edwards. Her source was the National Enquirer. Glad to learn she reads the heavy-duty stuff and believes it!

Perhaps, again, she was just being funny and I didn't get it.

Enough already! You get the picture! We can't take this woman off the air. We can't stop her from writing books. It's all about this freedom of speech thing that we have in this nation; but, get this, you don't have to listen to her and you don't have to read her. And, we can begin to make her out to be just what she is – a stupid, hateful, bigoted son-of-a-bitch!

The Quiet Generation

Where are the courageous young?
by Charlie Leck

I was reading Tom Friedman's column on Wednesday (October 10) and found that he touched on something that has really been bothering me lately. Here's how he put it.

"I can report that the more I am around this generation of college students, the more I am both baffled and impressed… I am impressed because they are so much more optimistic and idealistic than they should be. I am baffled because they are so much less radical and politically engaged than they need to be."

That it! That's exactly what I've been trying to say about young people and about young clergyman. Where are they? Why aren't they outraged? Why aren't they on the streets demanding change? We've had a skunk of a President for over 6 years, running a frightful and dishonest administration that dragged us into a war based on incorrect information, lies and misinformation, and there is no outrage from the nation's youth and from the nation's clergy who are supposed to be prophets.

I am old now and I am supposed to be in my conservative years. I feel more liberal, progressive and radical than I've ever been. I'm damned tired of our nation going to war over the slightest of excuses. I'm disgusted that there is no outreach and diplomacy in times of international disagreement. I'm ashamed at the lack of support our country gives to the United Nations and its missions and objectives.

In the sixties, when we were young and filled with energy, dreams and hopes, we took to the streets to solve some of our shameful national errors. We disrupted the economy and the comfort of ordinary citizens in order to have our voices heard. We changed the nation's course and altered its direction. We were called disloyal and unpatriotic punks. We knew better! We knew what real patriotism was!

"No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots." Barbara Ehrenreich

And that's true. Patriotic citizens have a duty to rein in bad and excessive government. We can't go along with stupid and unjust wars. We have a patriotic duty to stand against what is wrong, unjust and outrageous. The war in Iraq was wrong! The way it was sold to the America public was unjust. The conduct of this war has been outrageous.

Yet where are the young today? Where is their anger, their outrage? Friedman calls them Generation Q, the quiet generation. He speaks proudly and positively of them and about the manner in which they seek to serve the nation and mankind:

"…they are also going abroad to build homes for the poor in El Salvador in record numbers or volunteering at AIDS clinics in record numbers. Not only has terrorism not deterred them from traveling; they are rolling up their sleeves and diving in deeper than ever. The Iraq war may be a mess, but I noticed at Auburn and Old Miss more than a few young men and women proudly wearing their R.O.T.C. uniforms. Many of those not going abroad have channeled their national service impulses into increasingly popular programs at home like "Teach for America," which has become to this generation what the Peace Corps was to mine."

Yet, as Friedman says, they are too quiet for their own good when they ought to be "spitting mad" at what debts and problems my generation is leaving their generation. Why are they so unconcerned?

Friedman asks why they aren't all over the current candidates about the war – and global warming – and reforming social security – and the deficit – and the possibility that they'll all be "working in China in twenty years."

The real question Friedman is asking of the young: Where is your courage? Are you too afraid to stand up to the bullies who have created these problems for our nation? Are you afraid of the struggle?

Have the young not read about Mickey Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney? Has James Meredith been forgotten? Do they know about Kent State University? Do they know about Bobby Kennedy? Are the sixties forgotten?

I'm proud that my youngest is serving her country through her participation in the Teach for America program; yet I quietly wonder why she and my other kids aren't angry as hell. Why aren't college kids taking to the streets, demanding radical change? Why aren't they on the street in front of the White House, giving the President the finger? Why aren't they disrupting presidential debates, demanding real answers to real questions?

Do they lack the courage?

I remember being taken to jail in Canton, Mississippi, for jay walking. It was 1964 and it was hot in Mississippi. An officer of the law sat in a chair across from me and held a heavy, leather wrapped piece of iron in one hand and slapped it rhythmically into the palm of his other hand. I sweated profusely and felt like I would pee in my pants; however, I knew I was being terrorized and that both right and might were on my side. Thousands of us were sweeping over the state, courageously taking down racial injustice. Some of us would be trampled and some of us would die as Schwerner, Goodman and Cheney did, but we wouldn't be defeated.

And in '68 we poured into Chicago in the summertime and defied the angry Boss of the city. He sent out the heavy duty troops to confront us, but we got our message into the convention center and more than one Democrat rose and demanded that the Mayor cease and desist. We were right and we knew it! We were the courageous patriots and we knew it.

"The voice of protest...is never more needed than when the clamor of fife and drum...is bidding all men...obey in silence the tyrannous word of command."
Charles Eliot Norton

And where is America's courageous clergy? These are men and women trained to be prophets as well as priests? Where is their prophetic voice? Why are they silent? In the sixties it was a huge cadre of brave members of the clergy who led the movement into Mississippi and who took first to the streets to end the horrible war in the jungle? Have we no more prophets? Are they silent because they lack courage?

The Q-Generation is desperately needed at the front!

The Writings of Thomas, the Disciple of Jesus

The earliest church was as divided about matters of faith
as the church of today!
by Charlie Leck

"I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there." (Gospel of Thomas, saying 77)

What I intend to establish here – or at least attempt to establish – is a fact routinely accepted by recognized historians of Christianity. There shouldn’t really be an argument about it, but I am certain there will be. Christianity is currently a divided faith. It is not divided into two parts, but into many, many parts; however, it is routinely described as a division between those who are literal and believe that there is only one way to salvation and those who are more universal in their approach to salvation and believe there are many diverse possibilities.

The point I would like to make here is that the faith has been ever so divided, even from its very earliest days shortly following the death of Jesus of Nazareth.

Many people today, who exist out on the more evangelical wing of the Christian faith and believe that their own way is the only way, are always citing the authority of scripture and proclaiming that the Bible is what gives them the certainty and justification to say such things.

There are a huge number of us who would argue that the New Testament, which these evangelicals are constantly citing, is simply a collection of writings, authorized nearly 300 years after the death of Jesus, which were declared as liturgical readings to be used in worship. The early bishops of the church established them, not as scripture, but, as appropriate holy readings and there was not universal agreement among those of the Christian faith that these specific readings should be the ones included. It was not even universally agreed that the four gospels selected should be the gospels chosen. The selection of these particular writings, rather than others, had an enormous impact on the development of the faith. Yet, a careful reading of these texts gives strong hints of an early disagreement among their authors about the main tenants of the faith. The writings of Paul, for instance, often clash with those writings that are often referred to as Petrine Epistles (letters of Peter and the other disciples).

There were many other documents that these early bishops excluded from the list of liturgical readings that were considered worthy of the attention of scholars and monks. There were still others that some bishops wished banned and burned even though they were popular and were widely read within the early Christian community. Many of these texts were being circulated across the entire Roman Empire. We often refer to them today as the “other gospels” or “the other New Testament documents.” Early Christians were enchanted by them and they were disturbed when the Archbishop of Alexandria ordered their destruction on Easter Day in 367. He wrote to Christians all over the empire, demanding that these texts be destroyed.

In obedience, many of the faithful of the church did as commanded and burned these important and historical documents. Others, however, attempted to save these writings for future generations. The best known incident of this is brought to our attention by the discovery of the Gnostic Gospels in 1945 at the ruins of a former Christian monastery in Egypt. Someone or some group of monks obviously disobeyed the archbishop’s instructions and placed many, many of these documents in a 6 foot high jar and buried the jar in a garden and place of prayer at the monastery.

Among these documents was the intriguing Gospel of Thomas.

My point here is that New Testament scripture was not selected by God, but by fallible men who picked some writings and neglected others because their choices served the contemporary and immediate interests of the organized church of that time. It is difficult to think of these texts as divinely inspired. For me, it is downright impossible to think of them as divine.

Two weeks ago I had the delicious opportunity to attend a Town Hall Forum at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, to hear Doctor Elaine Pagels speak about the The Gospel of Thomas. Let me just spend a moment commending Westminster Church for sponsoring these extraordinary forums. They bring to public attention some of the nation’s best and brightest to speak about some of the most important issues in society. If you want to learn more about them, go to the church’s web site and this section on their forums. You also can bring up an audio of Doctor Pagel’s remarks by going to the Westminster web site. If you want to find out more about Elaine Pagels, I sugges you go to the Religion & Pluralism website comments about her.

I’m not going to try to give you a report about Doctor Pagels' remarks. They were brilliant and it would be worth your time to listen to her. She does not refer to herself as a theologian (but she is). She calls herself a historian and biblical studies scholar. She’s a graduate of Stanford, a former graduate researcher at Barnard College and has a PhD from Harvard. She is currently a professor of religion at Princeton. As a youngster she was raised in the evangelical wing of the faith, among people who believed they knew the one and only way to be a Christian.

That wing of the Christian Church has always existed. Those of us who look more carefully at the matter realize that the faith has always, even from the very beginning, been made up of people of varying opinions on this matter of ‘the right way’ to be Christian.

I, of course, come down on the side of Thomas and Peter and the writer of the epistles of John (who was certainly a different person than the one who wrote the Gospel of John). This allows me a more universal approach to the faith and a belief in salvation that is far different than that of the evangelicals.

Salvation is not something found at the end of time or at the end of one’s life. Salvation is discovered through thoroughly knowing one’s self and one’s relation to that which is divine in the universe. For instance, I am very comfortable with this idea about which Thomas wrote in saying number 3:

"Jesus said, ‘If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty.'"

As Doctor Pagels put it, Thomas was telling us that when we come to know who we really are, we realize how interconnected we are. “Who are you? How can you identify yourself? Where do you come from?” These are vital questions for Christians.

Thomas tells us that we come from the same light that was at the very beginning of all things. Who are we? Thomas says that Jesus proclaimed we are children of the light!

The great mistake of the evangelicals and their idea of exclusivity is that they give credit to God for having chosen the various writings that make up the New Testament. I repeat here that it is clear, historical fact that fallible and simpleton bishops of the early church made those decisions. And, the earliest of the church’s leaders had a huge impact on just how these writings were constructed. Many of the writings were altered and appended to make sure that the Christian faith was seen as the only way to ultimate salvation and relationship with God.

It does not appear that Jesus, himself, was looking at faith in that manner at all. The historical Jesus was concerned about one’s moment in life and how one lived that moment. The words about future salvation and the route to salvation were actually planted in the mouth of Jesus by the early church in an attempt to justify its own existence – an existence that Jesus might actually have questioned. I believe that the Jesus we find in both the biblical scriptures and the Gnostic ones is a man who would have condemned bishops and archbishops and the foolishness of the ceremonial church.

It is quite possible that the Gnostic writings are more pure in their representation of Jesus because they were probably unaltered by the later church. It also appears that the Gospel of Thomas was used as a source by the writers of Mathew and Mark. As Pagel pointed out, if you were to underline everything in the Thomas gospel that is also included in Mathew and Luke’s gospels, you would underline about one-third of the Thomas document.

What I want my evangelical friends to understand is that this arguments about what and who Jesus was have raged since the days immediately following his crucifixion, as his disciples and early followers tried to figure out what that holy man had been all about.

The same argument will continue to rage for centuries to come.

The important element that all these early proponents of Christianity seem to agree on – and something that we ought to agree on today – is that Jesus commanded us to love our fellow beings without reservation and that we would then show our love of God by so doing it.

The above is the one concept that evangelicals and universalists ought to be able to agree upon. It is something that all the gospel writers, Paul and the Petrine writers agreed on. And, the Gnostic writers (those recently discovered Christian writings) also agree about the matter. The greatest commandment is that we love one another – without reservation! Beyond that, there is nothing very certain about the Christian faith!

As for matters of salvation, I gladly leave that in the hands of God or history. I only know for sure that I will keep moving toward the light – the light that was in the very beginning and the light that shall be there at the very end. If, at the end, I am blessed with eternal sleep, I will be one happy fellow! Should I meet up with God and be asked what I did with my life, I shall proudly tell the remarkable Creator that I tried to do as Jesus told me; that is, I tried to love all of humanity without reservation. In that I’ll take my chances!

“His disciples said to him, ‘When will the rest for the dead take place, and when will the new world come?’ He said to them, ‘What you are looking forward to has come, but you don't know it.’" Gospel of Thomas: saying 51

[END]

For those of you who are interested in looking through it, I include here the text of the Gospel of the Disciple Thomas
THE GNOSTIC SOCIETY LIBRARY
The Nag Hammadi Library

The Gospel of Thomas
(Translated by Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer)
[Visit the Gospel of Thomas Collection for additional information]

These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded.

1. And he said, "Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death."

2. Jesus said, "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. [And after they have reigned they will rest.]"

3. Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."

4. Jesus said, "The person old in days won't hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live. For many of the first will be last, and will become a single one."

5. Jesus said, "Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. [And there is nothing buried that will not be raised.]"

6. His disciples asked him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?" Jesus said, "Don't lie, and don't do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed."

7. Jesus said, "Lucky is the lion that the human will eat, so that the lion becomes human. And foul is the human that the lion will eat, and the lion still will become human."

8. And he said, "The person is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!"

9. Jesus said, "Look, the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered (them). Some fell on the road, and the birds came and gathered them. Others fell on rock, and they didn't take root in the soil and didn't produce heads of grain. Others fell on thorns, and they choked the seeds and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil, and it produced a good crop: it yielded sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure."

10. Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and look, I'm guarding it until it blazes."

11. Jesus said, "This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. During the days when you ate what is dead, you made it come alive. When you are in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?"

12. The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that you are going to leave us. Who will be our leader?" Jesus said to them, "No matter where you are you are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being."

13. Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to something and tell me what I am like."
Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a just messenger."
Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher."
Thomas said to him, "Teacher, my mouth is utterly unable to say what you are like."
Jesus said, "I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended."
And he took him, and withdrew, and spoke three sayings to him. When Thomas came back to his friends they asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?"
Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up rocks and stone me, and fire will come from the rocks and devour you."

14. Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will bring sin upon yourselves, and if you pray, you will be condemned, and if you give to charity, you will harm your spirits.
When you go into any region and walk about in the countryside, when people take you in, eat what they serve you and heal the sick among them.
After all, what goes into your mouth will not defile you; rather, it's what comes out of your mouth that will defile you."

15. Jesus said, "When you see one who was not born of woman, fall on your faces and worship. That one is your Father."

16. Jesus said, "Perhaps people think that I have come to cast peace upon the world. They do not know that I have come to cast conflicts upon the earth: fire, sword, war. For there will be five in a house: there'll be three against two and two against three, father against son and son against father, and they will stand alone."

17. Jesus said, "I will give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, what has not arisen in the human heart."

18. The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us, how will our end come? Jesus said, "Have you found the beginning, then, that you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be where the beginning is. Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death."

19. Jesus said, "Congratulations to the one who came into being before coming into being. If you become my disciples and pay attention to my sayings, these stones will serve you. For there are five trees in Paradise for you; they do not change, summer or winter, and their leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them will not taste death."

20. The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what Heaven's kingdom is like." He said to them, "It's like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, but when it falls on prepared soil, it produces a large plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky."

21. Mary said to Jesus, "What are your disciples like?"
He said, "They are like little children living in a field that is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Give us back our field.' They take off their clothes in front of them in order to give it back to them, and they return their field to them. For this reason I say, if the owners of a house know that a thief is coming, they will be on guard before the thief arrives and will not let the thief break into their house (their domain) and steal their possessions. As for you, then, be on guard against the world. Prepare yourselves with great strength, so the robbers can't find a way to get to you, for the trouble you expect will come. Let there be among you a person who understands. When the crop ripened, he came quickly carrying a sickle and harvested it. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!"

22. Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, "These nursing babies are like those who enter the (Father's) kingdom." They said to him, "Then shall we enter the (Father's) kingdom as babies?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom]."

23. Jesus said, "I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they will stand as a single one."

24. His disciples said, "Show us the place where you are, for we must seek it." He said to them, "Anyone here with two ears had better listen! There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark."

25. Jesus said, "Love your friends like your own soul, protect them like the pupil of your eye."

26. Jesus said, "You see the sliver in your friend's eye, but you don't see the timber in your own eye. When you take the timber out of your own eye, then you will see well enough to remove the sliver from your friend's eye."

27. "If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the (Father's) kingdom. If you do not observe the sabbath as a sabbath you will not see the Father."

28. Jesus said, "I took my stand in the midst of the world, and in flesh I appeared to them. I found them all drunk, and I did not find any of them thirsty. My soul ached for the children of humanity, because they are blind in their hearts and do not see, for they came into the world empty, and they also seek to depart from the world empty. But meanwhile they are drunk. When they shake off their wine, then they will change their ways."

29. Jesus said, "If the flesh came into being because of spirit, that is a marvel, but if spirit came into being because of the body, that is a marvel of marvels. Yet I marvel at how this great wealth has come to dwell in this poverty."

30. Jesus said, "Where there are three deities, they are divine. Where there are two or one, I am with that one."

31. Jesus said, "No prophet is welcome on his home turf; doctors don't cure those who know them."

32. Jesus said, "A city built on a high hill and fortified cannot fall, nor can it be hidden."

33. Jesus said, "What you will hear in your ear, in the other ear proclaim from your rooftops. After all, no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, nor does one put it in a hidden place. Rather, one puts it on a lamp stand so that all who come and go will see its light."

34. Jesus said, "If a blind person leads a blind person, both of them will fall into a hole."

35. Jesus said, "One can't enter a strong person's house and take it by force without tying his hands. Then one can loot his house."

36. Jesus said, "Do not fret, from morning to evening and from evening to morning, [about your food--what you're going to eat, or about your clothing--] what you are going to wear. [You're much better than the lilies, which neither card nor spin. As for you, when you have no garment, what will you put on? Who might add to your stature? That very one will give you your garment.]"

37. His disciples said, "When will you appear to us, and when will we see you?" Jesus said, "When you strip without being ashamed, and you take your clothes and put them under your feet like little children and trample then, then [you] will see the son of the living one and you will not be afraid."

38. Jesus said, "Often you have desired to hear these sayings that I am speaking to you, and you have no one else from whom to hear them. There will be days when you will seek me and you will not find me."

39. Jesus said, "The Pharisees and the scholars have taken the keys of knowledge and have hidden them. They have not entered nor have they allowed those who want to enter to do so. As for you, be as sly as snakes and as simple as doves."

40. Jesus said, "A grapevine has been planted apart from the Father. Since it is not strong, it will be pulled up by its root and will perish."

41. Jesus said, "Whoever has something in hand will be given more, and whoever has nothing will be deprived of even the little they have."

42. Jesus said, "Be passersby."

43. His disciples said to him, "Who are you to say these things to us?" "You don't understand who I am from what I say to you. Rather, you have become like the Judeans, for they love the tree but hate its fruit, or they love the fruit but hate the tree."

44. Jesus said, "Whoever blasphemes against the Father will be forgiven, and whoever blasphemes against the son will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either on earth or in heaven."

45. Jesus said, "Grapes are not harvested from thorn trees, nor are figs gathered from thistles, for they yield no fruit. Good persons produce good from what they've stored up; bad persons produce evil from the wickedness they've stored up in their hearts, and say evil things. For from the overflow of the heart they produce evil."

46. Jesus said, "From Adam to John the Baptist, among those born of women, no one is so much greater than John the Baptist that his eyes should not be averted. But I have said that whoever among you becomes a child will recognize the (Father's) kingdom and will become greater than John."

47. Jesus said, "A person cannot mount two horses or bend two bows. And a slave cannot serve two masters, otherwise that slave will honor the one and offend the other. Nobody drinks aged wine and immediately wants to drink young wine. Young wine is not poured into old wineskins, or they might break, and aged wine is not poured into a new wineskin, or it might spoil. An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, since it would create a tear."

48. Jesus said, "If two make peace with each other in a single house, they will say to the mountain, 'Move from here!' and it will move."

49. Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who are alone and chosen, for you will find the kingdom. For you have come from it, and you will return there again."

50. Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where have you come from?' say to them, 'We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established [itself], and appeared in their image.' If they say to you, 'Is it you?' say, 'We are its children, and we are the chosen of the living Father.' If they ask you, 'What is the evidence of your Father in you?' say to them, 'It is motion and rest.'"

51. His disciples said to him, "When will the rest for the dead take place, and when will the new world come?" He said to them, "What you are looking forward to has come, but you don't know it."

52. His disciples said to him, "Twenty-four prophets have spoken in Israel, and they all spoke of you." He said to them, "You have disregarded the living one who is in your presence, and have spoken of the dead."

53. His disciples said to him, "Is circumcision useful or not?" He said to them, "If it were useful, their father would produce children already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable in every respect."

54. Jesus said, "Congratulations to the poor, for to you belongs Heaven's kingdom."

55. Jesus said, "Whoever does not hate father and mother cannot be my disciple, and whoever does not hate brothers and sisters, and carry the cross as I do, will not be worthy of me."

56. Jesus said, "Whoever has come to know the world has discovered a carcass, and whoever has discovered a carcass, of that person the world is not worthy."

57 Jesus said, "The Father's kingdom is like a person who has [good] seed. His enemy came during the night and sowed weeds among the good seed. The person did not let the workers pull up the weeds, but said to them, 'No, otherwise you might go to pull up the weeds and pull up the wheat along with them.' For on the day of the harvest the weeds will be conspicuous, and will be pulled up and burned."

58. Jesus said, "Congratulations to the person who has toiled and has found life."

59. Jesus said, "Look to the living one as long as you live, otherwise you might die and then try to see the living one, and you will be unable to see."

60. He saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb and going to Judea. He said to his disciples, "that person ... around the lamb." They said to him, "So that he may kill it and eat it." He said to them, "He will not eat it while it is alive, but only
after he has killed it and it has become a carcass." They said, "Otherwise he can't do it." He said to them, "So also with you, seek for yourselves a place for rest, or you might become a carcass and be eaten."

61. Jesus said, "Two will recline on a couch; one will die, one will live."
Salome said, "Who are you mister? You have climbed onto my couch and eaten from my table as if you are from someone."
Jesus said to her, "I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was granted from the things of my Father. I am your disciple. For this reason I say, if one is whole, one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness."

62. Jesus said, "I disclose my mysteries to those [who are worthy] of [my] mysteries.

63 Jesus said, "There was a rich person who had a great deal of money. He said, 'I shall invest my money so that I may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouses with produce, that I may lack nothing.' These were the things he was thinking in his heart, but that very night he died. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!"

64. Jesus said, "A person was receiving guests. When he had prepared the dinner, he sent his slave to invite the guests.
The slave went to the first and said to that one, 'My master invites you.' That one said, 'Some merchants owe me money; they are coming to me tonight. I have to go and give them instructions. Please excuse me from dinner.'
The slave went to another and said to that one, 'My master has invited you.' That one said to the slave, 'I have bought a house, and I have been called away for a day. I shall have no time.'
The slave went to another and said to that one, 'My master invites you.' That one said to the slave, 'My friend is to be married, and I am to arrange the banquet. I shall not be able to come. Please excuse me from dinner.'
The slave went to another and said to that one, 'My master invites you.' That one said to the slave, 'I have bought an estate, and I am going to collect the rent. I shall not be able to come. Please excuse me.'
The slave returned and said to his master, 'Those whom you invited to dinner have asked to be excused.' The master said to his slave, 'Go out on the streets and bring back whomever you find to have dinner.'
Buyers and merchants [will] not enter the places of my Father."

65. He said, "A [...] person owned a vineyard and rented it to some farmers, so they could work it and he could collect its crop from them. He sent his slave so the farmers would give him the vineyard's crop. They grabbed him, beat him, and almost killed him, and the slave returned and told his master. His master said, 'Perhaps he didn't know them.' He sent another slave, and the farmers beat that one as well. Then the master sent his son and said, 'Perhaps they'll show my son some respect.' Because the farmers knew that he was the heir to the vineyard, they grabbed him and killed him. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!"

66. Jesus said, "Show me the stone that the builders rejected: that is the keystone."

67. Jesus said, "Those who know all, but are lacking in themselves, are utterly lacking."

68. Jesus said, "Congratulations to you when you are hated and persecuted; and no place will be found, wherever you have been persecuted."

69. Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who have been persecuted in their hearts: they are the ones who have truly come to know the Father.
Congratulations to those who go hungry, so the stomach of the one in want may be filled."

70. Jesus said, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you [will] kill you."

71. Jesus said, "I will destroy [this] house, and no one will be able to build it [...]."

72. A [person said] to him, "Tell my brothers to divide my father's possessions with me."
He said to the person, "Mister, who made me a divider?"
He turned to his disciples and said to them, "I'm not a divider, am I?"

73. Jesus said, "The crop is huge but the workers are few, so beg the harvest boss to dispatch workers to the fields."

74. He said, "Lord, there are many around the drinking trough, but there is nothing in the well."

75. Jesus said, "There are many standing at the door, but those who are alone will enter the bridal suite."

76. Jesus said, "The Father's kingdom is like a merchant who had a supply of merchandise and found a pearl. That merchant was prudent; he sold the merchandise and bought the single pearl for himself.
So also with you, seek his treasure that is unfailing, that is enduring, where no moth comes to eat and no worm destroys."

77. Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."

78. Jesus said, "Why have you come out to the countryside? To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a person dressed in soft clothes, [like your] rulers and your powerful ones? They are dressed in soft clothes, and they cannot understand truth."

79. A woman in the crowd said to him, "Lucky are the womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you."
He said to [her], "Lucky are those who have heard the word of the Father and have truly kept it. For there will be days when you will say, 'Lucky are the womb that has not conceived and the breasts that have not given milk.'"

80. Jesus said, "Whoever has come to know the world has discovered the body, and whoever has discovered the body, of that one the world is not worthy."

81. Jesus said, "Let one who has become wealthy reign, and let one who has power renounce ."

82. Jesus said, "Whoever is near me is near the fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the (Father's) kingdom."

83. Jesus said, "Images are visible to people, but the light within them is hidden in the image of the Father's light. He will be disclosed, but his image is hidden by his light."

84. Jesus said, "When you see your likeness, you are happy. But when you see your images that came into being before you and that neither die nor become visible, how much you will have to bear!"

85. Jesus said, "Adam came from great power and great wealth, but he was not worthy of you. For had he been worthy, [he would] not [have tasted] death."

86. Jesus said, "[Foxes have] their dens and birds have their nests, but human beings have no place to lay down and rest."

87. Jesus said, "How miserable is the body that depends on a body, and how miserable is the soul that depends on these two."

88. Jesus said, "The messengers and the prophets will come to you and give you what belongs to you. You, in turn, give them what you have, and say to yourselves, 'When will they come and take what belongs to them?'"

89. Jesus said, "Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Don't you understand that the one who made the inside is also the one who made the outside?"

90. Jesus said, "Come to me, for my yoke is comfortable and my lordship is gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves."

91. They said to him, "Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you."
He said to them, "You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to examine the present moment."

92. Jesus said, "Seek and you will find.
In the past, however, I did not tell you the things about which you asked me then. Now I am willing to tell them, but you are not seeking them."

93. "Don't give what is holy to dogs, for they might throw them upon the manure pile. Don't throw pearls [to] pigs, or they might ... it [...]."

94. Jesus [said], "One who seeks will find, and for [one who knocks] it will be opened."

95. [Jesus said], "If you have money, don't lend it at interest. Rather, give [it] to someone from whom you won't get it back."

96. Jesus [said], "The Father's kingdom is like [a] woman. She took a little leaven, [hid] it in dough, and made it into large loaves of bread. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!"

97. Jesus said, "The [Father's] kingdom is like a woman who was carrying a [jar] full of meal. While she was walking along [a] distant road, the handle of the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her [along] the road. She didn't know it; she hadn't noticed a problem. When she reached her house, she put the jar down and discovered that it was empty."

98. Jesus said, "The Father's kingdom is like a person who wanted to kill someone powerful. While still at home he drew his sword and thrust it into the wall to find out whether his hand would go in. Then he killed the powerful one."

99. The disciples said to him, "Your brothers and your mother are standing outside."
He said to them, "Those here who do what my Father wants are my brothers and my mother. They are the ones who will enter my Father's kingdom."

100. They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, "The Roman emperor's people demand taxes from us."
He said to them, "Give the emperor what belongs to the emperor, give God what belongs to God, and give me what is mine."

101. "Whoever does not hate [father] and mother as I do cannot be my [disciple], and whoever does [not] love [father and] mother as I do cannot be my [disciple]. For my mother [...], but my true [mother] gave me life."

102. Jesus said, "Damn the Pharisees! They are like a dog sleeping in the cattle manger: the dog neither eats nor [lets] the cattle eat."

103. Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who know where the rebels are going to attack. [They] can get going, collect their imperial resources, and be prepared before the rebels arrive."

104. They said to Jesus, "Come, let us pray today, and let us fast."
Jesus said, "What sin have I committed, or how have I been undone? Rather, when the groom leaves the bridal suite, then let people fast and pray."

105. Jesus said, "Whoever knows the father and the mother will be called the child of a whore."

106. Jesus said, "When you make the two into one, you will become children of Adam, and when you say, 'Mountain, move from here!' it will move."

107. Jesus said, "The (Father's) kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, went astray. He left the ninety-nine and looked for the one until he found it. After he had toiled, he said to the sheep, 'I love you more than the ninety-nine.'"

108. Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him."

109. Jesus said, "The (Father's) kingdom is like a person who had a treasure hidden in his field but did not know it. And [when] he died he left it to his [son]. The son [did] not know about it either. He took over the field and sold it. The buyer went plowing, [discovered] the treasure, and began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished."

110. Jesus said, "Let one who has found the world, and has become wealthy, renounce the world."

111. Jesus said, "The heavens and the earth will roll up in your presence, and whoever is living from the living one will not see death."
Does not Jesus say, "Those who have found themselves, of them the world is not worthy"?

112. Jesus said, "Damn the flesh that depends on the soul. Damn the soul that depends on the flesh."

113. His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?"
"It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, 'Look, here!' or 'Look, there!' Rather, the Father's kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people don't see it."
[Saying probably added to the original collection at a later date:]

114. Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life."
Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven."
[END]

Recharging the Batteries in Chicago

We visited two of the grandkids last week!
by Charlie Leck

We traveled to Chicago last week. Anne was involved in a continuing education program. We decided to make a vacation out of it – something we really haven't had in quite some time (at least, one by ourselves). Anne made the arrangements and decided to treat us to first class air travel, a private car from the airport, a suite at the hotel and some delectable privacy. The hotel, just a block off Michigan Avenue (the Magnificent Mile) was very elegant and extremely comfortable. We enjoyed four nights there. We had a grand time getting to know some of the wonders of Chicago, an extremely fabulous city with which to acquaint one's self.

Chicago is a very livable city and one can see why so many residential units are being built immediately downtown. We had the pleasure of visiting one condo unit that looked out over Lake Michigan and, slightly to the left, the recently remodeled Soldiers Field. Small shops, like grocers and hardware stores, abound and have a friendly and helpful attitude. And, as you know, there are dining establishments of every type and sort throughout the vast city.

Anne enjoyed the pleasant, daily, 6 block walk up Michigan Avenue and then the short stroll to the East to Northwestern University's Chicago campus. Of course, during the day, while Anne was in class, I taxied to Union Station and took the Metra Train out south to spend the day with my daughter and grandkids. What a treat! I wish I could see them more. Like any proud grandpa, I had my camera along and shot some wonderful photographs. And, like any pompous grandpappy, I've assumed you'd be interested and included a couple of them here for you to look over.

In the evenings, Anne and I wandered up and down Rush Street and Wacker Avenue, looking at all the folks enjoying Chicago's lively night-life. We found some terrific places to dine. Chicago "at night" is just an extraordinary place. Not that I'm any great judge, but I find it a better night life city than Las Vegas, New Orleans, San Francisco and Boston. Only New York offers more choices.

Refreshed, and with this vacation time behind me, tomorrow I will write more seriously – about the great divide in Christianity and about how it is nothing new. It began only a few years after Jesus died. It continues.

Three Times a Lady

A shocking phone call awakens my love!
by Charlie Leck

An acquaintance called at about mid-morning; that is, someone I know quite well, but I wouldn't call him a friend. He's an eccentric sort of guy who only crawls out of the woodwork when he needs something. I answered the phone while deeply involved in the Sunday paper. I hadn't heard this voice in so long and it startled me at first, because it was so personal and I couldn't place it. It had also grown significantly older.

"Charlie, is that you?"

"Yes! Yes it is."

"My god, I didn't think you and Anne would still be together! Is she there?"

"No, no she isn't. Who is this?"

My foundations were rocked somewhat and I felt an odd tremble pass through me. He was going on about some kind of nonsense and I was imagining the dreadful concept of life without my wife – this woman with whom I lay in bed last night in such peacefulness and satisfaction. I closed my eyes as he chattered and I saw her as I saw her in Paris nearly 30 years ago – as she is pictured in the pencil drawing above. Oh my, I was left breathless by her. Walking then along the le Boulevard Saint Germain with her, holding her hand, feeling her unmistakable love, is a memory I'll never forget. We strolled through Les Jardins du Luxembourg and I was tormented by the thought that this woman would not be a part of my life – for the rest of my life. This was the gentlest, kindest and most generous human being I had ever encountered; yet she was a tower of strength and independence. If I could have sung, I would have.

"I have often walked down this street before, but the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before."

We had lunch in a wonderful little seafood restaurant across from the entrance to l'Odeon. It was one of my favorite places and I wanted to introduce her to it. I was living in Paris and she had come to visit me and, as it turned out, to take me back to the states. It was our first time together for more than a date. I'll never forget looking across at her on that day, as we awaited our luncheon, and thinking that I had never before seen anyone so perfectly beautiful. I introduced her to my favorite waiter and told him, en francais, that she was my 'total love.' She didn't understand the French and she was amazed at the attention he gave her.

A year later, we took four weeks to honeymoon in France. During this period, between our two experiences in France, Lionel Richie and the Commodores had recorded Three Times a Lady and it became an enormous hit and my constant theme song.

"Your once, twice, three times a lady, and I love you.
Yes, you're once,
twice, three times a lady,
And I love you
I love you.

When we are together the moments I cherish,
with every beat
of my heart.
To touch you, to hold you, to feel you, to need you.
There's nothing to keep us apart.

You're once, twice, three times a
lady, and I love you.
I love you."

We traveled all over France to celebrate our marriage. We dined in the simplest, little place in the south of France, called Chez Yvette, where cows, being marched to pasture land, paraded down the street in front of us. I will never forget that wonderful summer evening. I can remember looking at her across that little, sidewalk table from me and loving her so enormously; yet, today I love her even more deeply than then when I did not think I could love her more.

That was nearly thirty years ago. It seems but only a moment. To her I sing the words that Lionel Richie made so popular.

"Thanks for the times that you've given me.
The memories are all in my
mind…"

You're once, twice, three times a lady, and I
love you.
I love you."

And, when we do "come to the end of our rainbow," which I hope is many years from now, I'll still be singing these remarkable lyrics to you.

The idiot on the telephone was still prattling something from somewhere far, far away.

"Yes, yes. I'll tell her you called. Goodbye."

Transcript of President Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaurgual Address

I’m traveling at the moment, so I thought I’d used this occasion to share a special and important document with you. It has relevance right now and it would serve you well to read it.

Fellow Countrymen:

At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention, and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil-war. All dreaded it -- all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war -- seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.

One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern half part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!" If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope -- fervently do we pray -- that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether."

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

[Endorsed by Lincoln:]
Original manuscript of second Inaugural presented to Major John Hay.
A. Lincoln
April 10, 1865