12 FEBRUARY + ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S BIRTHDAY + MY TEMPLATE OF A HERO + “…with malice toward none and charity for all…” + PERSEVERING FORTITUDE + President Obama’s SOTU Address

 “…with malice toward none,

and

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, …”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS

+

“…We are not enemies, but friends.

We must not be enemies.

Though passion may be strained,

it must not break our bonds of affection.

The mystic cords of memory will swell

when again touched

as surely they will be

by the better angels

of

our nature…”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS

+

I WISH I KNEW                                              CATHERINE L. JOHNSON   2011

+

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S

SOTU ADDRESS

12 FEBRUARY

 “Together, 

we have cleared away

the rubble of crisis,

 and

 we can say with

renewed confidence

 that the 

state of our union

 is 

   stronger.”  

 

 “It is our unfinished task

to restore the basic bargain

 that built this country..

The idea that if you work hard

and

meet your responsibilities,

 you can get ahead,

no matter where you come from,

 what you look like,

or

who you love…

It is our unfinished task

to make sure

 that this government

works on behalf

of the many,

 and

not just the few…

that it encourages

free enterprise,

 rewards individual initiative 

and 

opens the doors of opportunity 

to

 every

 child 

across this great nation

 of

 ours…” 

 

 

 

 

“In the two months since Newtown,

 more than a thousand

birthdays, 

 graduations

and

anniversaries

 have been stolen 

from our lives

by a bullet

from a gun.

 

 

 

They deserve a vote.

 They deserve a vote. 

They deserve a vote.

 

 

 

 Gabby Giffords

deserves a vote.

 The families of Newtown

deserve a vote.

 The families of Aurora

deserve a vote.

 The families of Oak Creek

 and

 Tucson

 and

 Blacksburg

 — and the countless other communities

 ripped open by gun violence 

— they deserve a simple vote.”

 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/02/12/us/politics/obama-state-of-the-union-2013.html

+

THE BACKGROUND OF I WISH I KNEW SERIES: 

http://www.mnartists.org/work.do?rid=280660   

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

WAS MY HERO

AS

A

CHILD.*

FOR ME, HIS LIFE REMAINS

A TEMPLATE OF A HERO

– THE CAPACITY TO SEE BEYOND THE HORIZON LINES;

TRANSCENDING  PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL BARRIERS,;

EMPATHY AND FAITH TOWARD ALL HUMANITY;

THE  WISDOM TO SEEK OUT WORLD VIEWS

COUNTERING/CHALLENGING HIS OWN,

THE ABILITY AND PRACTICE TO LISTEN DEEPLY TO ALL PEOPLE-

TO ACKNOWLEDGE

AND

DIGNIFY

THE WIDE ARC OF HUMANITY

AND

BELIEF IN  THE PRACTICE/RIGHT

OF

FREEDOM

FOR

ALL;

–NO BOXES,

NO RANKING OF HUMANITY

-all equally created by God;

NO FEAR;

PERSEVERING FORTITUDE;

FIERCE COMPASSION AND resilient COURAGE TO UPHOLD HIS VALUES;

AND

THE CONVICTION

IN MOVING FORWARD,

KNOWING THERE

WILL BE BLOOD,

RESISTANCE

AND

HATERS

WITH

ALL LIVING

UNDER

ONE

SKY. 

* My beloved Dr. Mark B. Coventry offered the life of Lincoln as one to aspire to as I faced down challenges

as a child bound to a bed.

Read Full Post »