“With Malice Toward None…”

“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 lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

–President Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address

We are very much in the midst of a second “civil war” in America. It’s still a “cold” war, in the sense that we’re not killing each other so far in great numbers. It’s a worldwide cold war (with HOT wars in many places), and one that is rapidly heating up.

Each side believes they are right. And each side has some truth on its side.

As a Christian conservative, I firmly believe that I am standing on the “right” side. But I’m also painfully aware that during the Civil War, after one of President Lincoln’s advisors said he was grateful God was on the Union’s side, Lincoln told him, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

That great truth remains true today.

I have been in the midst of something of a “great awakening.” An awareness that I have been living in a self-created bubble–accepting inside of that bubble only that which I already agree with. That which fulfills my judgments about people and events. That which keeps me comfortable.

I have made anyone who dares pierce that bubble an “enemy,” and I unwittingly judge them as being somehow unworthy of my time and attention. But I also see that if I begin to see things their way, I then feel better about them, but begin judging those with a different view from them!

In other words, I change “loyalties,” but my nature that loves to judge still has to judge someone, so it now judges the other!

Wow!

So that in hoping to gain greater understanding of the world around me, I may succeed in broadening my viewpoint, which is healthy, yet my judgment of others remains in place!

There should be no loyalties to human beings anyway–only to God and what we see is right. And also in seeing what is right, there should be no pride associated with it. Only an appreciation that God has let us see the truth.

And yet, we should have “malice toward NONE and charity for ALL.”

WHO Is Right?

Recently, I’ve begun to really see my ignorance of the world around me, and have endeavored to better understand it. I have looked at war, and asked how true peace can be made. I’ve studied the leaders who hold war and peace in their hands, to determine who is right, who is wrong, what course should we take? What should be done?

One heavy truth I have found is that life is rarely about “white hats” vs. “black hats.” Human beings are, by nature, flawed. As even Jesus himself said, “There is none good but God.” I have found that there are a few “black hats,” and a lot of “grey hats”. And honestly, I have seen no “white hats.” Yes, it is true that God can work through human beings, but that does not make the human beings themselves good.

As soon as we judge a human being “good” or “bad,” then our objectivity towards them suffers. Americans and people around the world–on ALL sides of the political spectrum–are doing this and creating “teams”–“tribes” that only serve to puff up egos and foster hatred for others.

That does not mean that no one has good intentions. Many do, and some have bad intentions. We have an insatiable desire to definitively KNOW who is good, and who is bad. We want to be the JUDGE.

It is best to keep our eyes on HIM, and observe, and wait for things to be revealed. He will show us if we are patient.

In my search for what is right, I have become wrong by judging my fellow man. For, to borrow a great truth: What profiteth a man to (understand) the world, but lose his soul in the process? In our great rush to find the “truth” about a world event, or the latest “conspiracy,” or the latest scandal, we are “losing the forest for the trees.” We are losing the great truth that there is one God, that we are not Him, and that our thirst for “knowledge” can lead us AWAY from the knowledge of HIM.

Searching for the truth about issues that move the world is not wrong. But losing sight of the truth about ourselves is.

Patrick Rooney is the Founder of OldSchoolUs.com. He promotes natural health, success, and freedom during chaotic times.