During his second inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln, in closing said, “With malice toward none, with charity for all, … let us strive on …”
Though we often think of the word “charity” as giving money or other items to someone in need, this was clearly not the meaning that President Lincoln had in mind. The dictionary at my desk includes the following definitions for “charity”: goodwill toward humanity, a feeling of generosity, leniency in judging others. President Lincoln was making reference to this sort of attitude toward others–caring, respectfulness, kindness, and so on. He also places charity in opposition to “malice.”
My dictionary says malice is a desire to cause injury or distress to another. The time period was around the end of the Civil War. The newly re-elected president was asking Americans to leave bitterness behind and attempt to live in harmony with each other. This call he gave then is still something we need for our nation today.
Though we aren’t in a literal civil war, there is enough division, animosity, hostility, and even violence to hint at the dark atmosphere or foul stench of war among us. We are no longer divided between the North and the South, as in those days of the Civil War, but instead many are divided on a number of social factors, such as political ideology, socioeconomic status, religious views, and so on. Surely this is not what the Founders of the United States of America intended, nor should this be the state of things the majority of our people would desire.
I believe that one reason we have fallen into this abyss of bickering and hateful attitudes is that too many of us give our own opinions too high of priority, insisting that we are right and that anyone who disagrees is wrong and is therefore an enemy. Another part of the problem is that we often think too much of “me” rather than “we.” Individual desires too often become the priority above what others want or need. This can never turn out well overall. Even the person satisfying his own desires loses out on the light of pleasant relationships he might have had with those he pushed aside in the pursuit of his own goal.
For a society or culture to work well together for the well-being of its people, this charity must be common among the them. There is more strength in a group working together in unity, rather than in fighting each other or marginalizing part of the group. I wonder how much American energy is currently wasted as people argue with each other, fight each other, and cause harm to each other.
As important as it was in the past, this idea of treating people charitably is important today if we want to truly make America great. We need to look at each other and figuratively say, “maybe we’re different, but you are as important as I am, so I will treat you as I would want to be treated.”
As I have thought of how to treat others with charity, I have come up with a few specific actions and attitudes that I believe embody the idea of charity:
- Look for the good in others
- Give people the benefit of the doubt
- Sacrifice some comfort, convenience, or ease for the benefit others
- Forgive others, even those who’ve harmed you
- Help others who need it
If we want a better country, with less violence, with less bickering over every difference of opinion, less corruption, better working conditions, kinder bosses, and so on, we need more charity throughout our community and nation. With this attitude of charity guiding our actions, we are less likely to take advantage of people through scams or dishonest dealings. With charity in our actions, we will treat our employees better, as well as our coworkers. We’ll treat customers better and we’ll also treat those employees better who serve us.
Does it sound too simple? The tough part is changing ourselves, even as we see others around us who don’t seem to be changing. But then, having this charity means giving them the benefit of the doubt and forgiving them. In time, if we keep up our own example of charity towards others, it will spread. That is a goal of Lightward Bound. We will continuously promote any form of light to uplift our nation. Charity, love, kindness, caring, and similar concepts bring light into our surroundings as we practice them and adopt them into our natures.
If you want to help make or keep America great, strive on with charity, not malice!
Emil