“Be alert, for your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” – The Bible

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

31 March

Lincoln's victory speech on winning the Presidency in 1860 is worth considering because it challenges all of us. Here is that speech [and trust me: you've never heard any incoming President say anything remotely similar]:

‘I have been selected to fill an important office for a brief period, and am now, in your eyes, invested with an influence which will soon pass away; but should my administration prove to be a very wicked one, or what is more probably, a very foolish one, if you, the people, are but true to yourselves and to the Constitution, there is but little harm I can do, thank God!’

If truth be told, whichever way you happened to vote in the last election, in

ANY election, every incoming administration faces that same wicked/foolish conundrum. [Goes with the territory.] Maybe your guy won and you are rejoicing with exceeding great joy at the dawn of The New Age, maybe your guy lost and you stand, terrified, on the brink of disaster, in dread of the oncoming Armageddon. Whether or which, it is OUR job to be true to ourselves and to the Constitution; it is OUR job to do whatever it takes to keep harm to a minimum.

And hopefully we can do it in a context that validates the concluding bit to that Lincoln quote: "thank God!"

“Above all things, reverence yourself.” - Pythagoras

From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

March 31

‘I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.’

- Abraham Lincoln

‘I get by with a little help from my friends.'

- The Beatles

“A wise man is never ashamed to correct his mistakes.” - Confucius

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

30 March

Sometimes I’m called to move and shake. Sometimes I’m called to sit and wait. Knowing the difference is one of the many values of an education.

“A mad person sees what isn’t there; a visionary sees what isn’t there yet.” – Judith Thurman

From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

March 30

'I appeal to you again to constantly bear in mind that with you - not with politicians, not with Presidents, not with office-seekers but with you - is the question “Shall the Union and shall the liberties of this country be preserved to the latest generation?”’

- Abraham Lincoln

'What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.'

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A bird sitting on a branch isn’t afraid it will break because her trust is not in the branch, but in her own wings. - Anonymous

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

29 March

No matter how much we fret and fuss and fume, you and I are held in the palm of God’s hand. He’s constant [even if we aren’t].