“The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us” -Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address.
Honor is a funny thing. It means drastically different things to different people. To a warrior, it might have meant that they could never retreat. To another, it might mean the value they hold in their integrity or their pride in themselves. However, honor is also something we give to other things and people. We honor them by recognizing what they did and holding value in that.
I’m here to talk about that kind of honor, the kind that whether you believe in God or not, holds a sacred value in our hearts. We give honor to that which is and was honorable. And that is important for a society to function long. And yet, sometimes it can be hard to honor things or find things honorable.
We learn of the flaws in the morality of that past, and it becomes a struggle to see the honor in it. Many of the Founding Fathers had slaves. That was wrong. The excuse of it being commonplace often is used as a shield to ignore that. But that doesn’t work because truth is not something that goes out easily. And ignoring the sins of the past brings us right back to them.
So how do we honor someone who was flawed? How do we honor the Constitution when those who made it made mistakes? And should we? Should we honor that which is not perfect, and never was?
Yes. Honor is not worship. But it is valuing sacrifice. Is the Constitution perfect? Probably not, it allowed slavery initially. It had many amendments. However, what it did was ensure that everyone born in this country has rights. Ensured that while followed the government would not lose its reigns from the people. It ensured that there would be a government of the people. That does not need to be perfect to hold dear. Nor should the immense sacrifice to create it be overlooked.
It’s the ideals and the sacrifice behind them that are honorable. And that deserves the honor we give to it. Because when we honor something we put it into our hearts. Perhaps subtly at first, but it enters. And it’s that which we put into our heart that stirs us to action. Our Founders may not have been perfect, but very few people are. We don’t need to overlook those flaws. But it would be a shame if we threw away their sacrifices and efforts to make the world better because they weren’t perfect.
The world was made better, and that is enough. So hold your head up high, we can look at history and be proud of it, not because it was perfect, but because it made the world better. Not everything deserves the honor. But the countless sacrifices, pain, and struggles fought to make the world better. And with that honor, it stirs in us to become more honorable ourselves.