Huis Clos
When I do Good, I feel Good
And
When I do Bad, I feel Bad.
That is my religion.
- attributed to Abraham Lincoln
In 2005 we were visiting different schools around the Northeast where our daughter was auditioning for various music programs. While we were in Baltimore visiting the Peabody Institute, I had a birthday. So we drove down to Washington, D.C. It was something I had wanted to do for a long time because I had not been there since 1970, and I had heard that a lot of changes had taken place. In 1970 Washington D.C. was not a very attractive city, right up there with Bagdad. Certain areas of town were off-limits to young Marines and anyone else who enjoyed breathing. In the back of my mind somewhere, I really wanted to visit the 'Wall' honoring the more than 58,000 who died or were missing in Viet Nam. Eventually, we got around to the reflecting pool, and the three of us began our walking tour. We started at the WW II monument and worked our way along the south side of the reflecting pool to the Korean War monument. The WW II guys either had better lobbyists, or it was a more prestigious war to serve in because their monument beat the Korean memorial all to hell. Hey, but what do I know about monuments?
Then we walked up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial. Now, THERE is a monument! We stopped on the landing about halfway up and asked my daughter, Cat, if she knew what famous American had once spoken here. She looked at me as if I had dog poop on my head. "Dad, everyone knows that. It was Forrest Gump!" Aha, I says to myself, this girl's education is starting to pay off. Actually, we had a good laugh about it and then talked for a while about Dr. King's speech on our way into the memorial. If it was built to inspire and awe, then it certainly achieved its purpose. It was totally silent inside and provided a mood for meditation and reflection. We spent a few moments silently reflecting on Lincoln's words, then became distracted by some rather large woman from Iowa whose underwear must not have fit her properly. We walked outside, and I wondered to myself who else had spoken from the steps of this memorial? Probably some Punk Rock group.
We walked over to the Viet Nam Veteran's Memorial. Still, when I saw all these fat guys in motorcycle jackets crying into their hankies and having their pictures taken with some Asian tourists, I thought to myself, another time. My memories of those I served with are just as fresh today as they ever were. I try to honor them by the life I lead and the example I set. Hope they don't mind that I didn't want to 'wail' on their wall. But I must admit, it was the coolest of all the memorials, not the most expensive, but the coolest. Eat your hearts out, Korean vets, you didn't get diddly. Where they will put the Iraq/Afghanistan Memorial is a question congress should be thinking about. I'm sure it will be the largest, gaudiest yet. Constitution gardens seem like an appropriate place, and it's not very far away.
But then it occurs to me, how strange it is for the President who presided over America's Civil War (or as President Trump likes to say, the War of Northern Aggression), who hated war and violence, to be presiding over war memorials. Now, don't get me wrong, I think we need war memorials. If they provide even a modicum of consolation for families who have lost loved ones in defense of their country, whether history judges the war justified or not, then they are worth it.
But it seems to me that it would be much more appropriate for the Lincoln Memorial to overlook The WW II Children's Hospital and the Korean Cancer Center, and the Viet Nam Cultural Heritage Museum. Based on everything I have been able to consume about Mr. Lincoln, these would be much more fitting memorials.
I do not know if Lincoln actually said, "If I do good, I feel good, if I do bad, I feel bad. That is my religion." So many years after his death and still, no one is sure about Lincoln's religion, but most feel like he was a man of deep faith. I don't know about that, but I do know that he was a man of deep understanding. There were many things Lincoln believed in profoundly and expressed as only he could. But the pain and sorrow of the Civil War that caused him such deep depression could never be expressed in words or assuaged by monuments. I think the quote must have been attributed to him by some theosophical adherent from the 'If it feels good, do it' splinter group. Probably the same folks that scheduled the Rockettes to dance at the Lincoln Memorial when GWB was inaugurated.
I have reason to believe that
We will all be received in
Graceland
- Paul Simon
Well, until next time,
I remain,
Just another Zororastafarian vet looking for meaning at the Rodeo of the Absurd.
