Cain was jealous of his brother Abel. He was“Resentful and crestfallen.” And, because, as the author of Genesis says so presciently, ‘sin was a demon lurking at the door,” Satan whispered into Cain’s heart, enflaming his jealousy until it consumed him, and he killed his brother.
What an awful thing jealousy can be and what horrific things it can lead us to. But on this President’s day, we are provided with a counter-example of Cain, in President Abraham Lincoln.
Doris Kearns Goodwin, in her wonderful book, Team of Rivals, describes the terribly tumultuous times of our most beloved President, and how he chose to surround himself with those who most disagreed with him, men “who could argue with him, provide diverse perspectives, and question their assumptions.”
Lincoln knew, she tells us, that his greatest need was for strong, imaginative and passionate leaders, not men who would just say yes and salve his ego. He knew, she writes, that “if he allowed [jealousy or envy or anger] to fester, it would poison a part of him.”
A student of the Bible, President Lincoln understood what happened to Cain and what led him to kill his brother and be remembered as the great sinner. Lincoln chose, instead, to be remembered as the great healer and reconciler of his time.
For, while President Lincoln will forever be remembered for saving the Union, winning the Civil War and ending slavery, “his true greatness,” to quote Leo Tolstoy, “was found in the integrity of his character and the moral fiber of his being…’ Just the opposite of Cain.
