We Are Coming, Father Abraham
Sometimes you can tell a lot about people from seemingly small things. On July 1, 1862, President Lincoln called for 300,000 volunteers. He realized that the Civil War would be neither easy nor brief. A song was composed to celebrate this call for volunteers. It became extremely popular, but note the words.
The song is not addressed to President Lincoln, or Mister President, or even Honest Abe. It is addressed to Father Abraham. Virtually everyone, from Harvard graduates to those who had never finished high school – or even attended it – knew enough of the Bible to recognize that Abraham was the first patriarch, the father of his people. And, accurately or inaccurately, they identified Abraham Lincoln with him.
As James Madison declared, “Our Constitution is made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Back when we sang about Father Abraham, that’s what we were. Can anyone have the gall to assert that it’s what we still are? Do you suppose, just possibly, that this is the root of most of our problems?
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more,
From Mississippi’s winding stream and from New England’s shore.
We leave our plows and workshops, our wives and children dear,
With hearts too full for utterance, with but a silent tear.
We dare not look behind us but steadfastly before.
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more!We are coming, coming, our Union to restore,
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more!
But are we? We were coming back then, but are we coming now? Are we willing to fight to restore our nation? Or are we too comfortable on the sofa, sipping beer and munching snacks, as we surf the internet and watch random mobs of strangely clad strangers rioting, and random criminals beating up women and old people?
Yes, I think we’re really coming.
