Tuesday; April 14
On this day in 1865 the
recently “united” states went from a period of respite to one of grief. On April 9, General Lee had surrendered to
General Grant and the hope for a peaceful restoration of the nation began to be
felt. However, on April 14 President
Lincoln was shot in Washington, D. C. and by 8:00 a.m. on the 15th, he
was dead. The perpetrator of the
assassination of the president was John Wilkes Booth whose hatred consumed him
to the end. Within a few days, he would
be killed in Virginia; however, that wasn’t the end of the conspiracy. Before the judicial diaries were closed, four
others would die on the gallows (including one woman) and four others were
sentenced to prison. I can’t say that
Booth was completely responsible for the fates of the others, but history seems
to confirm that his influence contributed to their actions.
As I was thinking about
this the other day, I came across this bit of wisdom, “Do not associate with a
man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will
learn his ways and find a snare for yourself.” (Proverbs 22:24-25). I doubt that Solomon was thinking of John
Booth when he penned this observation, but it sure seems to fit him – and the
people around him. The scary thing about
this observation is the number of times the warning has played out throughout
history. Angry people have led a lot of
people into traps they wouldn’t escape!
Are we hanging out with
angry or hot-tempered people? If so,
let’s rethink our relationship. We must
never forget that the consequences of their temper might not just impact their
behavior, it could influence our future as well.
Think About It!