Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler O.O.T The meaning of service

First of all - I am not a prolific poster, but I am a prolific reader of this board and appreciate the thoughtful and intelligent postings of the majority of the denizens here. There is always a sense of decorum and a general respect for varying opinions. Those are the main reasons that I am posting this here rather than on some political blog or forum. I apologize for the length and lack of cohesion, but I just had to write something down.

I had to travel to Springfield, Illinois today for work and by chance on my route back to the highway I passed by Oak Ridge Cemetery where the Lincoln Tomb is located.

On a whim I decided to stop. Okay, not a full fledged whim, since Barak Obama is announcing his candidacy for President at the old state capitol in Springfield tomorrow, and it was all over the radio and news. In the hallway on the way to and from the tomb, are bronze plaques with excerpts from Lincoln's Farewell Address to Springfield, The Gettysburg Address, and his second inauguration. I was struck by how honest and off the cuff Lincoln's words were (no speech writer - all himself) and how much they focused on his duty to serve his country to the best of his abilities. I suggest you google and read these works - they are all short readings (a paragraph or two), and in the context of the issues facing the States at the time, especially the Farewell to Springfield, and the outcome is quite moving and better than any Hollywood script you could ever read.

Which brings me to my question - do we really know what service means anymore? My grandmother recently passed away. What I really knew about her was that she raised 7 kids while my grandfather fought in WWII. She was funny and loved to have parties. At her funeral, I learned about a lot of groups and service organizations that she was involved in, as well as all of the service clubs my grandpa belonged to, on top of their commitment to family and country. I feel that generation knew what service was in the defense of freedom, whether at home or abroad.

Brokaw and Jennings and many others have written books about that "Great Generation," and I wonder do we have anyone left like Lincoln and our grandparents/parents left as leaders?

Obama's speech on the old Illinois capital is a shrewd tactical move: he's from Illinois, Springfield is where Lincoln ran his campaign from. Obama is black - Lincoln was the Great Emancipator. What better place to start a campaign for the first viable black presidential candidate?

However, deep down, I think Obama "gets it" and I think he is dedicated to service. It is interesting that we also have the first viable female presidential candidate. However, , I believe Hillary would be more of the establishment (meet the new boss, the same as the old boss). She may have Washington experience but she is certainly an insider. I think she would be more in service to the interests that got her there, rather than overarching goals or principals.

How does that affect me? I live a very comfortable life. I look at myself now and wonder: I take care of my family, I enjoy my free time, I dabble in audio, is that enough? Am I providing a good example to my children, or even a good foundation besides a home and access to a great educational system? I am troubled by my lack of contribution outside of just to myself or my immediate loved ones.

Therefore, I feel I owe something to my grandparents and my parents to share what I have been given and I will join a service organization and try to improve the lot of others in my community. While Lincoln thought of and was able to affect weightier issues than I, I think I should try to make a difference, no matter how small.

However, It's hard for me to be motivated, when the weight of inertia is saying to me: enjoy your music, enjoy your family, enjoy your life and extracurricular activities. Do the rest of you wrestle with this? How do you make a difference?

Thanks for reading,

Dave

Interesting post.....I have a few comments.

I think that THE "WWII generation" will always be the greatest.... from those who I have met, to the one's we have all heard and read about.....they were, and always have been in a class by themselves.

I think many people today, DO service for their country.....the military, disaster relief, salvation army, goodwill, local civic groups, etc, etc.

Times have changed, most "regular folk" are struggling to make ends meet...both adults working, trying to get by on what many of today's companies want to pay them.
Sadly, this leaves less time, and energy for greater service.

I see little, if any correlation between Lincoln and Obama, (other than the one some keep trying to create).

Today's politicians skills seem, not to lie in governing......but in getting elected, and then re-elected.

The only way someone with little, or no experience (like Obama) can "win".....is if they truly have a vision for america, AND are a true, natural born leader...not just power hungry, OR with a partisan agenda, like so many others.

As far as "making a difference"......most people have no idea, just how much a difference we all make everyday we are alive.
The choices we make, the people our lives touch, and those who touch ours..the cause, and effect is incalculable.

So relax, and be a positive force in the world....we ALL will be remebered for what we say,and do.

Your post reminds me of something an AP history teacher once told me. He tried to instill in us a duty to procreate. He told us that intelligent people need to outbreed to dumb people if we're ever going to get anywhere. So, if you're intelligent -- you must be to be thinking about such things -- and you've had children in which you've instilled the value of education and bettering oneself, then you've already made a difference.

Dave,

Interesting post. I am pretty high on Barack Obama myself. I am currently reading his book, "The Audacity of Hope" and the more I read, the more that I think he could be a terrific president. I think that as more people see him speak and hear his ideas his support will grow. The U.S. political climate for the next couple of years should be very interesting.

To avoid people yelling at me to take it to the politics thread, I'm going to say this as generically as possible.

What makes or breaks a presidency is who the President surrounds him or herself with. Obama strikes me as a person who wouldn't surround himself solely with people who agree with him.

I think this kind of is the political thread at this point. As far as Barack, I like what I have heard from him so far, and would vote for him based on what I know today if it was time for the election. At the same time, I'm glad we have a lot more time to learn more. I also want to read Audacity of Hope, but haven't yet. I actually put in a request to get it from the library last night. There are 61 holds on it ahead of me! He is certainly stirring up interest in this country for that many people to be waiting to get a copy of the book to read at one county's library.

I hope he's the real deal, because we could certainly use some changes, and I like a lot of what he says. He doesn't sound like the typical politician just trying to get elected.