Abraham Lincoln was faced with perhaps the most difficult decisions of any President.  He was soon in the middle of a Civil War, fighting not only wealthy plantation owners in the South, but dads, sons, brothers ...and ultimately wives and daughters too. In short, families were torn apart.

There was a story that reads as follows:   

He once bought a slave girl because he couldn't stand to see them bidding for her.  The young girl thought it was just another white man who was interested in buying young girls for the purpose of abusing them.  

Abe looked her in the eyes, "You are free!"

The scared young girl asked, "What do you mean?"

Abe repeats, "You are free!"

She asks, "What do you mean?"

Abe speaks tenderly, "Do you want to be free to say what you want?"

The girl is afraid to say what she feels.

Abe asks, "Do you want to be free to do what you want?"

The scared girl trembles, wondering what he wants her to do.

Abe asks, "Do you want to be able to go where you want to go?"

The young girl has never been free to go where she wanted to go; and each place seems worse than the place before.

Abe asks, "Do you understand I'm telling you that you are free?  You can do what you want and say what you want ...you are free like I am free.  You are free to go wherever you want to go!!"

The young girl asks, "Can I go with you?"

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This is not thought to be an entirely true story.  Abe Lincoln was believed to be in New Orleans, and was passing by an auction block.  He reportedly said he couldn't watch it.  Those who were with him, understood how much he hated slavery.

The following is a true story:

On the female unit in a Michigan prison, there was a very lively black girl, full of playfulness.  In the prison, playfulness is usual associated with trouble.  But slowly, this young girl was learning how better to act.  

One psychologist wanted to do a study, mostly using drawings that she asked each of the female prisoners to draw ...the topics being rather general.  I was assigned security detail to supervise the study.  I admit, I didn't think much of it ...as it appeared to me to be just another much overrated study by a psychologist who was relatively out-of-touch.  

I saw that the other security officers seemed happy that I had this assignment, instead of them.  The second week, the psychologist told me she was concerned because one of the prisoners appeared to be a classic textbook case of sexual abuse.  I thought, how could she discern that out of a few silly drawings?  

The young girl dropped out of the group shortly after that.  The psychologist was concerned because she felt it may be helpful to get the young girl to open up, but since she closed down and quit the group, it may be dangerous.  I was asked to watch her, to observe any signs of ...of who knows what, as I wasn't paying much attention to this psychology stuff.  But, I feel the Holy Spirit let's us not get to haughty, thinking that others are perhaps silly and don't know anything.  I did keep a careful watch ...and I ended up being the one to discover her in an attempt to hang herself.  I supported her weight and untied the knot.  I let her know how much it upset me, and that I didn't want to ever have to see someone do that again, and particularly her.  

She never did attempt it again while in the prison ...and she joined a Bible study with some of the other women.

The psychologist had access to her file, and said the girl's mom was a drug addict.  The young girl was classified as a 'floor baby'.  As soon as she was able to crawl, she was on-her-own.  She was likely abused by her dad ...and had to grow up with a tough exterior.  When she was in her late teens, she and another girl got into an argument with a white girl, and they both beat her up.  She was the only one who did 'time' for it, likely being a prime candidate for further abuse when they had to apprehend the spunky youth ...the officers, jailers, having sport with her and one or two perhaps enjoying her resistance.  To cover their tracks, and to account for any possible trauma she had to endure, they did some psychological tests and classified her as mentally ill ...and sent her to a special prison for the mentally ill, where I just happened to work.

Many years later, she got out of prison finally, and called a friend of mine, saying that the outside world was worse than in the prison.  She was trapped within her old neighborhood, likely finding no mobility to move anywhere else.

She felt safer with a wall around her ...even a prison wall being friendlier than the emotional walls built up over time with no restraint.  With a drug infested neighborhood and violence as the rule of the streets ...she found no safe haven, no hope, and no avenue to fulfill any dreams.

Is it cruel to try to prevent drugs and the intimidation that goes hand-in-hand with it?  Is it cruel to want to build a wall on the southern border of the U.S., to curb the transporting of drugs and the heavy toll it places upon our society?  

I have good friends in Mexico ...and I am not claiming all problems are south of us.  I have friends from Iraq who are not in favor of terrorism.  But those who do promote it, need to have restraints.  Many of the restraints may not be popular, and walls are built ...but who would agree to wanting to live in a neighborhood where we would have to live in fear, and have to be subjected to intimidation and violence.   I would be in favor of a curfew if it could help minimize crime.  I would not complain that it was not fair to punish me, and restrict the movement of when and where I wanted to go.  Would we rather pay the ones terrorizing our neighborhood, so we could have peace?

The United States pays one and a half billion dollars to Egypt ...as we watch them burn our flag, and an image of our President.  We balance that off with what we send Israel.  We pay another half billion each year to Jordan, to leave Israel alone.  Three quarters of a billion goes to Pakistan to chase terrorists.  Another half billion goes to Columbia for drug abatement.  We also pay millions to Peru, Indonesia, Kenya, Bolivia, Ukraine, Russia, Liberia, Bangladesh, Bosnia, India, Ethiopia, and Haiti.   How many of these nations are truly friendly towards us ...and how many do we feel we are just paying off?  I, personally, consider Israel a true and sincere friend ...these others I cannot speak of with confidence, though I know there are always potential openings for communication.  I've sponsored children from India, Indonesia, Africa, and areas south of our border ...including Haiti.

In the prison, there were some who said they didn't like it when I worked ...but after hesitating, added, but at least I was fair.   There were other prisoners who seemed grateful I was there ...and there were those who seemed to hate me.   Many people don't like rules and sanctions put upon them as a response to curb the actions of a few.  But there are people who don't mind the slight inconvenience, because they understand the need for it ...valuing other people's lives and what they have to go through.  And sometimes it is more than a slight inconvenience ...sometimes the burden is great, but so is the need to respect and acknowledge everyone's existence.

God doesn't need us to acknowledge who He is ...but we certainly need to acknowledge who He is.