![](https://stmatthewparish.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/pastor_corner5.jpg)
Entertaining Our Better Angels
It was President Lincoln who urged his fellow Americans during the Civil War not to demonize fellow Americans but “entertain our better Angels.” He was calling forth the best in human nature; calling Americans to not give into their worst instincts of hatred, to make an enemy of, to fuel division. Instead, Lincoln uses the phrase as a metaphor for four human motivations – empathy, self-control, the “moral sense”, and reason – that can orient us away from violence and towards cooperation and altruism. To see every American as a neighbor, as a fellow citizen. This doesn’t mean we can’t disagree; but we should learn to debate intelligently avoiding bitterness, name calling and the rejection of the person with whom we disagree. As people of faith who profess belief in Christ and who seek to live as the Lord’s disciples, I think we have much to offer and to contribute to our nation during this tumultuous time of violence, polarization and deep division. Let’s remember to keep praying for our nation. Let’s pray for unity and peace. But let’s also watch our words, and how we speak about fellow citizens with whom we disagree. They are not our enemies; they are our fellow Americans. To use Lincoln’s word, consciously choose by our words to entertain our better angels.
Father Devlin