Two Brothers and Lincoln
July 13, 2017
Families are a paradox. Two brothers illustrate this. The greatest family in American theater produced the assassin of the greatest president who supported American theater. President Lincoln came to see Edwin Booth, a great actor, the night he was killed. His assassin was John Wilkes Booth, Edwin’s brother. Historians now state Booth’s motivation to murder, rather than political, was rivalry to be more famous than his brother.
We’ll never know with certainty. He achieved notoriety! Families are more likely to contain great paradoxes than we realize. Time reveals much as behavior leaves a record. Thankfully God can transform and forgive. As a parent, sibling, cousin, and more, I give thanks for this. And lets pray for wisdom and God’s guidance in our families.