Union

If you look closely, the peak of our state's capitol rotunda makes a plug for national union (along with the sovereignty of the state).  The more I learn about Lincoln (of which Illinois is "the land of", you'll recall), the more I realize his guiding principle for the nation was union.  While other great causes existed at the time and no doubt inflamed the passions that led to war, it was "staying together" that motivated Old Abe to go to the lengths he did.

How can we apply this today?  When passionate voices cry out for one cause or the other.  Our Southern friends of the past, driven to preserve a way of life, used methods and "moral undergirding" that threatened and ultimately led to secession and war.  Lincoln never blinked in his resolve to preserve the union, believing that only together do we solve the great problems of the day.  And that the very founding principles of democracy were threatened if secession could ever be the answer to the challenges of any particular era.  No, the principles are validated when a people stay together and work those challenges out; however long it takes or however difficult.

I'm with Lincoln.  Because, by the way, he was with the One who said, "A house divided cannot stand..."  And He wasn't speaking of democracy, I shouldn't think.